Managing New Teams After Acquisitions

Businesses merging and being acquired is anything but uncommon in the auto industry. Two professionals in managing employees spoke with Ragan Communications about how businesses going through mergers and acquisitions can maintain good standing with their staff.

Iliana Garcia is the employer brand and strategy director at Renuity Home, with Brittany LaBovick being the vice president of employee experience at Renuity. They both maintain that throughout these changes, keeping up communication is tantamount.

Be Open

Employees should be kept aware throughout the change to avoid misunderstandings. LaBovick said this is done through “leadership explaining what their clear vision for the organization is to the employees” through as many communication channels as possible.

Be Clear

Managers also need to be down-to-earth with their employees and speak in terms that will make sense to them.

“Use verbiage that employees understand–as a manager, you don’t want to come off as if you’re communicating from the ivory tower,” Garcia explained.

Be Flexible

Rather than forcing the workplace to adapt to the new company, the process “should feel more like an embrace to the organization being acquired,” Garcia said. LaBovick recommends keeping in place “cultural programs like happy hours and group outings” and that it will “help the organization feel united through the process.”