Supporting culture through a merger and acquisition process
Executive summary:
Our client in the crash repair industry needed to improve retention and engagement from a growing base of skilled employees.
Flint Change undertook a programme to create and improve engagement by implementing an inspiring communication plan, along with supporting culture change initiatives. The end result was a reduction in the number of staff leaving in the critical 3-6 month window after joining.
The background story:
Our client was an ambitious organisation with a clear acquisition and merger growth plan. A key focus was staff retention from the newly acquired businesses. There was a national shortage of technicians and fierce competition in the talent marketplace for good people.
By acquiring new organisations, they had access to strong talent – the challenge was to persuade them to stay and excite them about the prospect of working for a larger organisation with great career opportunities.
What did they need?
Our client needed to create a way to quickly engage employees introduced via acquisitions and mergers, to ultimately increase retention rates.
The approach
We talked to team members in the existing business, and also to team members of recently acquired businesses, to understand their experiences. We created a programme to excite and inspire new teams. This was implemented during a time of growth via acquisition.
What was the solution?
The steps taken within the programme included:
- Initial welcome letter – sent out to all new employees at the point of the acquisition announcement, to ensure that the messaging was managed in a positive and engaging way
- A swift follow-up of a professional welcome pack containing more information, including values, structure, branding, benefits and cultural information to help people understand “the way we do things around here”
- Roadshows to all new sites led by senior members of the Leadership Team. This was cultural in its feel as well as telling facts and figures. Stories and successes were presented showing the human face of a large, secure organisation.
- Bringing together the General Managers with existing and new managers to share best practice and create a supportive team environment
- Ongoing, regular and consistent information and communications addressing any specific concerns
The results
The communication programme, implemented during a time of growth through acquisition and merger, had a major impact upon the key metric:
- Reduction in staff leaving the acquired businesses in the critical 3-month and 6-month windows
