So your company has been acquired or merged with another one and you want to know what to expect and how to survive it.
Nobody survives M&A
Your job as you know it, with its responsibilities, tasks, problems, goals, purpose, promotion and salary plans is over.
The smartest of us leave the company merely days after the official announcement. These are the people who were mindful enough to care for an active job possibilities to be able to switch immediately.
The dumbest of us would stay loyal to the old company values, structure, and purpose, and fight against the new management. They will be let go first.
The unluckiest of us will be let go because of the company reorganization. And expect to have several massive waves of structural changes over a couple of years.
And the rest of us will be moved, reorganized, and get a new job, with new responsibilities, problems, goals and promotion perspective.
So, Maxim, why do you write this article with a clickbaity title if nobody can survive M&A?
But you can save yourself
You are not your job. You don’t have control over M&A, but you have control over your reaction to it. This new situation challenges you as are person, and it entirely up to you whether you emerge a better or a worse person after its over.
Don’t blame
M&A is based on lies. Management promises a lot and doesn’t keep the promise. Management would lie to you looking straight into your eyes. Management would keep secrets.
Don’t blame them because you would probably do the same in their role.
Because everybody lie.
We lie to our parents, to our spouse, to our children, to our friends, and yes, to our employers. Lying is part of being adult.
Yet, it makes us very angry if somebody lies to us. Funny fact: we never feel as guilty when we ourselves lie to other people.
It is because we always have good reasons to lie.
So be a man and give the management benefit of doubt. They probably also have good reasons to lie.
Don’t revolt
It is easy to blame the Capitalism for the anger you feel. It is easy to hope that your job will somehow stay the same, you only need to use EU labor laws and policies, create a Betriebsrat, organize a strike, consult your lawyer, etc.
Yes, establishing a Betriebsrat or using labor laws to your advantage could sometimes be a good idea for you personally.
But unless you were already anti-capitalism before, don’t change your political opinions just because of M&A. Everything has good and bad sides. The upside of capitalism was your freedom to create cool new products and services for people, and get a reasonable salary and other perks for it. The downside of capitalism was always the risk to lose your job.
In Germany, they make it especially hard for us, because the worker protection laws trick us to believe our job is somehow safe. The fact is that we can always be released of duty for no plausible reason, effective immediately. Yes, in Germany. They just need to pay us a severance.
So Betriebsrat and labor law lawyers will not help you to get your old job back. At best, you can only get better compensated.
It is up to you how you use your free time: spend it on labor law activities, or on looking for a new job (or on your family and friends if you can accept the new reality and new company culture).
Don’t quit
Do not leave your current employer, just because you are dissatisfied with the changes caused by M&A. Only switch to another job, if it is more attractive to you.
The truth is that almost every job has a way to improve your skills, upgrade your CV with relevant key words or just enjoy a reasonable salary. Even if your job has been changed by M&A, you can always find ways to benefit personally from it. In the most of the cases, there is no immediate reason to leave, without having secured a new, more attractive job first. Even if you were demoted.
Also, try to look at it from the perspective of the company. If your job has been changed, it means there is a new belief that you will bring more value to the company in your new position. Isn’t bringing more value to the company good for everyone?
Don’t take it personally
When we have been laid off, we tend to linger for too long in the past, analyzing what went wrong, whether the decision to let you go was reasonable and good for the company, hating the new management, hearing rumors from the ex-coworkers, feeling Schadenfreude about each fail of the new management.
Know: these destructive feelings and thoughts might stay with you for months and years, and really make a dent on your health (gaining 20 kg of weight inclusive). Or they can be gone in a week, if your new job will be interesting, promising and fulfilling.
If you ever wanted to try something new and to change the trajectory of your career: this is God giving you a chance!
Don’t kiss the ass (too much)
Some people think they have a good chance for promotion during an M&A and so they kiss the ass of the new owners in an especially passionate manner. They would march through the office floors and proclamate the new policies and goals with the seemingly same authentic and honest look like they were saying the opposite policies and goals merely a year ago.
When asked they might even tell you that they have honestly changed their opinion.
Be honest to yourself. Your integrity is more important than a promotion.
Embrace changes
On your old job, your old ways to do things had their reasons and merits. This doesn’t mean the new way doing things after the M&A is unreasonable and meaningless.
Be open to try new ways. Gain experience in doing things differently. You might be surprised how some old beliefs previously considered to be cornerstones of the company culture turn out to be replaceable.
Enjoy the pinnacle
Everything is at its pinnacle short before it disappears. Mechanical clocks, Hi-Fi racks, sabers and swords. Enjoy the pinnacle of your product, of your company culture, while you can.
For illustration, just compare this amazing piece of marketing art (before / during M&A) and this cringe ad in Check24 style (after M&A).
Summary
The first M&A in your life is always very hard. You will survive it though, and probably even become a better person in the process.