Restructuring is one of the few management interventions that is genuinely high-stakes regardless of how well it's executed. Even a well-designed restructure, communicated thoughtfully, will cause some people to leave. The question is whether the people who leave are the ones you can afford to lose.
The most common mistake is treating communication as the last step rather than as a design constraint. Leadership teams spend months deciding on the new structure, then turn to communication in the final week before the announcement. By that point, the structure is locked, and communication becomes a presentation rather than a conversation.
High performers — the people you most want to keep — are usually the ones with the most options. They're also the ones most likely to make a decision quickly once uncertainty sets in. The window between "announcement" and "decision to stay or go" is shorter for them than for anyone else in the organization.
What works: involving a small number of key people in the design process early enough that they have genuine input, not just a heads-up. Giving direct managers the information and language they need to have real conversations before the all-hands. And being honest about what's uncertain rather than projecting confidence that doesn't exist. People can tolerate uncertainty; what they can't tolerate is being managed.