Helping employees through a merger or acquisition.(SELECTED TOPIC)

Corporate giants and smaller companies merge every day, and the teams doing the mergers and acquisitions tend to think in terms of the "Big Picture." They wonder such things as: "What's going on with the deal?" "What's happening with financing?" "Are there legal hurdles to jump?"

Rarely do those driving the process stop to think about the individuals within the company who make it run. Even when human resources departments are involved with the deal, they usually cease to think of the employees as individuals and look instead at the budget they've been given and think of people as numbers they have to place within the parameters of that budget: "We are going to have 25 people in marketing and 50 in accounting. Who will it be? Or, who won't it be?"

If your company is in the middle of a merger or acquisition deal, even though things might be going smoothly as far as you are concerned--the deal is being negotiated favorably and things are happening as you want them to--potentially dangerous things could be happening that you're unaware of, not anticipating, or even ignoring on the employee level.

Often, when executives think the merger is going fine, the employees have an entirely different take on the situation. Employees who are aware a deal is taking place are naturally concerned about themselves and their futures when a merger or acquisition transpires. At this point, they have three primary questions: "Will I have a job?" "How much will I be paid?" "What benefits will I have?"

How executives on both the buyer and seller's side choose to deal with employees can have a drastically negative or generally positive effect on employee productivity, morale, customer relationships, and ultimately the company's bottom line. To ensure that your merger or acquisition goes smoothly for everyone in the organization, consider these tips.

Choose The Right Transition Team

The transition team that reports to you needs to be made up of people who have the right temperament and personality to handle a transition. They need excellent people skills and the ability to "finesse" any situation to the benefit of the company. Make sure the transition team is appropriate for the area or department they talk to or represent, and can easily relate to people in various employee groups. For example, you probably wouldn't want a team of "suits" to talk to a group of housekeepers and maintenance people in a hospitality merger. Choose a trusted employee from among their ranks and you're far more likely to see good communication as a result.