Changing Employment Rules: Rethinking How You Resource Change

Changes to employment law are a useful prompt to review how you resource your business. When the work is urgent but the requirement is still evolving, is a permanent hire always the right first step?

Most organisations have made undertaken a hire that did not work out as expected. Sometimes the person was not right for the role. Sometimes the role itself was never clear enough.

From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal protection falls from two years to six months, and the cap on compensatory awards is removed. Employers can still dismiss fairly, but the shorter qualifying period puts greater emphasis on clear hiring decisions and effective management from the outset. Existing protections against discrimination and automatically unfair dismissal continue to apply from day one.

For leadership teams, this reinforces the need to define roles properly, assess candidates carefully and make timely probation decisions. It also raises a broader question: how certain are you about the capability you are hiring for?

Is the uncertainty about the person or the role?

In a stable team with a clear, ongoing requirement, a permanent appointment may well be the right decision.

Change programmes are often less straightforward. The organisation knows something needs to happen, but may still be working out what its future structure, processes or leadership responsibilities should look like.

Perhaps a new operating model is being developed. A technology programme needs specialist expertise for its next phase. Or a leadership gap needs filling before the business is ready to appoint a permanent successor.

In these situations, even a very strong candidate can become the wrong investment if the requirement changes around them.

Before recruiting, it is worth asking:

• Is this an enduring role, or work that needs completing over a defined period?
• Do we know what the role will look like once the programme moves into its next phase?
• Do we need this expertise permanently, or for a particular decision or delivery challenge?
• Can delivery wait while we recruit?

These questions help distinguish a permanent capability gap from an immediate delivery need.

Where interim support makes sense

An experienced consultant or interim can be a practical option where the work is urgent but the longer-term requirement is still taking shape.

They can take responsibility for immediate priorities while helping the business establish what it needs next. That might mean leading a defined phase of change, resolving a specialist problem or maintaining momentum while a permanent appointment is made.

The engagement should have a clear purpose: agreed outcomes, a realistic timeframe and a plan for handing over responsibility. Where appropriate, it should also leave the internal team better equipped to carry the work forward.

There is a commercial trade-off. Interim support may carry a higher day rate, which needs to be justified by the expertise, speed and duration required. Where the need is clear and ongoing, permanent recruitment may offer better long-term value.

The decision should follow the work.

Make the permanent decision with better information

A consultant can help clarify the permanent role by delivering the work: identifying essential skills, where responsibilities belong and whether a full-time position is needed.

This gives the business a firmer basis for hiring. The engagement still needs to be structured appropriately, with employment status reflecting the actual working relationship.

A useful conversation before January

Alongside reviewing hiring and probation processes, leadership teams should look at the roles they expect to recruit over the coming year.

Where the requirement is clear, recruit with confidence. Where it is still evolving, consider whether experienced interim support could keep delivery moving and help clarify the longer-term need.

At B2E, these are the conversations we have with clients: what needs to be achieved, which capabilities are missing, and how long they are likely to be needed.