Mergers & Acquisitions

You have been brought on to be the CM for the merger of 2 medium sized companies (arbitrarily less than 5000 employees each).  Assume no one in either management team has ever been through this before.

 Where do you start?

What are your key questions?

Where do you look for your team members who are borrowed from varioss business teams?

What time commitment do you require from the team?

What are your thoughts on this ground up problem where you are the only person with skills and experience?

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Frank Gorman, Former ACMP Board Member, Transformation Consultant
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You are up for a challenge, where convincing the management teams of the importance of the steps you know are needed becomes the biggest part of your job. That's my honest assumption of the situation. Until now you've seen enough of these to conclude that

• The biggest hurdle in M&A is learning the language and the tempo of the other organization. This takes most of the energy.
• The Culture mapping of both parties is crucial to succeeding - everyone needs to know, what matters to the other
• A common understanding of non-negotiables acts as the bases of forming the new operating model and standard processes, but is completely overlooked by the first-timers.

At Pandatron, we are used to helping in these and the results for the above and all other systemic strengths and weaknesses unravel after 1st month of use. If you want technical help to the situation and fast results, we can help you out. We're not a consultancy, so we're not about templates or powerpoint decks. But if you want to succeed, we are the most impactful ones out there. If you just need another seasoned one to chat with, I'm here.

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Erja Klemola
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That's an excellent and challenging scenario posed Frank Gorman. When starting as the Change Manager for the merger of two medium-sized companies, my first step would be conducting a rapid but thorough cultural assessment of both organizations to understand the existing norms, values, and potential areas of conflict. My key questions would center on the why-namely, the strategic drivers for the merger, the desired future operating model, and the executive leadership's non-negotiable success metrics. I would look for my initial team members from functions like HR, Internal Communications, and Project Management Offices within both firms, as these individuals typically have the broadest internal networks and process knowledge. I would require a significant, perhaps 75% or greater, time commitment from my core dedicated change team for the first 90 days to establish momentum and trust. Dealing with a "ground up" problem where I am the sole expert requires immediate effort in building change capability within the combined leadership team through targeted coaching and workshops. My thoughts are that successful change here relies on empowering others quickly, shifting the focus from my individual expertise to shared ownership of the integration plan. I would use frequent, transparent communication to bridge the uncertainty gap and manage expectations across all 10,000 employees. This foundation of culture, strategy, and capacity building is essential for ensuring the merger's intended value is actually realized.

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Tanya D. Cane
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Great question and I agree with the responses from Erja and Tanya.

One thing that is important to discern is where you are in the process. My assumption is that you have an agreement in place and are beginning the post-merger integration.

If that is the case, then I would want to look back at the due diligence conducted to better understand the deal thesis and the why behind this. To Erja's point, I'd want to see what language has been used to communicate this and what channels are typically used for employees. I'd look to build a governance structure that includes an integration team. To Tanya's point, a Culture Assessment will be key in determining how operationally ,financially, and culturally alike the organizations are and where those leverage points are and where there are potential risks and challenges. 

This will help inform change impacts and can be done at the organizational level and at the divisional/functional level. You'll want to consider the org design - where there may be overlap, synergies, and opportunities to align the business model.

For a lot of your questions - it is an it depends on the role, scope, scale, and speed. The core integration team will be heavy with this being pretty full-time and you'll want designated business leads to support and get more engaged throughout the integration.  

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Evan Piekara
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