Halliburton’s takeover of Baker Hughes dominated headline space and rightly so. The move saw one major snap-up another – shrinking the competition pool and sending the office gossip talk into overdrive. Nearly every headline carried the billion dollar figure allotted to the bid. But more than any number are the thousands of people who now have a new employer or will soon be welcoming their once-considered rivals to come on board.
However, this isn’t just a story about acquiring assets. This could potentially be a clash of cultures.
Rarely are deals like these kept a secret, but to many of the staff this will be a bolt out of the blue (or red!).
It’s natural to compare yourself to the competitors. When they are awarded contracts your team has chased, rivalry can ensue. So being bought by your competitor is not always seen as a good news story – however positive it may actually be.
Takeover, merger, integration – words like these, typically create a feeling of a mechanical process – which do not have room for people or culture.
Regardless of sector, when two multi-national businesses come together there is an immediate fear for job losses even in a market where a skill shortage often leads to long vacancy lists.
Right now staff will want to know two things more than anything else – will I still have a job and will I still get paid the same?
Most staff will have been around long enough to be a veteran of the takeover process – this may come with good and or bad memories.
As soon as this announcement was picked-up online the staff will have conjured up lists of questions – the last merger (takeover) we consulted on saw more than 1000 questions generated.
To cull the coffee break gossip both of these companies should have answers ready for these questions.
The most common pitfall in mergers and acquisitions is the failure of management to lock themselves in a room and brainstorm what staff will ask and what the company’s stance will be on things.
When managers fail to have answers staff become nervous and trust starts to reduce.
It’s okay not to know every answer but Halliburton and Baker Hughes should at least know where the business is going, why the change and how that will impact people positively or negatively.
Good leaders share good news and bad news so claims of mass improvements to career opportunities (which is likely to be the case) stated alone will appear unbalanced.
People just want to know the facts and then they can make their own decisions.
Dean Hunter is the managing director of Hunter Adams.