Why people are the priority in MAs Viewpoint careers advice blog

Why people are the priority in MA’s Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is noted to have said: “A merger is hard to pull off under any circumstances.” And the businesswoman’s point was proven when she put together the deal that saw HP and Compaq merge in 2002. The union was met with opposition and scepticism and Fiorina faced criticism for how she managed key talent. By early 2005, she had resigned. Fiorina, however, is not alone in her struggle to make a merger work. The failure rate of successfully being able to marry two companies is high. In academic and business circles, a widely touted statistic comes from a 2011 Harvard Business Review article, ‘The Big Idea: The New MA Playbook’, which states “study after study puts the failure rate of mergers and acquisitions somewhere between 70 per cent and 90 per cent.” The cost of that wasted value is potentially enormous given that in 2016, according to the Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances, companies announced over 48,000 transactions with a total value of more than $3.5 trillion. A major factor that can lead to a successful deal is a well-executed, cohesive integration plan, and the people risk within that should not be underestimated. People integration remains a challenge A 2017 report from PwC highlights that today’s dealmakers are more ambitious than ever, using a merger and acquisition (MA) not just to increase the bottom line but also to “stretch” their business by adding new and unfamiliar capabilities. This can often mean combining organisations that have much less in common, which is riskier, says the study, MA Integration: Choreographing great performance, since it requires a coordinated and well thought out approach to fitting together two cultures.   “If people across the organisation aren’t on board with the transaction strategy, integration will likely falter,” it warns. dealmakers are using MAs not just to increase the bottom line but also to “stretch” their business by adding new and unfamiliar capabilities. It’s clear from PwC’s triannual survey, which surveys 151 senior leaders (including from HR), that people integration remains a challenge. Although the percentage of respondents who said access to management and technical talent was very important as a deal objective, more than doubled between 2013 and last year (from 15 per cent to 33 per cent), there was a sharp decline in the numbers that achieved that goal â€" from 36 per cent in 2013 to 29 per cent in 2016. Prayson Pate, Chief Technology Officer of Ensemble, a division of ADVA Optical Networking, has experience of MA deals from different perspectives. ADVA acquired Overture, a company Pate co-founded, in January 2016. However, Overture previously underwent a merger with a company called Hatteras Networks in 2011. Pate very much agrees that the human capital issue is a crucial element of successfully joining up two companies. Otherwise, he explains, you risk losing the very assets that made the deal attractive in the first place â€" key talent. “In an acquisition, what you are trying to access is new products and technology but also new talent and customers. Organisations need to take steps to hold on to those assets, otherwise the deal isn’t going to live up to its potential. For new customers, that will mean reaching out to them and letting them know how you will support them. For employees, that translates into engaging them, helping them make the transition so everyone is working in ‘we’ mode rather than ‘us and them’ mode, and ensuring that the best talent is not walking out the door.” Pate further highlights the importance of engaging staff beyond executive and senior leadership level. “What can be overlooked is engagement at the next level down, with middle management and the senior technical leaders and influencers. They are the ones that can make engagement at team level a reality and prevent a mass exodus.” Retention of employees is one of a number of metrics that could be used to measure the success of a deal, Pate suggests. “In the case of the acquisition of Overture by ADVA, it was pretty successful â€" few employees left.” How to generate buy-in Beneath that overarching aim, however, what are the concrete issues to be extrapolated and then addressed? And how can HR lead in these areas? First and foremost, Pate admits that no one likes change. Whether their company is being acquired or doing the acquiring, feelings of uncertainty are riding high as staff fear lay-offs, that they may lose status, their team or division may be restructured, what the future direction of the new company will be, how they will be treated and what it will feel like to work for this newly created organisation. There’s a multitude of concerns to deal with that stem from a basic human need for reassurance when experiencing big change, compounded by a feeling of having no control. What can ease this anxiety is being transparent about the deal from the moment it is announced, says Pate. “This involves letting everyone know what is going on, why the deal happened, how it will be beneficial, what the risks are. This is important because, without sharing that information, people will simply assume the worst. Ideally, it should come from the executive level.” Clarity is also important once a deal is finally closed. “This needs to include details such as an outline of direction, who is going to be in charge, the timeline, and process. “I came into ADVA in January 2016 as a result of an acquisition. Once the deal was closed, there was publication of a timeline that included goals for various operational groups and action items that had to be accomplished. It was tracked and updated periodically and made available to everybody in the company. When certain goals didn’t meet their time deadline, this was publicly acknowledged and the steps being taken to get them back on track explained. It really helped people understand the deal.” Ironing out inequality Charlotte Sweeney OBE, an inclusion and diversity expert who also advises organisations undergoing MAs, explains that this can also be a time when staff coming together from different organisations are all too mindful of inequalities among colleagues. The practical day-to-day HR components such as policy, benefits and processes ought to be dealt with as one of the top priorities, she advises. “I have seen that inequalities still exist in policies or benefits for employees five, even six, years after a merger. It creates a huge amount of resentment. In one example I’ve seen, two colleagues working alongside each other at the same level and in the same job had a ten-day disparity in annual leave, simply because they had come from different organisations. “The best way to avoid this is for leaders and HR to get their house in order quickly and have as much equality and balance in the new organisation’s policies and processes as possible. Or, at the very least, make it clear to employees when that is going to happen.” During any integration of organisations, addressing the issue of company culture and having to tie together two sometimes very contrasting cultures under one brand is fundamental. Yet it can often be neglected or managed poorly as the financials of the deal and return on investment take precedence. Sweeney warns that it can be a complex issue to deal with but that timing is also everything. Inertia can be risky because culture is an intangible that cannot be kept ‘in check’ or controlled by set timetables, she says. “Culture is ‘the way we do things around here’. What many companies fail to realise is that culture starts to be created immediately. It will be defined by every conversation that takes place, or every piece of communication sent out once the new organisation is formed. “Both HR and leaders can fall in the trap of deciding that culture isn’t an immediate priority and can be looked at later. Rather, they ought to think about how to create a culture that will mean the organisation is a successful one from the start.” However, given that there are many competing and time-sensitive priorities arising from MA deals, Sweeney acknowledges that it’s a challenge. She advises that time should be devoted early on to agreeing, at least, the organisation’s ‘headline’ values (for example, collaboration, innovation, respectfulness) so they can be used to shape the tone and content of communications and influence other strategic decisions, such as who will be on the leadership team. This can be followed up later by a more detailed programme of work. “At the early stages these values do not need to be honed or fine tuned, they just need to be agreed. So if the company decides it wants to be truly innovative, well, how are they demonstrating that? Are decisions being taken while pulling the company together to ensure teams are diverse? Does the communication reflect that? If these values are clear at an early stage it will help allay the feelings of uncertainty staff will have.” Sweeney warns: “Your key talent won’t wait around if, early on, they don’t like the feel of a new organisation, even though ultimately the culture may change for the better later down the line.” Combining cultures can be less than straightforward Getting a company culture right is vital for any organisation; in a recent survey from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, more than 90 per cent of CEOs and CFOs said that culture was important at their firms and 92 per cent believed improving it would increase the company’s value. But Pate warns that combining cultures can be less than straightforward. “People talk about similar cultures as being one of the factors for success in an MA. But very often the cultures aren’t similar.” In the merger between Overture and Hatteras Networks, he explains, despite decision-makers believing the two companies had comparable cultures, it turned out they were very different, particularly in their people approach. In this example, the incompatibility was pervasive and reached executive and board level, which impeded the company’s ability to move forward and take the right decisions on strategic direction, says Pate. “It made things very difficult so the only solution was a structural one, a wholesale change out of senior leaders. Three years’ later, only two people were left standing, that was the Head of HR and myself.” Carol Gill, Assistant Professor of Organisation Behaviour at Melbourne Business School, says where cultures are different it doesn’t always follow that one has to be superseded by the other. “An organisation needs to consider the culture it wants in both organisations and the same culture may not be optimal because culture needs to fit the context.” As such, decisions around culture should, in part, take into account the business environment organisations are operating in, she adds. “Strong cultures influence an organisation’s success in competitive markets. In this case, evidence indicates that if the acquired organisation is successful, operating separate cultures in different markets and businesses can be more effective. So too, can capturing the best of both cultures â€" integration.” Where the acquired company is unsuccessful (again in a competitive market) other options may be better. “They can choose to go down the path of assimilation, where the weak culture of the acquired organisation adjusts to the strong one; or deculturation where a new culture is forced on one or both organisations and all artefacts [key features such as office layout, room names and so forth] are stripped from the organisations,” says Gill. On the other hand, in complex or dynamic markets or where there is low competition, the relationship between a strong culture and performance is more complex, Gill stresses. HR taking ownership It all points to the need for HR to fully understand the impact of culture on business performance and in different contexts. An MA is an opportunity to build optimal cultures and provide critical advice to senior management on culture strategy in both the short and long term. “Culture is often entrenched, making it resistant to change. So culture challenges are change challenges,” Gill says. Indeed, once the new leadership team took the helm following the Overture and Hatteras deal, Pate says, HR and the new CEO worked jointly to drive some important changes through. One example was in identifying and tackling some of the issues that were preventing the executive team meeting its performance potential. A programme was put in place to improve collaboration and integration by pairing up executive members to work together to build on strengths and improve weaknesses. “They would get together to try and help each other accomplish their goals or improve in a particular area by asking for feedback, for example,” explains Pate. One other factor not usually given much attention in the early phase of trying to integrate two companies is diversity and inclusion. “A change as significant as an MA could shift the organisation’s composition and demographics,” Sweeney points out. “It could have a detrimental impact on all the prior diversity work that has been done. Companies tend to want to delay addressing this issue for a couple of years but by then the opportunity is lost. Being inclusive is an integral part of any business, it helps define culture and an organisation can’t be truly innovative without it.” Progressive companies are tapping into their diversity programmes to foster engagement during an MA and help them work through the integration process. Sweeney explains how two UK companies in the financial sector undergoing an MA have brought all of their employee resource groups together to create a single inclusion network. “As part of trying to create the new company we then asked different groups from the network (ethnic minority members, for example) to consider what challenges they face and what aspects they would like to see improved in the new organisation. This was all fed back to the senior leadership.” And, while a diversity agenda is important, getting staff involved in the thinking around cultural integration is beneficial anyway, says Sweeney. “It will help individuals create the environment in which they will   give their best.” As Pate concludes: “MAs are expensive to execute. The focus tends to be the purchase price and all the negotiating upfront.   But the real value comes from how you bring the teams together. The leadership and HR can really help in making that succeed â€" or not.” If you enjoyed reading this Hays Journal article, herere other blogs that might be of interest to you: How to stop your best people from leaving How to overcome the disconnect between management and employees Four things you should be doing to restore proactivity in your team If you fake it, you won’t make it Leading your team is the most important part of your role

Social Networking for Job Seekers #INFOGRAPHIC - Spark Hire

Long range informal communication for Job Seekers #INFOGRAPHIC - Spark Hire Do you realize how work searchers are organizing nowadays? By the title of this post, and the manner in which most things are going nowadays, you can accept that a great deal of systems administration is being done over web based life. Systems administration over web based life is useful to both occupation searchers and businesses since in-person connection isnt consistently fundamental. Occupation searchers can associate with managers to get the in on new openings, and bosses can utilize online networking to interface with top ability. Truth be told, for this present month Spark Hire will go to the 2013 Social Recruiting Strategies Conference where online networking regarding enrolling is the principle center. When you see how significant online life is turning out to be in the selecting procedure you can value the infographic beneath from Visual.ly that gives us where most employment searchers are doing their long range interpersonal communication. With this data, businesses and employing supervisors can discover top ability without any problem. Agreeing the measurements on the infographic, the activity searchers doing the most long range informal communication give off an impression of being youthful guys 18-29 years of age. Indeed, just 30 percent of ladies use Facebook to informal organization while 70 percent of men do likewise. That is the greater part! Besides, it would seem that the vast majority of the activity searchers on Twitter have a salary of $100,000 or more. Investigate the infographic underneath to get familiar with work searchers and how they explore long range interpersonal communication so you can all the more effectively discover top ability.

What You Should Do to Find Out About Sample College Resume Before Youre Left Behind

<h1> What You Should Do to Find Out About Sample College Resume Before You're Left Behind </h1> <h2> What You Should Do to Find Out About Sample College Resume Before You're Left Behind</h2> <p>One of the most regular errors in the school continue is the nonattendance of editing which may mean syntactic, spelling or grammatical mistake botches. Those can promptly get busted during the foundation and reference checks we make, and regardless of whether you're fortunate to pass them you can't be sure the untrustworthiness won't bring about difficulty down the road. </p> <p>This for the most part implies they're scholastically qualified, ready to form an all around organized paper and see how to explore from dependable sources. Be that as it may, it has an incredible example introductory letter. An incredible introductory letter will let you find the bounce on the questioner. </p> <p>That's not some basic candidate. A powerful introductory letter will expand your application and lift your odds of handling a meeting. There are introductory letters for grouped purposes. </p> <p>Furthermore, it records your past obligations, yet they've no intimation how well you satisfied those obligations. Employing chiefs do a 6-second look, commonly, the absolute first time around. Utilizing a composing administration is the ideal way to deal with have an elegantly composed exposition to use as a rule to ensure the papers you compose are hitting all the fundamental focuses and are at the proper profundity required for your scholastic evaluation. Here are a few rules to follow. </p> <p>If you comprehend what the necessities are for the activity which you need to find out about and you meet them, at that point you're ready to support your resume's ability to have the scout's consideration by featuring a couple, or some of them and how they'll help you to perform better at work in your goal articulation. It's a mess more remarkable than just latently posting your activity obligations and commitments. Rundown coursework appropriate to the activity and industry you're seeking after. As you're thinking about your resume objective, think about the capacities and necessities of the specific occupation. </p> <h2> What the In-Crowd Won't Tell You About Sample College Resume </h2> <p>By modifying your resume for the activity that you need, you can show businesses you have the capacities and experience they're looking for. For the individuals who have humanitarian effort you'd love to include, we will talk about that in a moment. Volunteer experience consistently seems incredible on a resume, particularly if you don't have another work understanding. The most basic piece of an entry level position continue is ensuring the capacities and experience you do have, while you could be from the get-go in your vocation, are extraordinary for the activity that you have to do. </p> <h2> Vital Pieces of Sample College Resume</h2> <p>To ensure your letter sounds true, you should accentuate you know the value of the job of the work reference in the application methodology. When checking on layouts and models, pick the arrangement which is generally proper for your conditions. With our specially crafted paper offer, you can be sure to locate any sort of article help you are scanning for. Should you need extra assistance making, altering, or composing the rest of your resume, you can see LiveCareer for additional proposals. </p> <p>It is conceivable to consistently erase takes note of that are less-significant on, however you may overlook it in the past 25, in the event that it isn't from the layout. The variety there's the strategy of execution. Consider what you will be putting on your resume, and select your layout as needs be. The second you spare an individual variation of the layout include, evacuate, or adjust any information for that uncommon record, and you will have the new position done in a segment existing apart from everything else. </p> <p>Crafting the perfect Education segment is basic to making a flourishing school continue. An exceptional College Admissions continue, including this model, will fuse a solid equalization of delicate and troublesome aptitudes which make you stand apart as a unique candidate. A College Student resume should feature better performing multiple tasks capacities and the capacity than remain composed and on-task during the day. An exceptional Colle ge Student continue, similar to this model, will consolidate an assortment of amazing aptitudes your boss or customer is scanning for in a competitor. </p> <p>This understudy introductory letter is a decent delineation of how you can snare an employing supervisor and get your dream temporary job. A top to bottom training area is the meat of a college understudy continue, so be sure you don't brush over it. Utilize this to gain a straightforward, A yet top to bottom school continue for the target. On the off chance that you can, have somebody from your grounds vocation office, or perhaps a former student inside the field that you need to find out about, examine your resume to ensure you have included however much appropriate data as could reasonably be expected. </p>

Get a Job Promotion

Find a new Line of work Promotion It is safe to say that you are hampered by a huge volume of email each day? Do you go on a business outing and come back to several hundred new messages hanging tight for you? Do you feel covered by all the pressing things to do that come your direction? Do you feel that you never get to your to do things from yesterday? What about the prior week? the prior month? All things considered, envision how your Director or Vice President feels!? The person has more duty and bigger things to do than most. Furthermore, they get much more email. Along these lines when you email an official you need to utilize the correct technique or it probably won't get read. Prepared for the shock: powerful messages to officials will regularly prepare you perceived as somebody for an occupation advancement! Here are 4 guidelines to follow while messaging officials: Lead with the primary concern On the off chance that you need your VP to accomplish something or know something, at that point state it right forthright. Administrators dont have the opportunity to filter through your whole email searching for the takeaway or thing to do. Offer your official the chance to rapidly comprehend your message, structure their feeling or questions, answer and get the email out of their inbox. One association I worked for utilized the BLOT approach (Bottom Line on Top). At the highest point of each email you composed BLOT: and a one sentence depiction of what the email was about or what activity was required. KISS: keep it quick and painless Keep the general email extremely short. 50 100 words is incredible yet make an effort not to surpass 250. At the point when you see a long email you normally say no thanks to it since you dont need it to hinder your advancement of clearing out your email. Administrators are a similar way they would prefer to process 50 messages shortly rather than truly understanding 2 or 3 long ones during that time. Limit sentence length Your official needs to filter messages however much as could be expected. Tedious sentences moderate that down. Take a couple of additional seconds to create your point in less words. On the off chance that your sentence is lumbering, at that point rebuild the arrangement of action words and things. Likewise, separate your sentence into more than one each sentence should make a solitary point. Dont compose for a third grader but instead write in sounds bytes that are anything but difficult to sweep and procedure rapidly. Drop connections On the off chance that youve made a report that presents your data, think about moving the applicable parts to the email. You can do this as a screen shot of your report or stuck content at the base of your email. Its likewise incredibly accommodating to keep your message basic and reference the extra data underneath your mark. This lets your VP/Director rapidly comprehend the motivation behind your message and pick when to process the supporting information. Driving somebody to a connection or connection drops the opportunity of your email being perused. An advancement is hanging tight for you Now would you say you are thinking the best procedure is to simply abstain from sending messages to anybody whose title is Director or Vice President? From an advancement point of view, that is similarly as large of a slip-up. You should be grabbing the eye of the individuals who make advancements on the off chance that you need one. Along these lines, the main alternative is to create compelling business interchanges. Attempting to get an advancement starts on your first day at work. You are continually demonstrating your bosses that you are deserving of a lifelong advancement. Each call, introduction and email is a case of your capacity to carry out the responsibility at the following level. Pay attention to each email and take more time on the ones to your administrators, including your manager both great and terrible business relational abilities and composed relational abilities are taken note! For what reason do every one of these things matter? A proficient, concise email tells your VP that you regard his/her time. The individual in question will at that point be glad to peruse your messages since he/she can process them rapidly. These great email-composing propensities will be valued and regarded by other colleagues and give you the notoriety for being a decent communicator.