Assimilation is a tremendous effort, especially when it relates to tech units and resources. You have a great leverage opportunity, but you must move cautiously. Any time you plan to reorganise and introduce significant change to the IT staff, you create potential damageââ,¬"to internal staff and operations.
Most people don't want change; the natural tendency is to resist it. You can defuse this resistance, but in so doing you must have a plan that helps stabilise the organisation.
Assimilation expectations
People, especially detail-oriented technology employees, don't like surprises, and they don't want to be left in the dark. People resist change primarily when they don't understand what's going to happen or why the change is occurring. CIOs need to accept this human condition and plan how best to provide information and instill strong communication.
In this article, I make the assumption that two technology organisations will mergeââ,¬"jobs will be eliminated and new organisational reporting structures defined.
Having managed more than 40 IT organisation assimilation and reorganisations, I want to hear a two-fold message following reorganisation:
From the company: -The company's assets were protected and the changes were made in a cost-effective manner without losing momentum in achieving our objectives."
From the employees: -We may not have liked the decisions but appreciate how the transition was handled and that we were given the time and resources to adjust or to find new employment."
Following these three guiding rules will help you make sure this is the outcome you achieve.
Rule #1: Protect the company
The first rule in conducting a smooth assimilation is to protect the company's interests. After all, if the company gets hurt, everyone in the company potentially feels the pain.
The best way you can protect the company is to know where the land mines are. In dealing with the staff of a technology organisation, those land mines exist in key staff members and managers that have the knowledge and expertise that keep the company operating productively. Losing a strong NT administrator may not do a lot of damage if you have those skills in the parent company. However, losing the chief programming architect of a legacy business application can have dire effects on the ongoing operation of the company. Your plan should include provisions that help you retain two types of key employees and managers:
- Staff needed until the transition is completed
- Employees needed for the long term
You also have to protect the company from sabotage. If you treat people indifferently, you can easily create an unstable working environment that invites sabotage.
Rule #2: Protect the employee
I follow four main principles for a smooth transition:
- Be honest.
- Treat everyone with respect.
- Make the tough decisions.
- Develop a plan that gives people transition time.
Being honest doesn't mean you -spill the beans" before you're positioned to do so. It does mean that you need to develop your transition plans and begin announcing your intentions as soon as you can. The longer you keep people guessing, the more nervous they become.
Treat everyone with respectââ,¬"especially those that are about to lose their jobs. I've found that maintaining a professional demeanor and showing consistency in your approach to everyone pays dividends later. Everyone is watching to see what you're going to do, how you deliver the news, and how well you implement your decisions. Done properly, everyone wins. -Shoot from the hip" and many can be hurt.
Every CIO must be willing to make tough decisionsââ,¬"and obviously this isn't just part of an acquisition scenario. Often, these decisions affect people and are simply difficult choices. By doing what's best for the company and the whole, you are making the decisions that you're supposed to make at this level of responsibility. When the company becomes stronger and more profitable, it works for the good of the majority of employees remaining with the company.
Rule #3: Define your plan
You need to build a plan to take care of the transition actions and any employee terminations carefully. I usually build an IT merger plan in three phases:
- Phase 1: Elimination of employees not needed
- Phase 2: Elimination of employees needed for the transition but not needed long term
- Phase 3: Team-building actions for the new IT organisation
Each group of employees that ends up losing their jobs should have a severance package that helps them make the transition. Since there are two groups of employees that will not be needed for the long term, you should have two severance packages.
The group needed for the transition requires incentive to get through this phase, since they know they don't have a job long term. You can be very creative and do some things that help this group and reduce the risk of their premature flight. If you plan to depend on their help, make it worth their commitment. It really is inexpensive insurance.
A well-thought-out plan is critical to ensuring a smooth transition of staff and technology responsibilities. There's nothing worse for morale than to announce a plan and then announce another plan 30 days later because you didn't anticipate issues that affected financial performance, or you didn't consider the risks of your merger activities. If you're going to have to terminate employees, be sure to define these activities clearly and execute them precisely as planned or expect to lose credibility and create a whole new level of uncertainty for your IT staff.
Implement the plan with empathy and conviction
Announce your plan to the staff and lay out the details of its implementation. Everyone in both the acquired company and the parent company has at least three questions:
- Do I have a job?
- Will I have to relocate?
- Are my benefits or pay going to change?
The more you can do that shows you have anticipated employee questions and have done everything you can to minimise the disruption in their lives, the more you'll develop the credibility you need to implement a successful transition.
Don't be apologetic for having to make merger decisions that are intended to improve the state of the company, but show empathy and be considerate of those that are losing their jobs. Stay positive and focused on the objectives of the future, not the difficult and challenging situation that exists today during the transition. Being decisive and thorough in your delivery are the keys to a successful merger.
Mike Sisco is the CEO of MDE Enterprises, an IT management consulting and training company. For more of Mike's insight, take a look at his IT Manager Development Series.
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