When your company goes through an acquisition or a merger, it’s easy to get intimidated and consumed with the uncertainty as an employee. There are a lot of questions to be answered, from getting new co-workers, new managers, new things to learn, and understanding “What’s my role moving forward, and do I have a place?” Overall, let’s face it: change is hard. How you internalize the change is what separates a successful acquisition for the entire organization.
One of the biggest changes employees might face, though, concerns company culture.
Company culture is the heartbeat of the company — culture dictates how people feel either empowered or stifled. You must establish a company culture early in the acquisition in order to empower employees to do what they’re ultimately employed to do, and it gets complicated when that culture changes. But, it doesn’t have to be a breaking point during a merger or acquisition.