How to manage your transition during an acquisition

No matter which side you are on in an acquisition, it is admittedly a scary time for most of business units in either company; to generate synergy revenue, business unit integration and layoff are inevitable. As an employee or manager who doesn't always have adequate information to leverage the change, what could you do to make the transition a positive experience?

Am I going to be laid off? - Panic! 

This is a question everyone would ask herself/himself during the acquisition. Unfortunately, unless you are involved in the decision-making process, you probably wouldn't know the answer until a formal announcement is sent within the company. Instead of speculation, this is what you could do to lower the possibility of being kicked out of the boat:

• Do what you are doing, even better. It is important to showcase your skillsets and accomplishments during this period of time. Write a list of current responsibilities and compare with your performance. Are you doing the job well? If the answer is yes, think about how it can be further improved by automating processes to boost efficiency. If the answer is no, then there is something you probably want to start working on right away
• Bi-weekly or monthly feedback session with your manager. Do not wait till the end of fiscal year for an annual performance review. Schedule a regular meeting with your manager and ask her/him for feedback, both positive and negative, and how you could improve performance with action items. Managers want to know what you are working on and how well the job is done. Let them know you are willing to learn and improve
• One-on-one meeting with your Director and VP. In large corporations, director level and up are slummed with meetings. Schedule a short 15/30-minute one-on-one meeting with the director or VP in your department, discuss your daily responsibilities, and ask for personal advice on your strategic career growth. They are always happy to help in any way they can
• Follow the news and company strategy communication. Due to legal compliance, leadership cannot communicate much information on the decisions of a large scale restructuring before the information is announced internally and externally at the same time. What the public knows is what you would know. However, company will send out internal communications from time to time to keep everyone informed with decisions and integration direction. Subscribe news feeds related to your company on Google/WSJ and read analysis articles online to have a better grasp of the big picture 
• Be prepared for the worst. Update your resume and LinkedIn profile regularly regardless of the integration. It is never a bad idea to showcase your accomplishments and brand yourself professionally for future potential opportunities within and outside of the company

I don't know what to expect during integration 

• Asking for information from leadership or integration team. It doesn't hurt to ask questions. If you have questions or just simply curious, write an email to your integration team and ask for more information. Sometimes you will be surprised how helpful they are
• Embrace changes. Changes are inevitable in any organization, especially in high-growth tech industry. New tools, business processes and teams are all part of the change - adapt to the pace of changes in your company and learn as much as you can from the new environment

Low morale and productivity 

• Become a leader.Instead of complaining, try to become a leader in your team and advocate change. Organize a social event (such as dinner/drinks after work) and keep in touch with your colleagues. Be personal, have a virtual coffee (coffee talk without drinking a real coffee) and chat with your colleagues about their well-being and concerns. Your personal connections will go a long way in the future   
• Open communication.Openly discuss concerns with a positive tone with your manager or colleagues would greatly relieve emotion burden. Then try to come up with one or two action items to act upon. Most managers are trained to work with employees’ emotion during change - they are the best and immediate resources available at the workplace

What can I get out of the integration?

• Understand the business and industry you are in. For traditional industries, such as retail, the integration strategy covers almost every part of existing business functions - store, eCommerce, IT, Supply Chain, R&D, Manufacturing, Marketing, Merchandising, Sales, Finance, Customer Service, Legal, HR, etc. Pay attention to organizational changes in each business function and think about why. If you are eager to learn about the overall strategy, invite someone from that functional team for breakfast/lunch and discuss it. You will learn from different perspectives and actual impacts of decisions
• Ask for opportunities within the integration team. Integration is a life-time opportunity and you definitely want to get on board if possible, considering that new integration projects may need a change evangelist like yourself. Speak with your manager or integration office and express your interest - if an opportunity comes up you will be one of the first names they think of.

Overall, it is always fun to push yourself forward a little bit on your career, and learn something new and exciting in the profession.

If you have any thoughts to share, please feel free to comment directly under this article or inbox me. Cheers and enjoy the journey!

Charles Sun