The truth is a moving target, and often dead on arrival. …. Note to Execs Announcing a Merger: Take Some Advice from a Hit Man! Our relationship with you remains a priority. As we work to integrate the two companies, we expect to identify ways to consolidate and streamline our policies and practices. I’m betting the boss mismanages expectations by making at least one of these five common but wrong-headed remarks. An owner, due date, and priority are assigned to each task. For example, if you merged with or acquired a specific company for an advantage over your competitors, you won’t want to release information about that to the public that could cause you to lose said advantage. Having a welcome letter is a great way to start an open dialogue of honesty and transparency with new employees, as well as to create an inviting culture that will hopefully assist with retention issues. Communication during mergers and acquisitions is critical. Use the below matrix to plan your messages. In this section, we list the questions to expect from different constituencies and the proper information to convey to each. Prior to any change we will inform you of the changes ... Five-page playbook covers media plan, talking points, letter to state and local officials, and posts for social and media websites. About 100 days after Close, it’s a good idea to take the temperature of the two companies’ customers. Include location address and specific times, Website: make all adjustments and key information for Target employees available online. However, there are many ways to tell a story that doesn’t include proprietary information such as exact revenue figures or projections. We will act with purpose, focus and transparency to integrate our two companies working closely with our stakeholders every step of the way. communication plan Building your communication plan ... • Extensive experience in all aspects of merger and post-acquisition integration, and has advised clients across a wide variety of industry sectors covering small, mid and large cap ... 5 RULES OF MERGER COMMUNICATION 1. A clear and thoughtful communication plan can go a long way in easing concerns, distrust and resistance as employees are challenged to go from the known to the unknown. When directly compared or weighted against each other, losses loom larger than gains. A merger and acquisition employee communication plan will help communicate change at every stage: from announcement through integration to employees and explain how the change affects then and manage communication during the quiet period. Use our research to develop an HR plan to effectively manage the merger or acquisition process including up-front work, communication, cultural integration, workforce planning, and terms and conditions planning. No interruption in invoicing or bill paying process. And even if you are not involved with planning directly, you will be asked to help with the transition by focusing extra attention on serving our clients ... A useful, simple one-page checklist to plan your messages. What Finance integration initiatives will be corporate driven and do not need to be replicated (only executed) in other plans? Fight the urge to sugarcoat the story—give people the good, the bad, and the ugly. All you need to develop and execute a comprehensive post merger and acquisition integration plan. They will continue to receive the same distinctive quality and service they have come to expect from us. A post merger integration checklist (or m&a integration checklist) is a step by step agenda to keep teams on track in preparation for a merger or acquisition. Take advantage of the situation and seize the opportunity to make improvements. This is just human nature…the survival instinct at work. And instead of coming across like some breezy politician, you’ll position yourself as a real leader. You’ll find good advice from Chip and Dan Heath in their new book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. Folks are focused on the potential downside— how their careers might get damaged. Be tolerant of cultural differences. People may only understand the change in broad terms and not in practical terms. Communication problems have always ranked #1 on the list of generic problems during integration. These transactions can be as transformational as an IPO — more so, in some cases. Lack of Communication. Step 1: Define M&A Integration Strategy and Guiding Principles, Step 2: Determine M&A Integration Governance, Step 3: Conduct Joint Integration Management Office (IMO) Meeting, Step 4: Provide Post Merger Integration Training, Step 5: Develop Post Merger Integration Risk Management Plan, Step 6: Develop M&A Culture Integration Plans, Step 8: Develop M&A Staffing & Retention Plans, Step 9: Develop M&A Project Integration Plans, Step 10: Execute Acquisition Integration Plans (Including Day 1 Plans), Step 11: Capture M&A Integration Lessons Learned, Step 3: Conduct Joint IMO Kickoff Meeting, Step 10: Execute Acquisition Integration Plans, Merger Integration Certification Workshop Attendees. As people have to break their familiar routines, performance weakens. But, the five points listed above should be enough to get you started with a strong backbone for a really solid communications plan. Why Do "Staggered Experiences" Foul up M&A Communications? ), Set date for invite(s) to go: First one immediately after Press Release and Investor Call, and a reminder early in the morning of Day 1. Supplier Oftentimes, senior leadership is so focused on the technical aspects of the deal that they forget the communications side. It’s official! With email, Twitter, Facebook, and such, it’s like every employee runs a broadcasting station. Communications on operational matters ...". 3.2. In fact, at the very time company communication needs to be better than ever, it’s often at its worst. Frequent, consistent, transparent, honest and efficient communication before, during and after a merger or acquisition is incredibly important if a company plans to complete a large scale transaction and accommodate the resulting organizational changes effectively. Acquired Co. and Acquirer’s IT teams will be working closely together over the next several months to bring our IT systems together in the way that best suits the needs of the business. Employees need clarity on facts and figures, to have opportunities to hear information first-hand and be able to ask questions and to feel part of the process. Close Day Our commitment is to make decisions and come to conclusions on a comprehensive integration plan by [month, year]. The deal will create numerous questions in the minds of stakeholders. While a merger happens when two companies combine together to form one company, acquisitions happen when one company is taken over by another company. 3. It’s not enough to hold a company wide meeting announcing the deal and crafting your Day One message. 3. When employees pick up the scent that they might be acquired and merged, a cloud of ambiguity descends over the organization. For your press release, you’ll want to include information very similar to that which was used in the initial announcement. Acquisition Project Plan Template. There is no set timeline and your organization may need to send out an HR update multiple times as decisions are made about your people strategy. During merger and acquisition, organisation faces the most abstruse and recalcitrant problem: resistance to change. For the time being there will be no changes and we will continue to go to market as we have in the past. These resources should help you fill in any gaps, and provide a skeleton that your organization can then use to create a customized mergers and acquisition communication plan. Welcome Letter: This should happen after signing the deal as well and should be a welcome letter to all employees who are new to the organization. But you CAN dramatically increase your odds of success. During that period a very small percentage of businesses in the country used to come together.• The key factor contributing to fewer companies involved in the merger is the regulatory and prohibitory provisions of MRTP Act, 1969.• Function/ department specific message as determined by responsible Executive Committee member. Employee loyalty and trust are at stake. individual discussions. Corporate America has a similar problem—it’s losing the battle for people’s attention. Announcement Day Spreadsheet identifies key elements of communication plan including stakeholders, key messages, timing, priority, and concerns. Communication should be relevant and meaningful. The Core Message Word template is also provided. This was a complex process, requiring the sales team to tell the story with marketing’s support. We expect some reductions may happen within the first 90 days, and others may take longer as we integrate systems and businesses. This could be your vendors, clients, partners, or suppliers. Plan early and continuously throughout the merger or acquisition, and set expectations for roles and responsibilities early on in the process. Give your merger or acquisition the best chance for success by thoroughly managing the process from due diligence well into the first year post-deal. Rumors start to fly as soon as people pick up the scent that a merger is in the works. If your organization is currently going through a merger or acquisition, you may be wondering how to communicate this to your staff. Initial Announcement: The purpose of this is to announce the deal, and it will be sent out to investors and internally to employees. Company and Target will keep existing practices in place for the short-term. Good communication is essential to successful mergers and acquisitions. When should I tell my entire workforce? ), Create invite to Day 1 (email, letters, webinars, voicemail etc. Therefore, these sessions should be planned carefully. We’ve compiled seven tips for managers and executives to help ease the M&A transition: (1) Have a clear plan in place. Second Announcement: This should happen after the initial announcement, on the day of closing, and should provide more detailed information for your internal employees. Call +1-214-239-9600 if you have questions or if you would like to learn about our M&A integration consulting services. Includes communication tips, talking points, letter and answers to FAQs. Update communications guidelines as necessary, Develop and conduct communication training for the Implementation Team to ensure consistent messages, Identify list of personnel authorized to make public statements. This is high drama. M&A Integration Planning Software (Includes 20 steps, 107 tasks, and 45 tools), Objective: Creating a blueprint for the integration, M&A Communication Planning Software (Includes 15 steps, 55 tasks, and 39 tools), Objective: Developing a consistent process for communicating. Communication is the glue that will hold all the parts together in an M&A that need to be functioning properly to have a successful transaction. What touch-points should I have in my communication plan? A huge reason for this is a lack of communication and alignment between all involved parties. 1. Like cool hand Luke, most companies are being severely punished. As with any merger or acquisition, we know there will be some job changes and some overlap that will result in job eliminations. Any successful change requires a translation of ambiguous goals into concrete behaviors…. You can assure our customers that we will not miss a beat in delivering on our commitments. 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