Mergers & Acquisitions

The disposition of staff is a major piece of any merger or acquisition. Have you ever experienced a situation where the plans of the company are at odds with local laws or regulations?  Have you experienced a governmental entity stopping your plans or ordering them modified resulting in a different outcome for personnel in country A from Country B?  

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Frank Gorman, Former ACMP Board Member, Transformation Consultant
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Hi Frank, I appreciate this important topic because there are so many rules and regulations that organizations and people need to be aware of when conducting work in other countries. I am learning about this more. I am interested in hearing what others contribute. Thank you for posting. 

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Tammie Ray
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Hi Frank,

I worked on a global restructuring project that involved changing roles and responsibilities and, potentially, laying off people depending on the region. For the European Union, we included plans to discuss the changes with the local Works Councils before rolling them out, as required by EU law. We could do some scenario planning around how those conversations might play out (topics, timing, changes required or recommended, etc.), but we had no way of knowing how they would resolve until we went through the process.

Few takeaways:

1. Even though the Works Councils only impact EU staff, the process impacted the entire global plan since we wanted to have a coordinated rollout.
2. Always plan for more time and complexity than you think you'll need.
3. Involve your Legal team and your local management team(s) early and often. The changes themselves might be managed by a centralized Transformation group, but for Works Councils, you'll want Legal and your local HR and management team involved given their familiarity with local laws and nuances.

-Ben

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Ben Kleinman, MBA
Harborside Strategy
ben@harborsidestrategy.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benkleinman/
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