Is your business in the process of a merger? Dave Donnachie, Head of Evolve Business Consulting at Delaware UK, outlines 4 simple strategies to keep your merger as smooth and streamlined as possible.
Don’t underestimate the impact the organisational earthquake of a large-scale merger can have on your people and your ability to run these businesses. Managed properly, you will ensure a smooth, streamlined process empowering and motivating your teams. And software solutions will be key.
Consider the impact of bringing together two potentially different cultures – especially the immense potential benefits of absorbing and embracing (not being afraid of) cultural differences. Offer your employees a forum to ask frank questions on how the merger will affect them.
An employee experience platform, for example, is a potentially crucial tech solutions including fora for Q&As, confidential questionnaires, etc. You can use this facility to help new colleagues get to know each other and start collaborating.
Information and communication is key. Bluntly-put, your people are not mind readers. If you don’t want them wondering how the merger will affect them, worried by misinformation or spreading worst case scenarios, make sure you’re talking to them. Again, bluntly-put, you’re not mind readers, so if you want to understand how people are feeling about the merger then you’re going to have to ask. Above all, listen to their responses.
We will help you implement tech platforms to support your communications strategy. This might include intranet sites with pop up merger news videos and post-merger structure charts, as well as collaborative platforms with options such as employee-feedback tools.
Your solution can assume an invaluable role as a means of encouraging greater collaboration in the post-merger landscape.
Be open about and embrace the differences of the new organisation. Establish a knowledge base allowing employees to begin absorbing and collaborating.
Emphasise your new shared values in action, highlight internal successes and external wins.
Above all, help your people to feel empowered and motivated – and truly part of this new and exciting venture.
Every merger is unique. During the process, your people will need to be supported as they adapt to their changed working environment and scale new steep learning curves. It’s not a question of just pushing a button!
The learning and insight our experts bring to your own unique project streamlines your specific process, enabling a transformation to proceed smoothly and painlessly as the new organisation evolves and emerges.
Discover more about the business transformation capabilities and our Evolve Business Consulting experts.
Dave Donnachie
Head of Evolve Business Consulting
