Six Steps To Successful Post-Merger Integration During Covid

Integrating an acquired company is challenging in the best of times. During a pandemic, the risks are even higher. Some advice from an M&A veteran.

When Covid-19 tightened its grip on the world last March, my company, Unanet, was deep into the process of integrating a company we had acquired the previous October. Months later, the pandemic still raging, we announced another acquisition, knowing full well the prevailing limitations on conducting business in-person could hamper the vital work of coalescing the newly acquired company with our own.

To say the Covid-19 pandemic has been disruptive to our integration efforts would be an understatement. But even in the throes of a pandemic, meshing the people, processes, infrastructure, products, customer base and most importantly, the culture, of an acquired company can be done — and done well, if a little differently than in “normal” times. With M&A activity projected to increase in 2021 after a downturn in 2020 and pandemic-related limitations likely to linger well into this year, here’s a look at some of the integration practices I have found to be particularly effective in these unusual times:

1. Maintain an unwavering focus on both companies’ customers. An acquisition can put customer relationships at risk. Stickiness will come not only by communicating consistently and transparently with the acquired company’s customers about how the acquisition will enhance the value they receive, but also through actions by your organization that help them to succeed and get more from their existing products, without pushing them to invest in new product. With the pandemic increasing the pressure on businesses to maximize efficiency and resources, helping them in that undertaking is a powerful way to build and sustain the customer relationships that will enable your newly integrated business to thrive.

2. Target a company with a healthy culture that closely aligns with your own. Beyond the product/service fit between two potential partners, it’s also critical to ascertain if their cultures will mesh well. What stated values do the organization you’re considering acquiring espouse and aspire to? How and to what extent do those values actually manifest? Talent retention, employee engagement, the capacity to innovate and to deliver value to customers — these are all critical components of culture. So you want to be confident the cultural fit will be snug.

3. Get an early jump on integration. Connect functional leaders in the two organizations as soon as feasible, preferably early in the due diligence process, so they can gain familiarity and begin to collaboratively develop and implement an integration plan well before closing.

4. Invest in best-in-class communications tools across the organization, then use them to their fullest. Our decision to invest in full-featured versions of Slack, Zoom and other communications platforms was instrumental to Unanet’s successful integration of Clearview Software, particularly once the pandemic hit. My leadership team and I made constant check-ins a top priority, via one-on-one’s, small groups, all-hands, team-building events and CEO roundtables where everything was fair game for discussion. Through it all, we welcomed and acted upon feedback from across the organization, while consistently conveying to people how combining the companies would ultimately benefit them, why the acquisition made sense, and how we intended to invest in them going forward. To strengthen the feedback loop and keep a finger on the pulse of employee morale, mindset and engagement, I’d also recommend digital tools that measure employee experience.

5. Don’t disrupt. People have dealt with enough tumult in their lives lately. Don’t add to it by trying to fix what isn’t broken. Instead, make it a priority to preserve the positive aspects of the acquired company’s culture and enhance it with your own. Make sure incoming employees understand you’re here to provide them with new shared services.

6. Treat it like the recruitment that it is. Getting people excited about the pathway they, and the newly integrated company, are on can be especially challenging in a remote working environment. So let your employees know how you plan to invest in and empower them in their work. Find ways to rally them around the organizational ethos by connecting them to a greater purpose. Offer a vision for how they can advance within the organization. And make sure the incoming sales force has an appealing comp plan. Because during a crisis and otherwise, an engaged, empowered workforce is your most important competitive asset.


MORE LIKE THIS

  • Get the CEO Briefing

    Sign up today to get weekly access to the latest issues affecting CEOs in every industry
  • upcoming events

    Roundtable

    Strategic Planning Workshop

    1:00 - 5:00 pm

    Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process

    Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:

    1. Lack of systematic approach (70%)
    2. Laundry lists without prioritization (68%)
    3. Decisions based on personalities rather than facts and information (65%)

     

    Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns.  They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning.  Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process.  This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented.  If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form.  The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    New York, NY: ​​​Chief Executive's Corporate Citizenship Awards 2017

    Women in Leadership Seminar and Peer Discussion

    2:00 - 5:00 pm

    Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations. 

    Limited space available.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $495 will be added to your total.

    Golf Outing

    10:30 - 5:00 pm
    General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
    Sponsored by UBS

    General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.

    The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $295 will be added to your total.