Merging 11,000 staff into a brand new structure requires a delicate dance

Choreographing the merging of two large workforces into one unified structure involves precision, speed and syncopated sequences.

The spotlight is well and truly on us as we prepare the new Adelaide University for its opening performance on 1 January 2026 – with no time for a dress rehearsal. The scene is set, the tickets will shortly go on sale. But our cast is not yet fully assembled.

That is in part because we haven’t yet finished designing the new institution’s operating model, which will determine the precise structures into which everyone will transfer. Part of the difficulty comes in striking the right balance between moving forward towards the future and respecting our heritage, empowering our people to be their best in an environment that is evolving.

We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to completely recast our moving parts to deliver transformative impact on our students. Our past is important but we cannot allow ourselves to be restricted by hierarchies and institutional walls.

We have pledged to both our existing communities at the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia that every staff member will be retained because we know that transformation takes talent – and plenty of it. Everyone will have a place – but not necessary the exact same place they currently have.

Hence, our large professional and academic cohorts, totalling about 11,000 people, will be sequentially positioned within our new strategic portfolios in waves. We can’t simply lift and shift the entire workforce all at once.

One of the biggest challenges is achieving staff alignment to the proposed structure, under conditions of major organisational change, within the respective (and legislatively rigid) enterprise agreements of our foundation universities – neither drafted nor agreed with a merger in mind. 

And the complicated choreography doesn’t stop there. Only through a formal transfer of employment can we begin the detailed transition process, with agreements in place to “loan” back the services of our staff to the legacy universities, as they continue to operate until the end of the year. And it isn’t until the new Adelaide University structures are “switched on” that staff will actually – or metaphorically – sit within them and make them real.

Moreover, although as an ensemble there is a move in one direction, individual cast members have different starting points and are used to dancing to a variety of tunes. Our job is to ensure they don’t collide as they come together, ensuring minimal impact on business operations and teaching and learning. Although this is a merger of equals, we know that the population of the organisational structures we settle on won’t always reflect a perfect 50/50 split between staff from the foundation universities. It’s more nuanced, which is true of all good partnerships.

To minimise the risks of collision, we need to appoint Adelaide University’s senior leaders now. However, we won’t be among them. Once we transfer the employment of academic staff in May, we’ll be the sole employees of the University of South Australia and the University of Adelaide as we continue to guide the transition while preparing for our successor to commence. As long-standing colleagues, we both made a conscious decision not to apply for the role of vice-chancellor, enabling us to continue to perform in the best interests of the new university without any personal conflicts of interest. 

For now, though, we both have very full dance cards. Some unforeseen snags will inevitably trip us up as we whirl towards the year’s end. But we hope and trust that the last dance will be one of quiet triumph.

David Lloyd is vice-chancellor of the University of South Australia and Peter Høj is vice-chancellor of the University of Adelaide.