A company is going through a merger. How can you help them navigate the change?

When helping a company through a merger, I start by carefully looking at how things are right now. I thoroughly check what each company is good at, where they might struggle, and how they do things day-to-day. I focus on finding where they can work well together and where they might face problems. I also look at their cultures, technology, and how they manage their people. Understanding where they match and differ is crucial for creating a plan to blend them smoothly. My goal is to make sure everyone gets a clear picture of the current situation, providing a solid base for a successful move towards a strong and unified company.

1. Determine with this merger – a) is your exiting company going to exist as final entity. b) dissolved and new company will be the owner or c) A new entity will emerge. 2. Know the hierarchy and org structure and stakeholder responsibility area and mapping with your company 3. Lead the communication drive & educate the team about strategic vision for the merger 4. Create a project plan to handshake between two entity stakeholders at all levels 5. Create new version on knowledge repository and how IP asset will be used 6. Initiate training for new role, methodology of work, new skill sets for impacted members 7. Establish governance to report progress and status report 8. Conduct team building / bonding activities

Change management is about people. Method of assessment is important, however, engagement and simple acts of observing and talking are also important. Ask about what you want to know, get the perspective and sentiments from various people in the organisation.

It can sound weird, but empathy is an essential tool to evaluate the current state. Define the new VMV (Vision, Mission, Values) is important. Identify the key players is important. But what is crucial is to know the emotional impact that this change produces in all the employees and how they feel, from the CEO to the newest employees. Every single person will be affected, in a higher or lower level, by the merge. And several emotions will appear provoking that people will resist and confront the change. If the change affects negatively to specific key employees, they can go against the merger and boycott it. It is responsibility of the key players to help them to adapt to the change, to recover the equilibrium that the change took off.

According to my prior experience, we employed change agents and ambassadors to oversee this transitional phase, teach them how to guide others through the merge and educate them on how to deal with resistance and the denial period. Send them an email once a week to keep them informed about how they can guide others through the change management stage.

La communication au début du projet (kick-off) est très importante. Cette première étape est importante. Elle vous permettra d'impliquer toutes les parties prenantes (des PDG aux opérateurs). Mais n'oubliez pas de communiquer régulièrement sur l'avancement du projet.

Clear, frequent and transparent communication is key in merging processes. A communication able to generate trust and reduce the uncertainty, typical of those situations. An opposite type of communication, with secrecy, info in "small pills" (unfortunately, the most common one), unclear messages, only generates uncertainty, discomfort and fear. With that, people trend not to react reasonably and look for stability out of the company.

Mergers start from the top of organisations often with protracted discussions at Board level and usually involving shareholders / investors before being formally announced. This presents the first challenge for change management as it is likely that rumours proceed launch communication. Accordingly, the launch needs to be a very well planned event designed to confirm truth and quash inaccurate and damaging gossip. Unless the merge is designed to be an aggressive takeover, the launch is a once only chance for the leaders to present bipartisan support for the new company. Employees attending the launch will be looking at the visuals and sensing the impact on the top teams, so it really will set the scene for the transition that follows.

A robust communication strategy is essential for managing a merger effectively. This involves identifying the recipients of information, determining the content to be shared, and establishing the communication channels such as town halls, emails, and internal websites. Transparency and honesty are crucial throughout the process, ensuring clear and consistent updates about the merger timeline, potential effects, and future strategies, while acknowledging both challenges and opportunities. Furthermore, fostering two-way communication is vital, providing platforms for employees to voice questions, concerns, and feedback through anonymous surveys, thus facilitating an open dialogue conducive to successful integration.

Conduct a thorough analysis of how the merger will affect different departments and individuals. Transparent Communication: Keep all stakeholders informed about the merger's progress and its implications. Support Systems: Establish support channels, such as counseling and Q&A sessions, to address concerns. Integration Teams: Form cross-company teams to facilitate collaboration and smooth integration of processes. Training Programs: Offer training to help employees adapt to new systems, cultures, and expectations. Feedback Loops: Create mechanisms for employees to provide feedback on the merger process, ensuring their voices are heard and acted upon.

To address employee apprehensions stemming from the merger, it's crucial to establish platforms like town halls, designated email channels, or hotlines where they can voice their concerns and seek assistance. Additionally, providing resources and training sessions is essential for aiding employees in transitioning smoothly into the new organizational framework, equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge through workshops, online modules, and mentorship opportunities.

Emotional Intelligence is an ability that can be trained even before the merger, and that will help people to adapt to the change. As Daniel Goleman said, it is difficult to dominate the world of the emotions since those abilities must be trained when we are in trouble. Since every person is a world and will live the change in different ways, an individual strategy would be the best approach, as individual executive coaching sessions where employees present all their feelings, worries and conclude with specific action plans to adapt to the change.

Mergers have the potential to simultaneously create duplicate roles, redundant roles and new roles. This can be at operational levels and also often at leadership levels. Managing the transition of all these changes while maintaining current BAU performance (on both sides of a merger) can be challenging. In my experience, loss of capability is one of the biggest risks during a merger and a primary concern among clients who will be watching closely. Having solid role descriptions and capability maps for every role is key to limiting capability burn. Even if some employees choose or are encouraged to leave (via redundancy), retention structures should be available to ensure skills transfer.

Proporcionar capacitación y apoyo adecuados a todo el personal para ayudarlos a adaptarse al cambio. Esto puede incluir sesiones de capacitación sobre nuevos sistemas, procesos y políticas, así como apoyo emocional para aquellos que puedan experimentar ansiedad o estrés debido a la incertidumbre. Según un estudio de Deloitte, las empresas que invierten en programas de capacitación para empleados tienen un 24% más de margen bruto que aquellas que no lo hacen. Utiliza plataformas de aprendizaje en línea como Coursera, Udemy o LinkedIn Learning para ofrecer cursos de capacitación a los empleados sobre la nueva estructura organizacional, los procesos y las herramientas que se utilizarán después de la fusión.

Las personas somos los principales motores del cambio... y el principal freno del mismo, todo a la vez. Es muy importante hablar con todo el mundo, disipar miedos y explicar de una manera clara que esperamos de cada miembro del equipo en esta nueva etapa. Obviamente no basta con exigir la evolución, hay que dotarlos de los medios para conseguirla, tanto a nivel de formación como a nivel de apoyo, acompa?ándolos en el proceso. Esta tarea no solo es competencia de los departamentos de recursos humanos, los managers también son responsables de ayudar en este proceso de cambio. El calor humano de tu jefe hace mucho más que decenas de horas de formación.

Establecer métricas claras para monitorear y evaluar el impacto de la fusión en el desempe?o organizativo, la satisfacción del cliente y la moral del empleado. Realizar evaluaciones periódicas para identificar áreas de mejora y ajustar la estrategia según sea necesario. Un estudio de Harvard Business Review encontró que las empresas que realizan evaluaciones regulares de fusión tienen un 18% más de probabilidades de alcanzar el éxito. Utiliza herramientas como SurveyMonkey o Google Forms para recopilar retroalimentación de los empleados sobre cómo están experimentando el proceso de fusión y cómo está afectando su trabajo diario. También puedes utilizar herramientas como Google Analytics o Hotjar.

The legals of a merger will include conditions (CP's) that must be met during transition for the deal to go through (complete). If these conditions include inheriting and satisfying new clients or investors than this is a great place to start measurement. Be sure to understand the current practices for communication and reporting on both sides of the merger and ensure that is at least maintained (preferable increased). Other conditions like funding, employee retention, cost management, quality assurance and capability development will flow naturally into your reporting and monitoring.

Reconocer y celebrar los hitos importantes alcanzados durante el proceso de fusión. Esto incluye celebrar los logros del equipo, reconocer el arduo trabajo y el compromiso de los empleados, y destacar los beneficios y oportunidades que la fusión trae consigo. Además, es crucial mantener el impulso del cambio a largo plazo mediante la consolidación de una cultura organizacional unificada y sostenible. Según un informe de SHRM, las empresas con programas de reconocimiento de empleados bien establecidos tienen un 31% menos de rotación de personal. Utiliza plataformas de reconocimiento y recompensas como Bonusly o Kazoo para reconocer y recompensar a los empleados por su contribución durante el proceso de fusión.

A los seres humanos nos encantan los ritos de paso, puede que hoy en día ya no estén tan de moda, pero por ejemplo en la Espa?a de hace unos a?os un bautizo, una comunión, una boda... eran elementos muy importantes a nivel de sentir un cambio de estatus en la vida. Es vital celebrar el éxito, reconocer la labor de todos como grupo y de cada uno de los miembros del equipo de manera individualizada. Culminar una fusión a fin de cuentas no es más que reconocer el fin de una tarea ardua, pero también el inicio de otra. Y con cada nueva época llega su incertidumbre, estar fuera de la zona de confort. ?Qué mejor que celebrar para ahuyentar los miedos a una nueva etapa!

Celebrating the final completion of transition and the following financial and sales milestones is the easy part. It is prudent to consider the people side of things a little more carefully. Depending on the differences between the 2 organisations pre merger will help predict some bumps along the road. I have found it useful to identify as many well regarded cultural and recognition traditions on both sides of the merger, and try to retain these (if practical). Sure it is also a great time to dispose of unwanted practices but the less staff fell a sense of loss (initially) then the less the attrition.

Most mergers fail because they overlook the human side, not because of financial issues. Yet, we often see transition teams focus on the top levels of an organization and ignore the middle, where managers usually have a clearer view of the front lines. Engaging these mid-level teams from both merging companies could be key in identifying how they complement each other and work best together. This approach could also help keep the top talent that tends to leave first when a merger isn't handled well. This is especially true in industries where skilled professionals are the most valuable asset. I've seen an acquisition go wrong in my own experience, and the lost potential still bothers me.

Emotions and how they affect to the employees, how they live the change, the emotional well-being or empathy are factors typically not considered in mergers. Detect the problem and work on the right emotional management of the change, at any level, can bend the scale towards the success or towards the disaster.

the soft factors are the success factors. in mergers, structures, processes, branding, etc. are well planned. these things are visible and easy to shape. but for a merger to be successful in the long term and for two organizations to become one, the cultural aspect must be given special consideration. ?what values are there and which ones should there be in the future? ?what characteristics and cultural influences do the two organizations bring with them? ?what informal customs are practiced? ? how can you take these soft factors into account, preserve and change them during the merger? - that is a central question.

Find your champions! Change hits everyone differently, with some taking to it with much more ease and comfort than others. The value of a voice from within the company can be tremendous in bringing people into the fold. Create a shared experience that's based on trusted voices to manage change.

Navigating a merger involves addressing challenges such as cultural integration and operational alignment. Key strategies encompass change management, cultural integration, communication planning, leadership alignment, employee involvement, operational synergy, risk management, technology integration, legal compliance, and post-merger evaluations for continuous improvement.