Dozens of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) occur on a daily basis in the business world. A vast majority of these deals are strategic plays designed to reduce costs, increase competitive advantage or simply buy out the closest competition. Many M&As go relatively unnoticed by the public unless an interest piece is published showcasing a $ billion headline paired with a well-known company. Unless you track these events, or their impact on everything from your cell phone bill to your investment portfolio, they can be easy to miss.

 Here is an abbreviated list of the largest global M&A’s from Q1 of 2011:
1. AIG: $59 billion
Acquirer: Preferred Shareholders

2. TMobile USA: $39 billion
Acquirer: AT&T

3. Progress Engery Inc.: $26 billion
Acquirer: Duke Energy Corp.

4. Fiat SpA-Auto Business: $18.5 billion
Acquirer: Shareholders

5. ProLogics: $15.2 billion
Acquirer: AMB Property Corp

In the last few months, M&A’s have also been a recent topic of conversation with multiple individuals from a consulting standpoint. Unfortunately, these have been negative experiences from the ‘acquired,’ citing example after example of poorly-managed and poorly-implemented transitions.

Regardless of the financial purpose behind M&A activity, there are still corporate citizens (aka: people) that are dramatically affected by such deals. It is only natural that employees may feel alienated in their role or fear losing their senior position to an individual with marginal experience in their area of expertise. Said differently, an acquired employee is likely to view this situation as something closely aligned with a hostile takeover rather than a merging of shared I.P. and capital in which a new more competitive company can emerge. Senior executives must then lead this transition rather than manage reactions or mitigate attrition.

Deanna Hartley, in an article from Talent Management magazine, proposes that leaders must clearly communicate the intentions behind M&A activity, expectations of value-added processes, and potential risks and opportunities to all staff members. Hartley goes on to say that a key process in communication with M&A is ensuring your message matches what employees hear or interpret. She suggests numerous top-down meetings, roundtable discussions, and exposure to leadership from both sides of the deal. Ultimately, clarity and security should be a target in the minds of upper management while stabilizing the merging of two distinct companies. As long as new business relationships form with frequent, open dialogue, there should be reduced chance for productivity to suffer.

It would not be a surprise to say that there is little emphasis on aligning corporate culture in the boardroom during M&A negotiations. Be that as it may, companies should still involve employees to gather opinions or ideas on the transition as soon as a deal is reached. Early intervention, in the form of open communication, is crucial to quiet the fears of employees on both sides of the table.
 

Last month, Hogan celebrated its annual Hogan Game Day competition, a team-based version of the popular game show “Minute to Win It” that is a much-anticipated event at our Tulsa office.

In the week leading up to Game Day, and the week that followed, the halls were alive with spirited banter (and sometimes outright trash-talk). Our elite marketing team, which planned the event, kept the list of games close to its vest, and for good reason. There are those competitively spirited individuals at Hogan who would have mastered each challenge before Game Day actually took place! Needless to say, Game Day is a big deal around here. And even though my team took last place, my experience far outweighed earning a trophy.

To kick off the event, each employee was randomly assigned teams and tasked with generating a team name (we were Hogan’s Heathens) and deciding who would participate in each event:

Game 1: Stick To It – Two team members, a thrower and catcher, bounce ping pong balls across a table and catch them with a pair of lint rollers. Three balls per roller, one minute to win it.
Game 2: Hanky Panky – One team member pulls out an entire box of tissues, one at a time, in one minute.
Game 3: Breakfast Scramble – One team member solves a puzzle consisting of the front of a box of cereal cut into perfect squares in less than one minute.
Game 4: Dizzy Mummy – Two team members, a holder and turner, wrap a roll of toilet paper around the turner in under one minute.
Game 5: Triple Pong Plop – One team member bounces ping pong balls on a plate and into a fish bowl.
Game 6: Face the Cookie – One team member places an Oreo on their forehead and, without using his/her hands, moves the cookie into his/her mouth.
RELAY: Five team members push a lemon across a 10-yard section of the parking lot with chopsticks. The first team with all members down and back won.

Some would suggest such team-building activities are wasteful, but consider the employee whose only workplace social incentive or team-building event is a break room birthday party or casual Friday. Now consider workers at Apple, Google, Facebook, or other unconventional workplace where a shift in corporate culture – the addition of office game rooms, flex time, office pets, happy hours, or casual dress codes - makes their work lives more enjoyable.

And these initiatives aren’t just to attract quality employees – though applicants are beating the door down to work there – they are examples of low-cost agendas that seriously drive engagement and pride through higher employee satisfaction.

It wouldn’t be appropriate for every business to install a basketball court in its offices, but that doesn’t mean it can’t do something for its people. Creating creature comforts at work not only increases satisfaction, but it also motivates employees to work harder. It’s common to see workers at many of these workplaces voluntarily burning the midnight oil. What motivates your staff?
 

Last month, Hogan celebrated its annual Hogan Game Day competition, a team-based version of the popular game show “Minute to Win It” that is a much-anticipated event at our Tulsa office.

In the week leading up to Game Day, and the week that followed, the halls were alive with spirited banter (and sometimes outright trash-talk). Our elite marketing team, which planned the event, kept the list of games close to its vest, and for good reason. There are those competitively spirited individuals at Hogan who would have mastered each challenge before Game Day actually took place! Needless to say, Game Day is a big deal around here. And even though my team took last place, my experience far outweighed earning a trophy.

To kick off the event, each employee was randomly assigned teams and tasked with generating a team name (we were Hogan’s Heathens) and deciding who would participate in each event:

Game 1: Stick To It – Two team members, a thrower and catcher, bounce ping pong balls across a table and catch them with a pair of lint rollers. Three balls per roller, one minute to win it.
Game 2: Hanky Panky – One team member pulls out an entire box of tissues, one at a time, in one minute.
Game 3: Breakfast Scramble – One team member solves a puzzle consisting of the front of a box of cereal cut into perfect squares in less than one minute.
Game 4: Dizzy Mummy – Two team members, a holder and turner, wrap a roll of toilet paper around the turner in under one minute.
Game 5: Triple Pong Plop – One team member bounces ping pong balls on a plate and into a fish bowl.
Game 6: Face the Cookie – One team member places an Oreo on their forehead and, without using his/her hands, moves the cookie into his/her mouth.
RELAY: Five team members push a lemon across a 10-yard section of the parking lot with chopsticks. The first team with all members down and back won.

Some would suggest such team-building activities are wasteful, but consider the employee whose only workplace social incentive or team-building event is a break room birthday party or casual Friday. Now consider workers at Apple, Google, Facebook, or other unconventional workplace where a shift in corporate culture – the addition of office game rooms, flex time, office pets, happy hours, or casual dress codes – makes their work lives more enjoyable.

And these initiatives aren’t just to attract quality employees – though applicants are beating the door down to work there – they are examples of low-cost agendas that seriously drive engagement and pride through higher employee satisfaction.

It wouldn’t be appropriate for every business to install a basketball court in its offices, but that doesn’t mean it can’t do something for its people. Creating creature comforts at work not only increases satisfaction, but it also motivates employees to work harder. It’s common to see workers at many of these workplaces voluntarily burning the midnight oil. What motivates your staff?