Dysfunction, sibling rivalry, tension – these are all natural human feelings found in the process of trying creating a blended family. It’s not so different when blending different businesses either. When you acquire a business, no matter the circumstances, it can be challenging to bring together different cultures, people and ideas in a way that leaves no one feeling like the red-headed stepchild.
It is especially important when you seek to build a strong functional organisation where all employees can feel welcome, understand the united vision clearly, and feel fulfilled in their work and highly motivated to strive for their best. Like a true blended family, in time you want your employees to forget about the individual organisations they belonged to, and become part of the unified, transformed, growing organisation.
“Last year, African Bank acquired two established banking entities and began the complex process of creating one, unified, staff complement. The integration process has progressed faster than expected, despite the challenges that needed to be overcome. Our success has been largely due to the way we have approached the integration process. From the start, empathy, collaboration and transparency has been our rallying cry,” says Devaksha Christopher, African Bank Head: Organisational Effectiveness.
Here Christopher shares three lessons that she has learnt and have helped her on this journey:
Always keep the lines of communication open.
Resisting change is a normal reaction for many people; it can be uncomfortable, distressing and creates a sense of loss of identity. Ensuring that your employees are kept abreast of all developments, especially at an emotional level, in a pending acquisition is critical. And even more important is allowing employees to ask questions; express concerns about their jobs and how they and their families might be affected. This not only helps to create trust in the process, but is also a way to prepare employees for the looming change and allow them to warm up to the idea of new employees acquired in a deal.
Allow the incoming employees to have an avenue where they can freely voice their concerns or thoughts about the process. Coupled with this is creating a readiness of existing employees to embrace their new fellow colleagues to avoid separation, cliques and feelings of displacement.
Lead by example.
The role of the leadership is crucial in a merger or acquisition. How the leaders of the organisation treat one another is important for positive perception and buy-in for the acquired employees. If they see their leader treated poorly, they may adopt a non-cooperative attitude and create turmoil in the day-to-day running of the business. No matter the circumstances surrounding the merger or acquisition, it is the attitude of the leadership that has a huge impact on how the employees perceive it.
It is crucial to take people along the journey so that they feel that they have been part of the process and that the change is not being done to them. Important to this is for leaders to gain answers to questions and concerns that they may have and to address their own feelings and biases about the change. This avoids projecting unsettled feelings and emotions by the leader.
Be ready for a culture shock.
People are often so set in their ways that the smallest thing can make them feel unwanted and not at home. And when a culture changes or evolves, it can cause division and result in a pointless blame game. In its latest Labour Market Dynamics Report, Statistics South Africa noted that, on average, South Africans spend between 40 and 44 hours a week at work. How workplace culture is shaped is therefore extremely important.
As much as possible, take everyone concerned on the journey of a workplace culture change brought on by a merger or acquisition, so as to better absorb any shock. Try to ensure there is engagement with staff – it shouldn’t just be a top-down approach, but something that employees can own. Also, be accommodating to new staff who are used to doing things a certain way and provide them with a vision they can back. This is where new ways of working play a fundamental role in setting the scene and creating alignment for all employees as we tend to revert to old habits.
Bringing together employees who are part of a merger or acquisition is challenging, and often the theory doesn’t account for real human feelings in the process. Mergers and acquisitions are an important part of business, but so too are your people.
