Your Approach to Onboarding Acquired Hires Can Make or Break Your M&A

How you engage and onboard acquired hires can make or break a merger or acquisition. Colin Sloman discusses why and how Cognican can help.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) represent pivotal moments for organizational growth and future potential. While securing the deal is cause for celebration, the real challenge lies in successfully onboarding the 'new' acquired hires. Unfortunately, this process is often more complex than anticipated. 

M&As significantly impact employees at all levels as they navigate merging into a cohesive unit. Despite seamless transactions, integrating two distinct cultures poses a considerable challenge, and lack of alignment can quickly derail the process. Unsurprisingly, estimates suggest that 70–90% of M&As fall short of meeting expectations. 

Failures often stem from incompatible cultures, management styles, poor motivation, loss of key talent, lack of communication, diminished trust, and uncertainty about organizational futures—all rooted in people-related challenges. Neglecting employee engagement—particularly among newly acquired employees—during transitions is a major reason for M&A failures. 

This article discusses why it's essential to change your approach to onboarding acquired hires and how Cognician can help.

Rethinking Onboarding for Acquired Hires 

Onboarding for acquired hires is fundamentally different from traditional onboarding and requires a distinct approach. Unlike new recruits who voluntarily join an organization, acquired hires do not choose the transaction. They enter with uncertainty rather than enthusiasm, lacking the agency they might have had in a regular job change. 

M&As introduce stress as acquired hires ponder job security and integration. Even if roles are retained, employees often feel like newcomers, needing to rebuild trust and prove themselves, despite years of experience. 

To address these challenges, it's crucial to engage acquired hires effectively, shifting their mindset to embrace their new roles with clarity and positivity. A well-crafted onboarding journey integrates them into the larger team, introduces company values, sets expectations, and reaffirms the employee value proposition. 

How Can Cognician Help? 

Cognician's award-winning employee activation platform offers daily micro-challenges and reflections to cultivate new habits and behaviors. This platform provides a golden opportunity to engage acquired hires throughout the transition process. 

Pre-Close (where legally permissible): 

• Understanding the Why: Communicate transaction reasons and offer feedback and reflection opportunities, allowing sentiment analysis to adjust messaging in real time. 
• Introduction to the Organization: Share your mission, values, and culture, providing access to key collateral through a central hub. 
• Introducing Leadership: Use our activation platform’s simulated 1:1 chat experience with personalized avatars, allowing hires to connect with new leaders and express concerns. 
• Focus on Positive Outlooks: Guide attention toward uplifting, forward-thinking content and encourage a growth mindset. 

Post-Transaction: 

• Welcome New Employees: Unlock a personalized learning path on day one, facilitated by engaging welcome messages and reflection opportunities via social learning. 
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Define success metrics aligned with the new company vision and strategy from the outset. 
• Establishing Networks: Facilitate connections with peers to enhance belonging within the new organization. 
• Highlight Growth Opportunities: Inform new employees about development opportunities and access. 
• Personalization at Scale: Maintain individual identity through customizable adaptive pathways and role-specific variables. 

Cognician's employee activation platform transforms the onboarding experience, effectively managing the 'people' aspect of M&As by addressing common challenges and ensuring seamless integration. 

Navigating a merger or acquisition?

Contact Cognician to discover how our customized employee activation experiences can support your transition.

Visit info.cognician.com for more information.