Mergers and acquisitions stir the blood, triggering unconcealed excitement in numerous lawyers, financiers, executives and the media. Another core group has a different reaction to M&A: the employees of newly unified companies whose emotions typically span skepticism to loathing. A strong employee communications program addresses these sentiments and constructively channels the power of the workforce, from the C-suite to the interns, by prompting dialogs, squashing rumors, and setting direction. In contrast, weak or nonexistent communications conjures a void that fills with negativity and confusion, condemning a merger or acquisition no matter how good it looks on paper.
The following are basic guidelines for an M&A employee communications program, to be developed during the negotiation and transaction period, not after the ink has dried.
Confirm Executive Ownership
A senior executive must own the communications program, championing its purpose, marshalling resources, and tracking results. A CEO is ideal for this assignment, but if time constraints or org chart revisions make this choice unworkable, then an executive with responsibilities and expertise spanning multiple departments or business units is required. Leaders from communications, human resources, training and other key departments must consult with the supervising executive regarding methods, pitfalls and goals. Without this high-level ownership, the M&A communications program will lack authority.
Build the Team
The M&A communications team itself will be among the joint venture’s earliest cooperative efforts. The team should comprise representatives from communications and human resources, along with departments that will have immediate and complex interactions with the combined workforce, such as IT and training. The team should be big enough to identify a broad range of communication issues and have the means to implement tactics without becoming an unwieldy committee.
Think Like a Marketer, Part 1: Make the Plan
When creating the M&A communications plan, think like a marketer (no, that’s not a dirty word for a PR or communications professional) and identify products, audiences and communication platforms. “Products” are the issues that call for a designated employee action. Audiences are segments of the joint workforce categorized by specialty, division, geographic location, pay grade, and/or “point of origin” (the pre-M&A employer). Communication platforms are the means of outreach deemed effective and appropriate for each audience and topic.
Your M&A communications plan should be laid out in a chart; the document will end up looking like a hybrid of a strategic overview, a crisis communications handbook, and a traffic sheet for marketing communications deliverables. The chart should have the following entries in a columned format:
• Issue: A topic that must be addressed through communications, from the monumental (company founder resignation) to the mundane (how to get new parking passes).
• Audience: The people who need this communication. Audiences can be broad, narrow or multiple.
• Desired outcome: What the company seeks from the audience in terms of perceptions, immediate actions, long-term actions, or all of the above.
• Concerns: What could go wrong if the issue is not properly communicated and/or the audience does not take the desired action.
• Message: Information and tone to be conveyed.
• Communication: The actual piece or program—e-blast, Web page, town hall, podcast, flyer, poster, etc.
• Participants: Those executing the communication. Beyond writers and designers, participants can include people providing facts, figures, photos and other input.
• Schedule: Hard dates for initial drafts, second rounds, executive/legal sign-offs, and final releases.
Think Like a Marketer, Part 2: “What’s in it for me?” “What do I do next?”
After marketers grab a consumer’s attention, they have mere seconds to answer his/her inevitable question: “What’s in it for me?” All good marketing pieces satisfy this query, and M&A communications must do the same. Each employee of the new company will ponder the personal consequences of the many changes ahead, with job security the top worry. Potent marketing emphasizes benefits, improvements and solutions that the product brings to the consumer.
Engage internal audiences in a similar manner by highlighting relevant benefits in every communication. If the news is not good, such as layoffs or reassignments, get the word out quickly, honestly and compassionately. Workforce adjustment is not only bad for pink slip recipients; it batters the morale of those who keep their jobs. Let remaining employees know they are part of an organization reengineering itself for success at the individual and corporate levels. Otherwise, competitors will tell a better “what’s in it for me” story to your people.
M&A communications will have a “call to action,” a desired response that usually is explicit, from executing a new procedure to showing support for the new company. In this solicitation of action on the audience’s part (answering “What do I do next?”), M&A communications differ from other forms of PR and corporate communications and take on the more deliberate tone of many marketing deliverables. Always be respectful and honest, but never ambiguous.
Stay on the Two-Way Street
While “feedback freedom” is important in every corporate setting, employees have an acute need to speak out during M&A. All internal communications should include contacts and mechanisms for voicing opinions and making recommendations—e-mail addresses dedicated to employee comments, anonymous hardcopy forms, etc. Subsequent communications should showcase feedback received—the favorable and the less-so—with thoughtful company responses. Town hall meetings are a time-tested way for the workforce to access leaders, especially through question-and-answer sessions. Focus groups can provide a more in-depth and personal forum for employees. “Dialog” is the watchword of today’s marketing and communications. It is mandatory during the upheaval of M&A.
Get Out of the Bubble
M&As don’t occur inside a bubble; there is a world of consumers, competitors, channel partners, and media reacting to the metamorphosis. Draw outside commentary and developments into the internal conversation. Reinforce positive media coverage. Respond to negative assessments truthfully and professionally. Broadcast company news from the “front.” Are vendors providing more generous credit terms based on their increased confidence in the joint enterprise? Spread the good report beyond the accounting department. Are customers enjoying a greater range of products or new efficiencies resulting from the deal? Don’t keep it a secret.
Connect People to the Process and Promise
Mergers and acquisitions define business eras, seen in the top-dollar purchases of this decade’s private equity boom giving way to the shotgun marriages of the 2008 collapse. Companies continue to combine, making our role as professional communicators vital. Change is a hard sell, no matter how well-conceived or unavoidable it may be. Employee communications connects people to the process and promise that is M&A. The new company will only stand united with a workforce that is informed, reassured and respected.
SELECTING EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS TOOLS DURING M&A
- Dedicated Intranet Site: A dedicated intranet site should be a hub for news, relevant information and FAQs. Archive all employee communications on the site for ongoing reference.
- Executive Blog: A blog from the combined company’s leadership will explain the transition in a knowledgeable yet personable voice. Postings can be from more than one executive. The blog will also benefit external communications as media and customers access it.
- Twitter: It’s easy enough to set up a Twitter account to send and receive tweets relating to the M&A. Remember, this is a public forum. Use the search function to catch mentions in the Twitterverse. Respond to these as appropriate, providing useful, respectful information.
- Town Hall Meetings: Presenting top executives in live settings sends a clear message: leadership cares. Extend the gathering via conference call-ins and Webcasts. The all-important question-and-answer segment honors employee concerns while exuding confidence in “the deal.” Invite offsite employees to submit questions in advance, which can be answered in tandem with questions from the live audience.
- Focus Groups: Organize smaller forums (up to 20 attendees) to address issues specific to geographic locations, departments and/or business units. Maintain an agenda but allow the sessions to be flexible and candid. Use feedback to refine upcoming employee communications.
- Channel Partner Communications: Suppliers, distributors, retailers and other channel partners are “in the family” too. Keep them informed with regular communications and solicit their feedback.
- Management Talking Points: Employees will turn to their direct managers for the “real story.” Provide management with talking points and tips that will allow them to reinforce official M&A communications in their own words.
- Ambassador Program: Assign key employees as ambassadors to welcome newcomers and help build the new corporate culture. Equip ambassadors with talking points and guidelines similar to those described above. Ambassadors should have substantial company experience, superior communication skills, and a commitment to the success of the merger or acquisition.
Jason Karpf is a public relations and marketing consultant based in Southern California. He received an Award of Excellence from the Public Relations Society of America's Los Angeles chapter for co-managing media relations for the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office during the 2004-2005 Michael Jackson criminal trial. www.jasonkarpf.com.