We all have been, directly or indirectly, touched by mergers or acquisitions. We all have our ideas and feelings about them. What makes them successful or not?
I would like to hear from you. Specifically, I would like you to share with me the answers to these two questions:
What have you heard executives say in communicating a merger or acquisition to employees, that in hindsight, you think, it was "stupid" or "ill advised"?
What dumb things or gaffes did you see very smart people make?
Over the years, I have coached and advised executives regarding communication with their employees following a merger/acquisition. As part of the advice, I have urged them not to say or do anything that they might later regret.
For some reason or another, executives will say and do the opposite of what I have just advised them to do.
Here are my favorite gaffes:
... Nothing is going to change...
... This is a merger of equals ...
... There is a job for everyone ...
... We will select the best practices ...
... One plus one equals three ...
I am sure you have favorites too. I would like to hear from you about them.
What? nothing is going to change? This must be by far the stupidiest one. A merger or acquisition without change is inconceivable to me.
What? a merger of equals? Next to the the first one, this makes the top list. I have never seen this. Has anybody else? Of course someone will emerge as more equal.
What? there is a job for everyone? For some it will be on the unemployment line, for some else there might be a bigger job but quite a few will surely have a smaller one.
What? select the best practices? Sure, we will talk about them, this is part of the dance routine, but ultimately, people will gravitate toward the familiar and tried. Consultants love this dance. It has many billable hours.
What? one plus one equals three? We talk about synergy, we know its importance, and we might search for it. But it is an elusive goal that requires neutering big egos, listening to quite voices of reason, and letting go of petty personal agendas and preconceived ideas.
It has been copiously written that most if not all mergers end in some form of failure, that they do not achieve the intended results. It has also been found that one of the major reasons for failure is that different cultures cannot be easily harmonized. This might all be true, but to me, it all boils down to not forgetting what drove management to do it in the first place. For some unexplained reason, people will abandon logic and common sense at the door of the integration process.
I hope your experience has been different. I would like to hear better stories. Surely there are some.
I would like to hear from you. Specifically, I would like you to share with me the answers to these two questions:
What have you heard executives say in communicating a merger or acquisition to employees, that in hindsight, you think, it was "stupid" or "ill advised"?
What dumb things or gaffes did you see very smart people make?
Over the years, I have coached and advised executives regarding communication with their employees following a merger/acquisition. As part of the advice, I have urged them not to say or do anything that they might later regret.
For some reason or another, executives will say and do the opposite of what I have just advised them to do.
Here are my favorite gaffes:
... Nothing is going to change...
... This is a merger of equals ...
... There is a job for everyone ...
... We will select the best practices ...
... One plus one equals three ...
I am sure you have favorites too. I would like to hear from you about them.
What? nothing is going to change? This must be by far the stupidiest one. A merger or acquisition without change is inconceivable to me.
What? a merger of equals? Next to the the first one, this makes the top list. I have never seen this. Has anybody else? Of course someone will emerge as more equal.
What? there is a job for everyone? For some it will be on the unemployment line, for some else there might be a bigger job but quite a few will surely have a smaller one.
What? select the best practices? Sure, we will talk about them, this is part of the dance routine, but ultimately, people will gravitate toward the familiar and tried. Consultants love this dance. It has many billable hours.
What? one plus one equals three? We talk about synergy, we know its importance, and we might search for it. But it is an elusive goal that requires neutering big egos, listening to quite voices of reason, and letting go of petty personal agendas and preconceived ideas.
It has been copiously written that most if not all mergers end in some form of failure, that they do not achieve the intended results. It has also been found that one of the major reasons for failure is that different cultures cannot be easily harmonized. This might all be true, but to me, it all boils down to not forgetting what drove management to do it in the first place. For some unexplained reason, people will abandon logic and common sense at the door of the integration process.
I hope your experience has been different. I would like to hear better stories. Surely there are some.
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