In this short recount of my experiences, I explore the significance of a structured change management approach in mergers and acquisitions, shedding light on how neglecting the people impact of change can lead to formidable obstacles for organisations.

I was part of a change initiative that involved the merger of the processing functions of two financial services companies. The sponsor and project team focused primarily on the delivery of the integrated information technology solution and generally ignored the people impact this change would have on the affected stakeholders.

The lack of a structured change management approach and oversights in identifying the possible culture changes resulted in a considerably disjointed employee workforce that continued to operate in its parent company silos.

This oversight resulted in the following challenges:

• Employees were only exposed to the systems and processes from their previous parent company, resulting in the company experiencing significant challenges in providing a consistent, integrated processing service to its customers.
• Two legacy organisational cultures were being transferred to the new operation, with minimal focus on creating a new corporate identity and culture.
• Minimal focus was given to how the stakeholders from the different institutions would integrate.

These people and culture gaps resulted in the company spending an additional 18 months launching a new change initiative to create a unified workforce and organisational identity. The sponsor identified to manage this program was fully aware of his role and ensured that the correct resources were identified to assist with the rollout of this important change initiative.

A structured change management approach was defined, the correct roles were activated, and the project was closely managed as part of the “Top 3” projects within the organisation.   The people focus placed on this project resulted in not only the creation of a unified workforce with its own vision and culture, but also contributed towards the change maturity of the organisation for future changes. This gave the people managers the skills to guide their teams through changes more effectively.

In conclusion, a structured change management approach proved essential in overcoming the challenges of the merger. Prioritizing the human impact led to a unified workforce and contributed to the organisation’s change maturity, empowering effective leadership through future changes. Notably, this change emphasized how prioritizing the human element is the key to driving successful organisational transformations, as it leads to a unified workforce, contributes to the organisation’s change maturity, and empowers effective leadership through future changes.