Resisting the Urge to Merge

While news of potential mergers titillates investors and excites reporters, too often the employees aren't feeling the same buzz. Instead, they are likely experiencing distress and a desire to resist the merger. Typically, business leaders respond to this reaction by trying to soothe employee anxiety. They will, for instance, tell employees that the merger will not result in layoffs and will bring opportunity. unfortunately, this approach often fails to assuage employees because their concerns go beyond steady paychecks and include perceived threats to something much more complicated - their identities. Proactive organizational leaders can be more effective at overcoming employee resistance to a merger if they can better empathize with what the employees are experiencing. Best laid plans during a merger process would have business leaders and HR teams carefully managing the premerger process. Involving employees in the development of premerger interventions is an obvious first step that may pay dividends down the road in terms of building employee support.