In divestitures, if the company being divested invests in the employees whose jobs will be redundant and provides counselling, re-training and placement assistance, morale remains good enough to get through the divestiture without too much disruption. It is rarer but when the acquiring company takes these steps, the project moves more efficiently. Continuing communication is the key here. Divestitures are a dire event for divested employees. If the acquiring company is just going to close the acquired company, it will be a difficult process unless the services listed above are available
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Frank Gorman, Former ACMP Board Member, Transformation Consultant
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Original Message:
Sent: 2025-11-18 13:09
From: Amanda Lorens
Subject: DIvestitures
Hi Frank - In recent experience - I have found that one of the most interesting things I have observed is challenges with sponsorship. Indeed, it could be argued that in many organizational changes there are challenges with active/visible sponsorship, but it is interesting that with divestitures, there are often even more external influences controlling the outcomes. As a result, the sense of uncertainty that comes with the organizational restructure change is shared by all (including senior leaders and executives who may be used to driving change, as opposed to being impacted by it), particularly just ahead of a divestiture occurring.
From a retention standpoint, we have not seen a big impact (yet), but that may also be a reflection of the current job market and potential 'job hugging' tendencies observed in today's workforce.
Morale is always a challenge during times of uncertainty, especially ones that come with divestitures. Another important observation is that while it is still important to ensure that people have context and reasoning, first - with this kind of a change, the need for details and personal impact must quickly follow. We have found that considering the insights of models like Maslow's hierarchy has been very helpful in this sense (where foundational needs of safety/security is prioritized ahead of a sense of belonging or self-actualization).
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Amanda Lorens
Original Message:
Sent: 2025-08-13 13:45
From: Frank Gorman
Subject: DIvestitures
The primary discussion here focusses on M&A. Has anyone been the CM for the company being divested? What peculiar issues has that presented? Is morale typically low or high? What has been your experience with retention? In my experience, my role has primarily been focused on the re-organization following a divestiture.
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Frank Gorman, Former ACMP Board Member, Transformation Consultant
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