July 18, 2018
GraceKennedy Limited (GK) has announced a round of restructuring activities starting July 2018. The Company has advised that it is taking a close look at overall organizational design, cost structure, and business processes at all levels to achieve sustainable efficiency, greater agility and revenue growth. GK has contracted a third party consulting group to do a review of the support functions across the entire group. This included Human Resources, Information Technology, Finance, Audit, Corporate Secretariat & Legal, Risk & Compliance, Corporate Communication, and other corporate services. Similar exercises were done in the Foods and the Financial Services segments of the business. The restructuring process is being rolled out in phases which began with a review phase in early 2018 and has entered the implementation phase of the process. GK further advises that at each step of the process, the Company has involved team members in on-going dialogue and this will continue. In this stage, some positions have been rationalized, a number of roles expanded and a few new positions created as the company repositions itself for future growth. Approximately 70 persons were separated, with a number of persons redeployed across the Group. Affected persons have been provided with support services in the areas of financial planning, career counselling and resume writing in addition to severance packages. GK has also engaged a change management partner, Prosci, to provide the Company with a structured process and the necessary tools to successfully manage the people side of these major changes.