Acquiring a new company can be an absolute minefield, bring along the complexities of acquiring a company across different geographies and this brings in some fundamental challenge. Not only in terms of aligning working practices and aligning roadmaps, but bringing together a multitude of working practices, cultures, legal intricacies. International mergers and acquisitions are an art and a science all to themselves.
So, what are the core areas that you should focus on?
- Prepare and engage fully in your due diligence process. Understand your vision, your route to success. Agree on the key milestones which will ensure that the integration of companies succeeds, the ultimate goal. Invest in time and detail.
- Understand the culture – from experience, most of the integration projects that have not be successful have ignored the cultural aspect of the merger. Leaders operating in different ways going rogue, employees “rebelling” and refusing to adapt to change. Understand that ways in which businesses operate are different, get to know your formal and more informal networks. Learn the language!
- Ignite passion – deliver and communicate clearly and effectively. Authenticity always goes a long way. Have a plan and do not hesitate to over communicate.
- Bring in experts to support you, we, at VeryHR are your people experts at hand who not only understand the legislative background to multinational acquisitions but can also guide and advise you in “Human Relations. How to get the best out of your people in a period of change.
Do your homework and enjoy the constructive collaboration – this is an opportunity to create, innovate and drive collaborations.