The post-merger integration phase is a tricky time for all businesses.

In this crucial period, you need your teams to be motivated – yet this is just when staff morale can drop, if not handled carefully. If one employee is feeling demotivated this negative attitude can spread to other colleagues.

In a situation like this, action needs to be taken swiftly to avoid one person dragging a whole team down.

Communicate early and clearly

In an M&A situation, rumours start to fly, and assumptions can be made that are widely inaccurate.

To nip this in the bud, you must communicate clearly with your teams and ensure they know what’s happening within the company. PMI is a time of change and this causes concern – early intervention can prevent feelings from escalating.

Inevitably, employees (especially long-standing staff members) will be worried about what’s coming next and where they’ll fit into the new scheme of things. The only way to deal with this is to tackle the situation head-on and talk things through with each person, so they know where they stand. Hopefully, you can also enthuse them about potential opportunities that may lie ahead.

Allocate areas of responsibility

Once your PMI plans are in place, it’s important to divide up tasks and give individual team members areas of responsibility.

By doing this, you’re bringing people into your plans – not leaving them looking in from the outside. If a person takes ownership, they’re more likely to buy into the project. This is especially motivating if you’ve taken the time to evaluate a person’s skill set and given them a role that’s particularly suited to their talents.

Appreciate your employees’ efforts

If someone’s gone the extra mile and really put effort and/or additional time into a job, make sure it
doesn’t go unnoticed.

The easiest way to demotivate a person is to ignore them. If someone is toiling away in a role and has started to feel like part of the furniture, they’re going to become resentful.

Employee recognition (and reward) is vital to making staff feel like they’re a valued member of the team. And when other employees see that hard work and dedication are rewarded they’ll be more inclined to follow suit.

Encourage career development

It’s essential to invest in training and focus on career development if you’re to keep staff motivated and retain
talented employees.

Professional development is high on the agenda for your top workers, and they’ll want to learn new skills. If you give them opportunities to grow and advance their careers, they’ll be more likely to stay with your company.

Supporting your staff with training and paying for their attendance at trade shows and other industries events will also do wonders for employee engagement.

Companies with employee engagement programs achieve 26% greater year-over-year increase in annual company revenue, compared to those who don’t have formal programs.

Want to learn more about motivating your IT team?

When it comes to PMI, Beyond Migration always follow our 5 step methodology.

If you’d like to find out more about motivating your teams during post-merger integration, contact us for a friendly discussion regarding your particular business needs on 0330 043 4532.

Source:

Employee Engagement: Paving the way to happy customers. Aberdeen Group.