Change Case: Managing change for merging companies

Situation:

A multinational industrial goods company with sales driven from The Netherlands decided to merge with a competitor manufacturing in Germany. They faced a culture clash, system issues and staff resistance.

Intervention:

Responsible for managing the change, three projects were put into place - organisation design, communications and training. A pre-project examined the prevailing strengths, challenges, perceptions and aspirations in the existing organisations. Based on findings, new structures were designed, negotiated and rolled out. Stakeholders were involved and kept up to date though both direct and indirect channels. Documentation of the new systems, processes and procedures was developed and over 800 people were trained. Over a period of eight months, in the face of sabotage, rumours and outright anger, a new organisation was born.

Results:

Despite the technical, legal and union challenges, change was replaced with chance. By actively managing the emotional and human side of this merger, all parties involved came to realise the strength of the business proposition and how they each stood to gain from being part of a winning formula.