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Companies often face the possibility of being taken over. During the take over many events within the each of the companies will arise. Some examples would be, employees would fear the loss of their job because the other company might not have any use for your position; rumors will start spreading about the merger or takeover that may have been started by individuals who leaked the news; many other events will also arise. In the book Surviving the 10 ordeals of a takeover by Robert Bell, looks at ways that an individual can cope with the takeover of your company or if your company takes over another company. Robert Bell breaks down the 10 major ordeals that a person might face. The First Ordeal: The Niagara of Rumors, is something that almost everyone will face and that is once the word on an impending takeover gets out, the cascade of rumors is the major thing that happens inside executive offices.
All rumors are started by operations on Wall Street. The rumors are started because fear and greed become visible. The fear that one might lose their job or the greed that there might be an opportunity lurking out somewhere. There are many ways we can deal with rumors and a few suggestions are (1) Dont trust anyone or anything for face value; (2) Listen to the existing grapevine and cultivate contacts from cleaning people to former executives from your company; (3) Always ask people on the outside of your company whether theyve heard anything contrary to what you have been told inside the company; (3) Be very suspicious of official pronouncements, no matter how reliable theyve been in the past; (4) Always look for another position. Rather than spending too much time rumoring, use the time to get your resume together an build contacts on the outside. The Second Ordeal: Who are these guys?
While rumors are roaring in your ear, you may now be desperate to know one thing and that is who are these people who are taking over? Everyone will have that curiosity. The reasons people will wonder about the new people is because it will affect them in some way in the future. There are many things a person can do to find out about what these people are all about; (1) start your own research with a computerized library search on the new owners; (2) consider asking your boss directly about himself and his background when he comes on board; (3) dont be taken in by all the backslapping and hoopla and the marriage ceremony meetings. You cant forget that only other peoples money got married, and for now you are merely invited to the cake-cutting ceremony; (4) keep your eyes and ears open at the regional dinners for specific groups of executives.
You might get useful information on what youll be facing and who might be helpful; (5) make an assessment on how the new bosses will run your company by finding out who was present when the deal was made and what was the agenda. The Third Ordeal: The Anglo Saxons versus the Normans, the individuals in the companies will not like each other at first or may never like each other. Every company has a way of doing something and people come to a comfort level and once that changes with a merger or a takeover, the ways things were done in the past well might not be done now. One clear example of what could happen is the travel and entertainment budget might be very different than what you were used to. Maybe the new company is a money cruncher and that means you cant always travel in first class.
Here are a few more issues that might arise; (1) the new corporate overseers may well be fast trackers making obscene amounts of money, often far more than was made by managers in the acquired company; (2) most of the new managers from corporate headquarters will be from finance and accounting and will be penny pinchers; (3) some manager can adapt well to new management and some can not. And the new people might actually be nice people; (4) there might be no evidence that women are gaining because of the mergers, but they have to prove themselves all over again; (5) resentment is very common, the managers in the acquiring company tend to resent petty perks the acquired managers may hold onto; (6) you also have to accept the fact that the boss is the boss, whether you like it or not. The Fourth Ordeal: Nothing is getting done, this is another issue that might arise and that is the almost no one is doing work. People will tend to be more relaxed because no one is sure of what might happen to their job and they might just listen to rumors. When works slows down, people might want to do some of the following; (1) gain a reputation as someone who gets on with the job by creating order out of chaos; (2) if someone walks away taking key information with him, take charge and put the information back together; (3) evaluate each activity or project; (4) take time to grieve and confront feelings of powerlessness. Youll be more effective if you admit these feelings; (5) beat emotional paralysis by posing smart questions to the new management; (6) make sure your subordinates remain effective, be honest with them, acknowledge the changes and keep them informed on a regular basis.
The Fifth Ordeal: The Scramble to fit in, this ordeal strikes a person from within themselves. Until the takeover a person may have believed that they fit in very well. But all of the sudden the way things are done has changed, the bosses have changed, and the organizational structure has changed. People were well adapted to the old set-up, so their fear will be what do the new guys need you for? A person has to (1) keep your confidence high and remember your previous achievements; (2) some of the questions top management will be asking themselves about where you fit in are ones over which you have very little control; (3) other questions that top management will asking are about your track record, economic indispensability, involvement on key committees are areas in which you have a great deal of the control; (4) you may need to be flexible, if you want to stay or move up at your company; (5) sometimes you might have to reconsider relocating to be able to fit in to the companies needs. The Sixth Ordeal: The tough sell, being able to sell your skills to your new bosses is important and also if you sell your skills with your clients / customers .
In order to advance within the company a person has to (1) sell yourself and your achievements; (2) you need to stay close to clients / customers , and get them to sell you to the new management; (3) make sure you are selling yourself to the right person; (4) adapt to the look of new management; (5) dont go around with a doom look on your face, instead look confident and smile even though at times it may hurt. The Seventh Ordeal: The Backstabbers, during all of the above ordeals some might say what else could happen. People who you thought were friends may turn out not to be. People are looking out for their own interest during a takeover because everyone has family to support or a career to save. The worst part of this ordeal is the fact that you might not know the backstabbing has happened to you until long after the fact. You have to be able to secure yourself and dont always trust everyone you did at least not until you know you have a secure position.
The Eighth Ordeal: The Handwriting on the Wall, during a takeover a person will go in denial, this is the belief that the next person will get fired and not you. Denial is one of the toughest things to overcome, but the consequences may be catastrophic if you dont. There are a number of signs that you are about to get fired and the most common one is being left out of the loop. Once you notice that you are not being paid any attention to than you know that something is up. You have to keep on top of these things so that way even if you are fired you have been able to set up other opportunities for yourself somewhere else. The Ninth Ordeal: The Breakdown of Loyalty, this is clearly the way an individual treats its company.
A person may get up and leave with a two weeks notice because they found another position elsewhere which made them happier. People do not think about the company like they used to. People felt bad for leaving but now the average person stays at a company for about 8 years compared to 12 years in 1981. People will constantly have their resume in circulation in hopes that a better opportunity is out there. Especially with a takeover, the loyalty to the company decreases incredibly. Some companies might add some perks for staying but if a person is not climbing the corporate ladder they are certainly not staying there.
The Tenth Ordeal: The Door, is when you try your best to hang on, and then you realized that survival at your old company just isnt going to happen. The final ordeal is being out on the street without the comparative comforts and occasional securities of the corporate set-up. People have three options at that time, (1) suing; (2) search for another job; (3) become a consultant. All of the three options have good and bad parts to them.
But whatever you choose to do, do what you think will make you happy and also what is that you really want out of life and out of the company. The ten ordeals are faced by almost each individual at a company that is being taken over or at the company that is taking over another company. A person has to be able to see before an event occurs and in a sense have plan B out if your current plan will not work out with the new company. A person must remain strong and has to be able to keep ahead of the corporate game because it really comes down to now how you know but whom you know. In order for people to succeed you have to develop very good networking skills with the right people. Because who knows one day that person that you might not like but you are nice to just might put in a good word for you.
But in any event, you must keep your head up high. Bell, Robert. Surviving the 10 Ordeals of the Takeover. New York, NY: American Management Association, 1988.
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