Introduction
Mergers and acquisitions are a part of business. As a leader in your organization, you may have to merge or acquire another company or division in order to grow your business. However, if you’re not careful about how the merger happens and what you do after it does happen, both your leaders and employees might get burned out with the process. This can lead to low morale and productivity for everyone involved. In this article, we’ll discuss why employee and leader burnout during M&A and offer some tips on how to prevent it from happening again in the future.
Employee Burnout During M&A
Employees may experience job uncertainty and loss of identity when their company undergoes an M&A transaction. This can negatively impact their performance and lead to burnout if they are not supported during this difficult period. For example, the employees may feel that their roles have been diminished or that they have less power in the new company. They might also be concerned about changes to compensation, benefits, and other HR policies. These concerns can lead to decreased productivity and overall dissatisfaction with their jobs.
Employee Cures
The best way to prevent employee burnout during M&A is for top management:
- To communicate with employees about the changes that will take place.
- Be transparent about how the changes will affect individual roles and responsibilities, as well as compensation, benefits, and HR policies.
Transparency is essential. This is easier said than done!
Leadership Burnout During M&A
When you’re under pressure to make the deal happen, you might feel like you’re working 24/7. And when it’s over and done with, there’s a whole new set of pressures to deal with as you try to get everything running smoothly again.
Additionally, leaders can be frustrated with their team members and try to get them on the same page, but there’s just no way for them to do so! This can lead a leader to feel powerless and discouraged.
Leadership burnout leads to poor decision-making, lack of employee engagement, and increased turnover—and if leaders are often the ones responsible for identifying problems before they spiral out of control—you can see why it’s so important to take steps now in order to prevent this from happening in the future.
Other causes of leadership burnout are:
- Lack of clarity about goals or expectations (especially those related to performance)
- Poor communication within your organization (which can lead to employees feeling like they’re not valued)
- Excessive workloads due to increased responsibilities due to an expanded workforce
Leadership burnout cures!
There are many ways to prevent leadership burnout, and some of them are fairly simple. Here are a few:
- Set boundaries for yourself—and stick to them! (This is especially important if you’re a Type-A personality). Get enough sleep and exercise regularly (this will improve your mood and productivity) Make sure that your employees know how much they mean to you (for example, by including them in your decision-making process, Give praise when it’s due—and don’t hesitate to give constructive criticism when necessary
- Set clear goals and expectations. This will help you stay focused on what’s important, and prevent feelings of frustration, confusion, or uncertainty in your team members.
- Encourage open communication between you and your employees by asking questions like: “How are things going?” “What could I be doing better here?” “Do you have any ideas for improving our processes?”
Conclusion
It is important to recognize how M&A can affect your company and the people who work there. It’s also crucial to be aware of ways to prevent or deal with burnout so that it doesn’t become a problem for your business. We hope this article has given you some insight into what causes employee burnout during mergers and acquisitions as well as some tips on how to avoid or minimize its effects on leadership and employees alike.