When a business is going through a period of change, many organisations focus on the strategic, financial and legal issues. Your “people issues” often make the difference between hoped-for expectations and results achieved.
A recent study by management consultants, McKinsey, confirms what many know; that people are the key to making mergers work, and people related problems such as culture clashes, management disputes, loss of talent and the inability to manage change, can often be the reason why change initiatives fail.
If you are dealing with mergers or acquisitions, it often sparks a period of rapid change. Therefore, it is important to address cultural, organizational and HR issues up front and throughout the process of integration to give the business the best opportunity to succeed and gain the competitive advantage that it seeks.
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Talented HR professionals should be involved from the beginning and throughout all stages of the process to identify people-related issues, organizational issues and cultural fit. If people-related issues and cultural issues are identified and effectively addressed in the early stages, the business is far better prepared and able to minimise the impact during the process.
Zest HR provides an independent and impartial input to the process. We can assist with the development of the new management team. This may include determining the style of leadership that would be most appropriate in the merged situation. Leadership must be honest, straightforward, decisive and prioritise actions throughout the process. Management of each organization will look for fairness and objectivity in the selection of leaders and managers. Competencies should be established for the new organisation’s leadership and management roles, which may differ from those required for the pre-merger companies. Effective choices should be made free from internal politics and the “them and us” mentality that may only result in festering organizational and cultural problems. |
