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O P I N I O N
Plenty of M&As fail When firms look at the numbers, but not the people, chances are good the deal will be plagued by big problems.
W hen mergers and acquisitions fail, the event is often marked by surprise and shock. “The numbers worked, the market seemed ready, and the products were compatible, so what could possibly have gone wrong?” The literature shows (and common sense supports), that most often the problems can be traced to the lack of attention paid to the integration of cultures, staff, processes, best practices, and philosophies.
Gerri King CONSULTANT’S CORNER
back. It’s important to remember that there is good information in resistance, so it’s essential to determine the cause of the resistance and to then allow time for processing it. Finding out why people are concerned will produce useful information and show employees that management wants to know what they think. To minimize the typical pitfalls that can kill a merger or acquisition, consider these suggestions: “Communicate even when there is nothing much to say. Silence erodes trust, and rumors start when there is a lack of information.”
As a result, retention of key employees, at all levels, is compromised, and resentment and fear increases among staff and stakeholders. Communication becomes dysfunctional, internal conflict is elevated, morale, and thus productivity, decreases, and business continuity is jeopardized. When two or more organizations come together, dramatic changes occur in the work environment. To address concerns and anxieties, the tendency is to focus on all the anticipated positive results. What is often ignored, however, is that positive change can be every bit as stressful as negative change, because with every gain, there is a loss. Sometimes it’s as benign as giving up the familiar, i.e., changing computer systems or answering the phone differently. But often the tradeoffs are much more difficult and people begin pushing
See GERRI KING, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER April 4, 2016, ISSUE 1146
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