Restructures change people, not culture
Despite what you may read in company emails about upcoming changes and the rationale behind them, restructures do not change culture. In fact, in many circumstances, they make it worse - generating uncertainty and fear and setting progress back for months whilst employees try to understand how the changes affect them.
Restructures (see also: Operating Model Changes and Transformation Projects) are often used as levers by senior management who are seeking to bring about a change in financial or operational conditions - usually to either make more money or to save more money.
Of course, this is entirely normal and justifiable (in most cases, at least). However, suggesting that changing people’s job titles, moving their reporting lines or removing some people altogether will change the culture is false.
The only way to change a culture (and also achieve the results you are looking for) is to rid yourselves of the people whose behaviours or performance hold it back, train managers on how to build and evolve it, then give employees agency over how the things they need to change to ensure that it’s something they’re proud to be part of.
You don’t need to restructure the business to achieve this.
