The internal comms pro’s guide to the M&A process

By nature, the M&A process is a disruptive one, which emphasizes the need for strategic and well-timed internal communications to keep things steady internally.

According to Ted Birkhahn, managing director at Vested, internal communicators need to start with empathy.

“You gotta put yourself in that employee’s shoes,” Birkhahn said. “You have to look at employees not as one monolithic audience, but based on function, role and seniority. A merger or acquisition impacts all of those different types of employees differently. Are they working in the office? Are they working on a factory floor? All of that impacts how they think, feel and react.”

Here are a few other strategic tips to keep in mind as an internal communicator during a merger or acquisition.

Get the rollout right

Given how much change an M&A process can bring about, the last thing you want as a communicator is people finding out through the media or other external sources. Lisa Claybon, vice president of corporate affairs at a global food service company told Ragan that alignment between internal and external comms can cut down on confusion and help keep people informed.

“In many cases, M&A activities are material information so things can’t be shared internally before they’re shared externally,” Claybon said. “But you can time them so that they happen at the same time.”

Getting leadership out in front of employees soon after the initial announcement is another critical component of M&A comms. Claybon shared an experience in a previous role in which the comms team arranged a leadership tour of company offices to help answer employee questions and chart the path forward after an acquisition that brought in lots of new employees looking for clarity.

“We took the senior executives on a town hall roadshow,” she said. “Every day within the first 10 days of the announcement, they did a town hall at all of the different locations with all of the new employees. It was one of the most successful initiatives because it really brought to life who the company is, who the leaders are and what they’re looking for. And it explained why the acquisition made sense.”

Birkhahn said that communicators can’t just drop a leader in once and expect success — they need to create channels for feedback as the process rolls along to adjust their communication about it accordingly. This also helps humanize the figures at the top of the company responsible for the move.

“Solicit feedback from middle management regularly,” he said. “Set up mechanisms where employees can submit questions anonymously, and make sure leadership is visible throughout the process. Having a CEO come in once or twice in a six-month process is not enough. They have to be seen and heard regularly.”

Provide a deeper context and map the way forward 

A memo simply announcing the merger or acquisition isn’t going to cut it in today’s workplace — especially internally. The message should seek to ease employees into the process and give them a deeper understanding of what’s to come.

Claybon said her team developed a content series highlighting culture and achievements from both sides of a merger to help the parties get to know one another.

“We created a communication series specifically dedicated to bringing the two companies together, she said. It was around the theme of ‘the best of both,’ and we issued weekly communications across multiple formats under that same banner. It helped people pay attention to the activities taking place and the people to get to know. We also made sure it was balanced on both sides.”

Birkhahn said that internal communicators should create a map of all the affected parties in the comms plan to ensure that there are customized messages to each relevant group as opposed to one blanket message that doesn’t go into enough depth.

“Map out all the different employees, their key concerns, the key messages you want to convey, and what channel is most effective at reaching them,” he told Ragan. “If the delivery is not tailored, then you risk the message being missed altogether.”

It’s natural for employees to be anxious during a merger or acquisition — the unknown can be intimidating. But the good news is that through transparent and consistent internal messaging, comms pros can build the groundwork for a smooth transition with informed employees.

“Consistency builds trust,” Birkhahn said. “It also builds understanding. It gets everyone on the same page and in the same direction.”

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.