Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is once again reshaping the sector as the next wave of unitarisation approaches. While much of the debate focuses on structures, governance and service design, a more immediate challenge sits beneath the surface: retaining the people needed to make new organisations succeed.
At a time when councils already face significant workforce pressures, reorganisation risks accelerating staff turnover, increasing uncertainty and placing further strain on stretched teams. The challenge for leaders is not simply how to reorganise, but how to do so while retaining critical capability.
A workforce challenge before reorganisation begins
Councils enter this period of change from a difficult position. Recruitment and retention challenges are widespread across local government, particularly in specialist and frontline services. Planning, social care, finance and digital functions continue to face skills shortages, while demand for services grows.
LGR does not create these workforce challenges; it amplifies them. When teams are already operating under pressure, even modest increases in turnover can have a disproportionate impact on service delivery and organisational performance.
Why uncertainty drives attrition
Reorganisation inevitably creates uncertainty. Roles change, reporting lines evolve and organisational identities become less clear. In a competitive labour market, uncertainty often translates into movement. Crucially, attrition is rarely evenly distributed.
High performing and highly employable individuals are often the first to leave when the future appears unclear. At the same time, prospective recruits can be hesitant about joining organisations that are in transition. The result is a tighter talent market just when stability is most needed.
Retention is a leadership challenge
Retention during LGR is frequently viewed as an HR issue. In reality, it is a leadership issue. People do not leave solely because structures change; they leave because of how change is experienced. A lack of clarity, limited leadership visibility and a feeling of being done to rather than involved can all increase the risk of turnover.
During periods of uncertainty, trust becomes a critical asset. Clear, honest and consistent communication is therefore not a soft intervention; it is central to retaining talent. Leaders who can articulate a credible vision for the future help employees understand their place within it. Where that narrative is absent, people often fill the gaps themselves, usually with worst case assumptions.
Supporting the next generation of leaders
One of the less recognised risks of LGR is not only losing existing leaders but failing to support those stepping into more senior roles. Reorganisation creates new leadership opportunities, often at pace and under considerable pressure. Without the right support, these transitions can become points of vulnerability rather than sources of resilience.
Councils should identify emerging leaders early, invest in mentoring and coaching, and create networks that help individuals navigate more complex responsibilities. The wider local government sector can also play a role through professional networks, peer support and leadership development opportunities.
Retention is not simply about keeping people; it is about enabling them to succeed.
Turning disruption into opportunity
While LGR introduces risk, it also presents an opportunity to rethink the workforce offer. Larger, reconfigured organisations can create broader roles, clearer career pathways and greater exposure to complex, place-based work.
Successful councils recognise that retention is not only about reducing reasons to leave but increasing reasons to stay. Many are using reorganisation to redesign roles around skills, expand development opportunities and create secondments into transformation programmes.
For hard to fill positions, this helps reposition LGR as a career opportunity rather than a threat.
Culture cannot be an afterthought
One of the greatest long term risks of LGR is cultural fragmentation. Bringing organisations together without creating a shared identity can lead to disengagement and higher turnover long after structural changes have been completed. Building a common culture requires deliberate effort. Early focus on values, behaviours and inclusion helps create a sense of belonging during a period of significant change.
Employees are far more likely to stay committed when they feel connected to the organisation they are helping to build.
Here is what you should be doing now
For councils preparing for reorganisation, the workforce agenda cannot wait until structures are agreed. Practical action today will reduce risk tomorrow.
Leaders should be:
• Mapping critical roles and flight risk, identifying where key losses would disrupt services – social care, planning, finance and digital – and where external demand is strongest.
• Engaging key individuals early and framing LGR as a career opportunity, not just organisational change
• Investing in and support emerging leaders through mentoring, coaching and succession planning.
• Using secondments and transformation roles deliberately to broaden skills and increase engagement.
• Testing your offer against the external market, including role scope, flexibility and reward.
• Building your shared organisational culture early, rather than treating culture as a post reorganisation issue.
• Drawing on external support and sector expertise to strengthen leadership capacity during transition.
LGR will continue to reshape local government, but its success will depend less on structures and more on people. The councils best placed to succeed will be those that invest as much attention in engaging, developing and retaining their workforce as they do in designing new organisations.
In a period defined by uncertainty, people remain the constant. The challenge is to ensure they are not lost in the process.
Gary Evans is a principal consultant with GatenbySanderson's local government practice
