Important takeouts:
- Restructuring often leaves uncertainty and liberation, and it is important for CEOs to deal with emotional fallouts and strategies.
- The silence after Reorg is a warning sign and is not reassuring. Leaders need to create space for honest dialogue and emotional connection.
- Equipping your manager to lead empathy and support can greatly improve your team's resilience and performance.
- Culture is rebuilt through everyday interactions rather than formal messaging. Trust, recognition, and transparency are keys to reinvigorating employees.
In spreadsheets, restructuring decisions often make sense. Roles are integrated, teams merge, and leadership charts are redrawn with strategic accuracy. But once the dust settles, what remains is rarely neat. Uncertainty, silence and liberation ripple across the organization.
As someone who helped dozens of leadership teams move through this critical transition period, we have seen what happens when CEOs stop with strategy and ignore the human aftermath. If your organization wants to move forward with focused, high performance, your work will not be completed when Reorg is announced. In fact, it's just beginning.
Here we present five strategic steps CEOs must take to effectively lead through the emotional turbulence of restructuring.
1. Don't mistake silence for stability.
In the weeks following the restructuring, many CEOs are looking for visible signs of complaints, sales and missed deadlines. But one of the most dangerous signals is actually silence. When employees stop asking questions, providing feedback, or simply nodging at meetings, it's not a sign of calm. That's a warning.
At one company I worked with, I saw a creepy quiet calm after a round layoff. The team members were not openly opposed to change, but they weren't appealing either. It turns out that people were afraid – they were scared, fearing, fearing that they might be next, and not knowing if leadership wanted the truth. The organization avoided deeper damage by creating space for dialogue. Managers were trained to ask open-ended questions such as “How do you feel about where things stand?” And actually listening.
This is an important step to making Reorg successful, and the data supports this. Even a 1% reduction could result in a 31% increase in employee turnover. And the fear is not unfounded, as employees weigh whether they're staying or moving on. 17% of businesses have implemented additional layoffs. The first waves rarely feel like the last one. So frontline leaders need to be equipped to surface what is not being said and truly connect with their employees.
2. Shift from control to connection.
Reorg contains natural control. This is budget, roles, and reporting lines. However, once structural changes are made, the CEO will have to circumvent the connection. Employees who are still standing often feel like a secondary damage. They were not fired, but they were not untouched.
Trust is a hit with any major shakeup. One family-owned company I partnered with recently removed its CEO and reduced its massive amounts. Leadership feared another crisis of trust. But by delving into a consistent, straightforward conversation (not a spin), they avoided the damage. The interim president prioritized one-on-one and team-level check-in. They didn't just deliver messages. They stayed to hear the reaction.
When leaders show that they care, people don't just stay, they engage again.
3. Equip the manager to lead emotionally, not operationally.
Managers are not just implementers, but interpreters. After Leorg, they need more than a marching order. They need support to navigate the emotional complexities their team faces.
A HBR survey found that 43% of managers do not have the ability to support their teams through daily change. However, managers who build the team's ability to navigate change will increase performance by 29%. The CEO should ask: Is my manager ready to talk about fear, burnout, or survivor's guilt? Do they know how to find subtle clues like silence or side gazes?
One effective tactic we recommend is that you can ask your manager to your team. “What are you listening?” It opens the door to clarify rumors, address misconceptions, and show responsiveness before misinformation spreads.
4. To be honest, even when the truth is uncertain.
It's natural to want to protect your people from worry, especially if your future is unknown. But again and again, withholding information or avoiding difficult conversations only creates more anxiety. Employees are not fooled by silence or overly sophisticated messages. They are already worried, and when they pretend otherwise, we erode their trust.
As a leader, you need to normalize your honest conversation, even when the answer is incomplete. That includes being able to hear when someone on your team is thinking about leaving. I learned what I say “I want you to stay, but if you're thinking about moving on, you want me to be comfortable saying it.” It's not a risk. It's a relationship builder.
When employees feel safe enough to be honest with you, they have far more chances, even if they're not sure about the path ahead. It is not a guarantee of certainty. It's about creating connections where people know you will respectfully fulfill their integrity.
5. Reconstruct culture through micromoments, not messaging.
Culture cannot be restored with just every hand meeting or vision statement. After chaos, culture is rebuilt in everyday moments: daily flocks, team stand-ups, one-on-one check-in.
Following the merger, NASCAR implemented daily touchpoints and personalized employee development initiatives to reestablish alignment and cohesion. By actively engaging employees and maintaining visibility through frequent updates, the organization has strengthened its culture and engagement during the high stakes transition.
And it's not just the structure that matters. That's the feelings of people. According to a 2025 Global Culture Report by OC Tanner, employees recognized over the past 30 days reported a significant decrease in burnout (57%) and potentially anxiety diagnoses (24%) and depression (28%). These metrics are not merely about happiness. Confusion can directly affect resilience, productivity and retention.
If your manager is cascade information without creating space for feedback, your culture is not recovering. It's stagnant. Culture lives on when people feel they see and hear.
Restructuring is just the beginning
The strategy behind Reorg may be solid. But strategies alone don't move people forward. Leadership does that. The ability to ask better questions, create space for emotional truths, and reconnect managers with people will determine whether your company will come out stronger or simply survive.
Restructuring is not the end of the story. The next chapter begins. It's not that they're not without them, make sure you're writing it with your people.
