Common company feelings - Anxiety – Anxiousness – Job Uncertainty – Future uncertainty!
When Nuheat was acquired in March of 2008 by HSBC Capital…the market had peaked and now was about to burst! They bought us at the height of the market. For the next 3 years it was a tough market…being a supplier to the housing industry…particularly in the USA. It seemed like every distributor wanted to return inventory and if they did carry inventory it was very little.
In late 2008 the housing market crashed and we needed to cut over a Million Dollars of costs out the company. How do you make those sort of cuts and maintain a strong inclusive culture? We found by involving everyone and getting creative we were able to get through. It was asking the staff what was more important a Christmas bonus or a Christmas party? Another example was we had 20 people in inside sales and we need to reduce it by one. The inside sales team decided that each one of them would take one day off a month rather than let anyone go. We developed an inside/outside team approach for looking after customers allowing the outside sales to concentrate more on key distributor accounts and their builder/developer customers. There was pain as we did have to make some staffing cuts but they were seen to be done thoughtfully and fairly. Some took early retirement, others went back to school and those that left on their own terms we didn’t hire their replacement.
So it’s all about Culture and committing to make the company a great place to work.
The challenge that we faced was we needed to have HSBC understand who we were, our culture and what our plan was to make it through these tough times! I had learned early on that when you are acquired you need to be in charge of the communication. If you don’t get your story out then they can fill the void and make up the story that they think fits!
What did they buy and why did they buy it? Trust me that when either the economy changes or the ownership changes or both so does the company! Does it have too…Yes…but there is more to the answer. Yes the company will change but that can be a good...even an exciting experience not necessarily a dreaded consequence. It’s all about having the new owners buy-in to your culture!
What is your Culture? Does the acquiring group really know what it is? When anyone from there comes to visit you what do they see! I know what it is that they need to see and that is an energized committed team of employees making products!. It’s all about the culture!
I have been part of a Global business group for the past few years and recently the Managing Director of SAP joined our group. SAP is a large German company in the software business and there are 2500 employees in Canada. Her challenge was that many of the high tech companies coming to Canada were wanting to hire away her staff…because they were well trained. She knew that they had to focus on their culture if they were going to be able to retain their staff. She told me about “This is My SAP” culture that they have successfully embraced. It is a grass roots initiative that each employee looks at the company in a very personal way. As individuals…how can they make the company better…since it’s theirs! Sometimes another job opportunity may look attractive…but if you’ve got the right grass roots initiative here why wouldn’t you want to be a part of making it better!
What is your brand recognition and reputation…and who’s telling the story! I believe everyone should be telling the story…and if you don’t like the current story help rewrite it and make it better or make room for someone who wants to join the company and be a story teller.
You might be saying to yourself well that’s easy for him to say but he doesn’t know what it’s like. There is a huge amount of uncertainty and anxiousness that is in my department. If that’s the case you have two choices succumb to it and be a victim or embrace it and help eliminate it. As a colleague once said to me…you can wander through pityville every once in a while but you don’t want to become the Mayor!
Why did they acquire you...because you are a premium brand, market leaders?
There is urgency and integration and uncertainty
Give them a vision for the future
How to get the organization change ready?
The outside pace VS the inside pace – increases the level of anxiety
What are the fundamental truths?
Trust your judgment more than you think!
Ideas – use the book who moved my cheese?
You have strong leadership that has been in place for many years…trust plays a huge role in uncertain times.
“Embrace the Uncertainty”
The journey of having new owners and possible change that takes place…new laws and new ways can create a level of white noise in everyone’s lives.
And finally on a personal note - When I was explaining to a business coach that I felt I was caught in this unclear direction with an unclear outcome…she said you might not want to hear this but to get to the future you can struggle and fret amongst the white noise or you can embrace the uncertainty and realize that that is the necessary part of the journey that you need to go through.