Comment below with tips! Calm the waters by being proactive, and by engaging your employees each step of the way. Go here to read the full article Make Leadership Present. Preparing for a Merger. If the people who still have jobs want the merger to work, there’s a good chance it will. That’s right: be an entrepreneur. Copyright © 2021 nTask. laws for successful mergers: 1. Mergers often come with a reduction in staff, especially if the two companies have similar departments. ... employee benefits and labor matters, immigration, and international transactions. Notify them sooner than later. Make use of numerous online resources and research your business financing. Employees would rather feel like they have too much information than not enough information. An open line of communication is quite possibly the most important step you can take when preparing for a business merger. Here are 4 Ways to Prepare Your Employees for a Merger or Acquisition: 1. Dr. Richard Bayer, COO of The Five O’Clock Club, ]a career coaching and outplacement network, tells employees to plan in advance by consulting their HR manuals for information about types of severance packages. Forming a strong leadership team with members from both sides of the merger or acquisition will help smooth out the kinks of the transition. Even if there is the chance of a lay-off, it will probably come with a severance package. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. The new transition might bring in new culture, people and mindsets working under different leadership, along with the fear of unforeseen work culture issues. For these reasons, the first critical step to preparing your organization for an M&A is bringing leaders from both companies together to collaboratively establish the Key Results of the new organization — the three to five meaningful, measurable, and memorable objectives that every employee must work towards. Document your work and compile a weekly status report that outlines your key performance indicators and the projects you have worked on. You need to draw in and maintain your customers, too, so plan accordingly. Case studies – Using employee feedback surveys post-acquisition 10 facts about CX that will blow your mind, The 5-Step Approach to a Successful Product Launch, Agile Implementation: from theory to practice, Top 16 Microsoft Project Alternatives of 2021. Don't let your team fill the void, let them know everything that you can. If you land a good job, great! Continuing to keep staff informed of evolving changes During mergers and acquisitions, turmoil is the norm. By Opting-in you will get nTask paid plans at an incredible 10% off for an entire year. Make notes on how you can collaborate with the new employees/departments to improve business outcomes, or how the added support and resources can aid innovation. The challenge of training multiple audiences simultaneously would likely benefit most from a blended learning solution. 3. This is in order to reduce the number of failed mergers and acquisitions. Any attempt at obfuscating the truth will be filled with rumors. Dr. Bayer recommends not only staying positive but showing positive behaviors, too. After all, it takes ages to adapt to a company’s culture and environment. Prepare your employees for change. Answer these questions as openly and honestly as you can during the session, making it clear that their concerns matter to you. Layoffs, new bosses, office moves and policy changes are some of the top fears employees have during a merger or acquisition. If they don’t want it to work or don’t care, the odds change dramatically. Employee survey questions to use post-merger or acquisition 4. There are things that you can do to help prevent your company from becoming an M&A statistic. As part of the due diligence process, HR should lead the way in examining company policies and procedures and comparing them with procedures from the company to be acquired or merged. The founder and chief executive of Talent Zoo, Myers agrees that bad habits can destroy one’s career, but the worst part is people rarely realize it. This involves working on the corporate culture of both, understanding the staffing issues that may come up, and many other things. When the time came for the companies to merge, there was confusion, misalignment, and miscommunication. Employees will learn from you and will exhibit negativity if you do. During a merger, you may expect employees to be distracted. These changes go far beyond a new name and senior leadership; they challenge the core of an … Meet in groups or one on one—whatever makes your employees comfortable enough to be honest about their concerns. You want to give them as much lead time as possible to prepare. You should plan your HR consultation as well. This is where your communication plan and leadership team alignment will pay off.". At times, employees may focus too much on negative news during such uncertain times. Being able to cover rent and opening costs is not enough. Why survey after a merger or acquisition? The key for HR when it comes to mergers and acquisitions is due diligence. Fill in your information and click Sign Up. M&A transactions can be time consuming and stressful for a company and its management team. Need a new plan for 2020 or preparing for 2021? This does not need to be something at a big scale. This may not guarantee any safety, but it sure will set you apart from the rest of the employees and make your boss’s decision easier. Key Elements of Company Merger Success . I've lived through a few myself. However, there are ways you can ease up the transition process for yourself. 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