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How do we adapt our hr strategy?
Our company recently announced it was acquiring a smaller start up. I'm the head of our HR department, and have never been through an acquisition process before. How will we need to adapt our HR strategy to accommodate new employees and processes. If you've gone through an acquisition how did your processes change, and how did you learn how to change them?
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3 Answers
Our processes didn't change.
I';ve done more than 70 acquisitions from due diligence through post acquisition integration. I've probably donme close to 100 evaluations through due diligence. I comment from that experience.
Depending on your organizations focus and what type of purchase you have a variety of options.
1) you can fully integrate this company into yours.
2) you can leave them independent and do little.
3. You can create a shared services environment that capitalizes on size yet keeps each organization separate and unique.
4. Some other combination.
Your focus should be on 1-4 and how you will make that happen.
As a good reference I woyuld suggest The Complete Guide to Mergers and Acquisitions by Timothy J. Galpin and Mark Herndon (second edition, John Wiley& Sons (Josey-Bass), 2007, San Francisco) It has a wide selection of process tools and other things necessary to support an acquisition integration.
The first acquisition I experienced was a mess. My company's managers went in like conquering heroes, criticising the methods and achievements of the small company. We started bleeding talent and, once we pulled out some of managers, I went in with the second team to patch things up.
The lesson is that the people in your acquired company may be fearful and unsettled. Treat them appreciatively on their own terms, and remind your own people that your company was a smaller organisation once upon a time. Sure - there will be things your people will not like, but do not damage the 'goods' once you have purchased them.
Good luck.
I agree with Paul on this one! It is crucial that during the process that you ensure that you get the proverbial "seat at the table" during the talks from the operational side, to determine what the decisions and strategy is for the overall organization. At that time, you can begin to put together a picture like Don said about the correct process.
Ideally you would want to have some evaluation and analysis done from the start to determine who your change agents are in the organization being acquired and how you can utilize them through the process. That would also help in identifying the other components to make the change successful, such as how to instill the new culture, any particular training programs, changing internal communications, etc.
I would be happy to share some suggestions with you offline if you like (you can contact me through my profile). I know it can be extremely tough, and somewhat overwhelming to go through a dramatic change like this. The good news is, if you can help make this successful then you move more in to the "strategic HR" position by showing that you are able to be versatile and think about the entire organization and the many impacts that events have throughout. Even if you find that utilizing a consultant is a better answer, you will gain quite a bit of skill and knowledge by being the one to suggest it, showing the ROI of it, and then partnering closely with your consultant of choice.
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