Q: My company is being acquired and, while I hope to stay with the newly combined company, it looks like I will be moving out of IR. How can I ensure a smooth transition?
A: Being acquired by another firm can be one of the most challenging periods of change faced by an IRO. Not only is there a great deal of uncertainty about whether the transaction will complete, but also you personally are concerned about how this will affect you and your career.
Others in your organization will no doubt have the exact same ‘Wait a minute: how does this affect me?’ moment. But how you view this change and what you do about it will have a great impact on what happens next.
We were recently acquired by a much larger corporation, which meant the IR function disappeared and moved to the parent company. Fortunately, I was involved in the process early on and was able to come to terms with it.
Questions to ask
But I needed to answer a few basic questions: what happens if I lose my job (what are the specific terms of my severance, for example)? Whether or not I stay with the company, what is my role during the due diligence and/or integration process? Will I receive some form of retention compensation if I participate in the transition? And finally, what role, if any, will I play post-acquisition?
Getting answers to these fundamental questions allowed me to focus clearly on the work at hand, which in my case involved coordinating the due diligence on our end and the marketing and communications-related integration.
If you haven’t had that open and direct conversation with your boss and/or CEO, do it now.
With some of the uncertainty out of the way, the most critical thing you can do during this transition is to treat your role as the most important job you have ever had. If you can, volunteer to take on some of the extra workload in a particular area and do your best work.
Interface with executives
If you have a chance to interface directly with executives from the acquiring company, even better. That will give you a chance to show you are truly a team player and prove you are positive, focused and can get things done.
For me, one of the most pleasant aspects of being acquired was quickly building trust with my future colleagues. This is a unique opportunity in your professional career to truly shine. Take it.
As with life in general, there are no guarantees with acquisitions regarding how things will turn out. In my case, I was fortunate to move fairly smoothly from IR to a business development and communications role within the company.
Regardless of whether you stay with your newly combined company or move on, however, one thing is for certain: this period of change will be an invaluable learning experience.
Patrick Myles is vice president of business development and communications at Teledyne DALSA.
