Maintaining Momentum Through a Merger

You have heard it through the grapevine- there is going to be a merger. It is often a situation saturated with fear, worry, mystery, and confusion.  Do you know what to do when the company you work for plans to merge with another company? How or will your role within the organization change once the merger has taken place? Mergers can be a scary time for everyone involved. Employees fear the unknown, managers fear an increase in staff and responsibilities, and leaders worry about the change in their company culture.

Instead of letting fear and worry take over, organizational leaders should embrace the change head on and create an action plan that focuses on how to help managers handle additional responsibilities and how to help employees adapt to the new company culture. Strong leadership before, during, and after a merger will ensure that employees and managers are not overlooked and that the new company culture is adopted as quickly as possible.

According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, here are 5 things leaders can do to keep the company moving forward during the merger process:

• Open up communications
  Remember, employees are scared of the unknown. Giving them the opportunity to voice their concerns without fear is essential. Leaders need to provide a way for employees to anonymously ask questions and then make sure they provide answers in a way that employees know that their concerns have been heard.
• Find the true influencers
  It is unrealistic for organizational leaders to speak to each and every employee directly. Leaders should seek out and depend on “influencers” within the company to share the organization’s vision. These people can generate enthusiasm and support for the organization’s plan, calm the fears that employees have about changes that may occur as a result of the merger, and gather feedback about how the process is going.
• Make the integration swift
  A merger can make for a turbulent environment and leaders must brace themselves for difficult decisions regarding workforce redundancies and corporate culture integration. Determining who gets what information, when, and how can be tricky. Leaders should integrate at a systems level as soon as possible. They should make sure employees have all the tools they need to do their job, from cell phones and laptops to key company information like e-mail and phone lists.
• Deliver a clear, concise vision and celebrate success
  Leaders must deliver a clear vision and infuse the “where the company is now, where the company is going and how the company is going to get there” message at every opportunity and at every level. They need to create a culture of enthusiasm and responsibility. It is important to hold employees accountable for their part in making the vision a reality and to celebrate the victories of individuals and teams.
• Expect discomfort
  Leading a company through a merger is always challenging. It usually requires tough decisions to be made about resources and resource allocation. Having an action plan for the merger process will be extremely beneficial, but leaders should expect some discomfort along the way.

A merger can be difficult for both companies involved and how leaders choose to handle the situation can make all the difference in the world. Developing an action plan, opening up the lines of communication, finding influential people to help share the vision, integrating systems as soon as possible, celebrating successes, and expecting some bumps in the road will help leaders make forward progress during a merger.

“It’s now time for all of us- those who supported the merger and those who opposed it- to pull together for the benefit of the company.” – Carly Fiorina (Executive and President of Hewlett-Packard Co. in 1999)