International Merger Acculturation - When Workforces Collide

Sometimes, employee onboarding happens with workers who have been on the job for a long time. That's the case when a merger brings together two separate workforces under the same employer "umbrella". A smooth transition is especially challenging when a merger involves companies in different countries (here's a great article on that topic). Due diligence may cover the financial and organizational aspects of the transition, but the human side of things is often given too little attention.

Everyone Has To Work Together....To Work Together

When two disparate groups of employees are expected to start collaborating, it's not just one side or the other that has to adapt. That's one reason to make acculturation onboarding a part of the merger process for both sets of workers. When everyone goes through a similar orientation to the newly blended company, employees are more likely to start seeing their international coworkers as part of the team.

Creating Connections

Since mergers often result in redundancies, employees are likely to have lost friends due to layoffs. This can make it difficult for them to open up to their new coworkers. That's where an acculturation portal that includes extensive networking features can be a valuable asset. Making it easy for workers to create new connections can pay off big in terms of restoring employee engagement to previous levels.

Get creative - use employee profiles and blogs to give workers a chance to talk about the hopes and challenges the merger is creating for them. This kind of brainstorming may yield surprising results as workers from completely different cultures reach out to help each other through this transition.

Expand SIGs to include topics and hobbies with international appeal to encourage participation that crosses boundaries. Remember that visuals are especially powerful. Employee-led production of workplace videos or slideshows that help each group get to know the other can be a fun and informal way to create feelings of camaraderie.

Don't Make It Complicated

Bear in mind that creating an acculturation portal from scratch may not be necessary. If you use Microsoft SharePoint or a similar intranet platform, you can build with what you have. That's especially helpful if both parties to the merger are already using this software. Then, employees don't have to learn a new system to engage in the acculturation onboarding process.