Doing a Merger? It’s Going to Hurt – a Lot!

I was asked how a company can maintain employee engagement during a merger or acquisition. My answer: “You can’t.”

Trying to maintain engagement during a merger is largely an attempt to have the company avoid the natural consequence of the ownership’s decision. But there are three crucial principles than can reduce the unavoidable pain of putting two companies together.

Without raising unrealistic expectations, my column for SHRM’s HR People and Strategy blog outlines what leaders can do to get as many people as possible through it.