Elevated HR Solutions: An Acquisition Strategy Must-Have

When it comes to your employees - every book, article and blog out there these days says that your employees make the difference on a bottom line.  Hiring people that fit your overall culture, truly listening to them and paying attention to their needs and wants, providing an environment that individuals can excel in and a place where they are rewarded for acting upon their strengths is absolutely key. 

So what happens when you merge or acquire a company where you had no influence on the hiring and therefore the culture is potentially almost opposite of what your company is today? Do you have a plan for that?

I've been a part of a couple of acquisitions and unfortunately, not all have been successful.  Once I walked in during mid acquisition - that's probably another blog in itself (insert "gong show" reference here), another time I supported a sale of a division to another company and I have also been part of a couple of acquisitions from start to finish.  Truth be told - I learned far more from some pretty epic mistakes - but happy to have the experiences to look back on.

While I could definitely go over all the don'ts and learnings from my failures - it is honestly much easier for me to just discuss the "Do's".  At the end of the day - above anything else - there really is only one "DO" during an acquisition and it can actually be summed up in one word, "COMMUNICATE".  Yup - that's it.  Be transparent and communicate it.  K maybe two things...(I've always said if I was good at math, I wouldn't be in HR...I digress!)

So here's the deal - if you've never been acquired by a company, you've never experienced so much uncertainty in your life.  Even IF the company assures you no changes will happen (insert disclaimer such as, "at this time" here) the initial thought of almost every employee is, "Will they keep me? Will I still have a job? Will my benefits change? How will I pay the mortgage? I have kids - what will they do?"  In a matter of seconds, fear renders an employee useless. 

So - what can you do to help this employee? COMMUNICATE. And I don't mean once or twice and here or there - have a targeted plan.  Update your portal/intranet daily. Make real connections in person. Send a ton of the acquirer's management team to the acquired's office and have real live opportunities to ask questions.  Town hall meetings regularly need to happen. An anonymous question box should be created. Employee's of the acquired's team need the opportunity to talk about what they do and what they value (don't let the HR person of the acquired's office tell you that - they too are feeling fearful.)  And finally when you are communicating - be real, be transparent.  It's okay for you to say "I don't know".  It's also okay for you to say, "We're still discussing X.  And due to X I'm not at liberty to discuss it."  Employees get that not everything is up for discussion (especially if you're a public company) - but be real with them. Don't make it up.

And finally don't avoid your employees - not only will you lose the faith of your new employees, you may even lose the faith of your own.  You've built your business big enough so that it can go out and acquire another business.  Don't blow it by being shady. 

You've got a voice and an opportunity to create something great. Just communicate.