From Organizational Project to Short-Time Work – When Reality Rewrites the Assignment
How a newly defined project scope created structure, clarity, and financial relief in a volatile market environment.
An organizational project aimed at increasing efficiency shifted in its very first week into a fundamentally different assignment: defining, coordinating, and implementing short-time work for around 700 employees. Leadership of the new scope was connected directly to the executive management team. Over the course of the project, monthly savings of €200k to €400k were achieved, coordination with the works council and the Federal Employment Agency ran smoothly, and employee satisfaction was broad-based across the workforce. At the same time, the original reorganization plan was assessed and aligned with key internal decision-makers.
Project at a glance
- Project:
- From reorganization to short-time work – how quickly uncertain decisions change
- Client:
- A long-established production site in the manufacturing industry, integrated into an internationally active corporate group.
- Industry:
- Plastics processing
- Company data:
- Several hundred employees at the site, a long company history, part of a larger international group.
- Project objective:
- Review and revision of the organizational plan, support for the new CHRO, and implementation of the organizational changes.
- Role:
- Full leadership of the newly defined project scope, reporting directly to executive management.
- Result:
- Monthly savings in the range of €200k to €400k, smooth coordination with the works council and the Federal Employment Agency, broad-based satisfaction among the workforce.
Initial situation
The assignment began as an “organizational project”: increase efficiency, optimize communication, simplify processes, and relieve pressure on the HR function. One special framework condition was that the Head of HR position was vacant at the start of the project. The new postholder only joined two weeks after the project began. The original target state was therefore clearly defined: review and revise the organizational plan, support the new CHRO, and implement the corresponding organizational changes.
The reality behind the target vision
Within the first few days, it became clear that the clean target picture and the site’s actual situation were far apart. The company was economically strained, operating in a volatile customer industry and struggling with capacity utilization issues—under noticeable pressure from the parent group. On top of that, there was remarkable instability at leadership level: 25 changes in C-level positions within 15 years. HR was suffering from a lack of resources, the number of authorized signatories had grown unchecked, and the relationship with the works council was marked by conflict.
Against this backdrop, the project assignment shifted fundamentally in the very first week. What began as an organizational project became the task of defining, coordinating, and implementing short-time work: works agreements, coordination with the Federal Employment Agency, planning for around 700 employees, and targeted alignment to protect critical projects and customers. The history made matters more difficult: according to executive management, the works council, and managers alike, two previous short-time work phases had been chaotic. In situations like these, decision-makers often face the question of how a viable, orderly path can be created at all from a mix of pressure, mistrust, and prior strain.
Approach and solution
The new project scope was taken on in full and linked directly to executive management. The approach followed the complete sequence of methods in its logical order and depth: from classifying the situation and conducting a structured analysis to deriving a concrete roadmap and implementing it operationally on site. The starting point was a capacity utilization analysis, supplemented by an impact forecast, in order to assess the economic and personnel implications of short-time work on a sound basis. Structured clarifications with all relevant stakeholders followed on that basis. At the center was the definition of a clear framework: the process and communication around short-time work were defined unambiguously so that all parties involved—from executive management and the works council to the Federal Employment Agency—worked from a shared, transparent foundation. At the same time, the original reorganization plan was assessed and aligned with key internal decision-makers.
Key measures
- Capacity Utilization Analysis as a Factual Foundation
- Impact forecast to assess the scope
- Clarifications with all relevant stakeholders
- Definition of the framework, process, and communication for short-time work
- Assessment and internal alignment of the reorganization plan with key decision-makers
Result
In the end, there was an orderly, robust short-time work process in place. The results included monthly savings in the range of €200k to €400k as well as a smooth process—including coordination with the works council and the Federal Employment Agency, which is often prone to conflict. Across the workforce, the result was more than mere acceptance: broad-based satisfaction, because the respective interests were taken into account in such a way that no compromises were necessary. Social hardship was mitigated. Compared with the two earlier short-time work phases that had been experienced as chaotic, this represented a clearly structured process.
What exactly was present
- Monthly savings in the range of €200k to €400k
- Smooth coordination with the works council and the Federal Employment Agency
- Broad-based satisfaction among the workforce
- Mitigation of social hardship
Client quote
“From the very beginning, you created a new level of quality in clarification and in the structures. This also saved us a great deal of money, effort, and negative experiences in areas that remained invisible. The basis for this was your competence, openness, and honesty—which I, as Managing Director, value immensely. Perfect. Job well done!”
Managing Director (anonymized, confidentiality agreement)
What this success story shows about PRECI
This case shows what matters in the manufacturing SME sector when an assignment changes shape within days: senior executive experience that can immediately take full ownership of a changed scope, and the ability to create clarity for decisions and robust structures under pressure—instead of slide-deck logic with no practical relevance. What is remarkable is that the individual steps—classifying the situation, analyzing it, deriving a roadmap, and implementing it operationally—remained sound even when compressed under time pressure and handled end to end by senior leadership. Here, PRECI combines HR, organization, leadership, and execution into an approach that brings together the interests of all parties involved and channels them into orderly, effective action.
After its bumpy start, this success story also shows how important it is to create clarity before a project begins. This is why PRECI.expert clearly separates theory first (clarity for the decision) in Modules 1 to 3 and then practice (clarity in implementation) in Module 4.
A similar challenge?
If one of your initiatives is developing differently than planned under real pressure and you are looking for an experienced hand operating at the level of executive management, an open-ended conversation is worthwhile. We assess your situation realistically and show you clear options for action. Simply send a message outlining your concern to questions-cost-nothing@preci.expert.
