Training Best Practices After a Merger or Acquisition

The past few years have been unprecedented for businesses, with a global pandemic forcing enormous layoffs and many companies to shutter entirely. But despite all of the historic inflation, geopolitical turmoil, and more, the top 10 mergers and acquisitions in 2022 still totaled more than $300 billion, with the total global M&A activity reaching over $2 trillion.

“Acquisitions don’t end with a signed contract.”

The largest acquisition of 2022 was a massive $68.7 million deal when Microsoft acquired gaming company Activation Blizzard. When this acquisition went through in January, Microsoft became the third largest gaming company in the world, behind Tencent and Sony.

Deals like these affect every employee and are often met with lots of questions. No matter the size, mergers and acquisitions aren’t as simple as penning a contract and turning the page. Every department of the company involves some level of training to ensure that the organizational transition is as smooth as possible. Having training best practices can help make this transition much easier for employees when the time comes to move everyone over to the new company.

Rebranding Efforts Post-Acquisition

In the realm of business, the process of post-acquisition transitioning is called conversion. Companies must literally convert new locations into their own brand and image. This process can involve things as obvious as changing the sign out front, to more obscure changes such as communicating new brand values to customers.

“Promotional products tend to feel more like gifts than marketing.”

Training Initiatives

A company is made up of hand-picked people who are typically considered to be the company’s most valuable assets. In the wake of a merger, many employees can get a little lost or frustrated in the transition, leading to disruptions and downtime. Downtime results in lost sales. At the same time, existing customers expect high-quality service despite major company changes. To meet these expectations employees must be trained to ensure that service offerings are of the best quality. So during a company conversion leaders will want to ensure the training process is quick and efficient.

This stems largely from the training materials themselves and their delivery methods. Many companies choose to store their training materials digitally. This is a major advantage in cases of conversion. One way to deliver training content virtually is with Mimeo Digital, a Courseware Distribution Platform designed to make training easier for employees all over the world.

“The faster your business can train your new staff, the better.”

Training Best Practices at the Forefront

The key to a successful training program is to not treat it like an afterthought. Now is the ideal time to assess skill sets, integrate workplace culture, and carve out initiatives that will be sure to help retain key people.

However, mergers and acquisitions don’t allow for adjustment periods. A training plan has to take into consideration how the training will be conducted – online, onsite, blended – along with the amount of time that is needed for it to be successful. Planning ahead, one way to get a leg up on a fast-paced transition is to organize training documents and presentations where they can be easily accessed.  

Mimeo’s digital services allow businesses to simply grant access to the relevant locations and training leaders where the documents can be retrieved virtually. From there, the materials can be printed out or accessed via key code by employees who are being trained.  No matter what business you acquire, all of your documents are ready and waiting for you in Mimeo Marketplace. You have the option to organize documents in the marketplace library by store or office region to help ensure employees have access to the right content. To put it simply, any file uploaded is secured and can only be seen by designated internal personnel.

The faster your business can efficiently train your new staff, the better. This will allow you to jump-start your company in these new locations and begin the process of translating your brand values to customers that may have been more accustomed to the previous business.

It goes without saying that the conversion process is a big one. It involves a lot of work by nearly everyone in your company. Make sure to ease the process as much as possible by having the necessary systems and training best practices in place before the big switch. Sitting down with company leaders and mapping out plans for training can save your business a lot of time and headaches down the road.

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