M&As are stressful for multiple reasons, including role changes and getting laid off when staffs combine. Two talent experts share tips for navigating the transition period of your company’s merger or acquisition.
Mergers and acquisitions can hit employees hard, bringing multiple challenges, including job loss. For example, news broke this month that Regeneron’s acquisition of U.K.-based Oxular will result in layoffs, as none of Oxular’s staff will join the New York–based biotech.
What happened at Oxular is not uncommon. Roughly 30% of employees are deemed redundant when firms in the same industry merge, according to a Harvard Business Review article. Of note for life sciences specifically, a recent BioSpace survey found that 5% of unemployed respondents were let go after a merger or acquisition.
Layoffs aren’t the only source of stress for employees during an M&A transition period. The company’s processes, values and reporting structures can significantly change almost overnight, said Carina Clingman, founder and CEO of Recruitomics Consulting, which specializes in talent acquisition and talent strategy for startup biotechs.
“That’s really challenging for a lot of employees who are not comfortable with that sort of level of change,” said Clingman, who’s also founder of The Collaboratory Career Hub, an online community for people interested in working in biotech.
That said, mergers and acquisitions can also benefit employees. Clingman noted that M&As can be lucrative for those with equity in earlier-stage, smaller startups, as these deals are liquidity events.
“I’ve seen research associates put a down payment on a home based on a liquidity event,” she said. “So, it’s not insignificant, even if you’re not a senior VP with lots of equity in the company.”
Bryan Blair, vice president of life sciences at GQR, a talent solutions firm, noted another positive for employees.
“You have a great opportunity to go through something super difficult and challenging that will force you to be uncomfortable—very, very uncomfortable—and cause you to grow if you take advantage of the moment, absorb what’s happening around you and kind of immerse yourself in the situation,” he said.
Here are six tips for getting through—and making the most of—your company’s M&A transition period.
1. Treat Your Role Like It’s a New Job
After a merger or acquisition, treat your position like it’s a new job, Blair recommended. For example, he said, be attentive during important conversations and get to know your new colleagues so you can bridge any gaps between you.
Clingman agreed about the importance of connecting with other employees.
“Whenever you have a new team, I think the most successful people that I’ve seen are pretty proactive about how they integrate themselves into that team,” she said. “And that means forming some relationships, setting meetings on your own, proposing meetings, proposing coffees.”
Blair also advised being in the office if possible. He recommended asking yourself if you want to work from home or have to work from home, as the trajectories of employees who are on site are much higher.
“You also set yourself up to be better positioned to not be made redundant when you’re showing face in the office every day,” Blair said, noting that managers and executives notice who’s on site daily.
2. Have Regular Check-Ins With Your Manager
Quickly fall into a cadence of regular check-ins with your manager, advised Clingman.
“If your role expands or shifts, that person is going to be the one who gives you clarity on what those shifts are going to be and helps you set goals and new priorities going forward so that you can begin to have success and measure that success and fit into the company more quickly,” she said.
Clingman also recommended having candid conversations with your manager about the new company’s goals—as well as its structure and direction—and aligning your goals accordingly. She noted that she gives this same advice to job candidates who are concerned about future downsizing at their employers.
“Making yourself invaluable to them is the best way to hopefully ensure that you will be retained if there is a layoff,” she said.
3. Check the Culture Fit
During the M&A transition, you may be evaluating if you want to remain with the company. With that in mind, there’s one circumstance that Clingman thinks merits heading toward the exit: if it’s not a culture fit. Do the organization’s environment, values and culture align with what you want to do?
For example, Clingman shared that she’s seen toxic work environments where acquired companies’ employees were not welcomed into the other organization’s culture and wound up somewhat like outsiders. If you’re in a situation like that and it persists, leaving you unhappy, she said it’s time to explore working elsewhere.
“I really don’t think anyone should stay in a job just to have a job,” Clingman said. “We all have to do things for our families. We all have to be employed gainfully—and you have to be happy. And so, there’s a lot to say for once you’ve given it a try, if it is not for you, that is OK.”
4. Don’t Rush to Leave Over Layoff Concerns
How you feel about your job security could be another factor in whether you want to remain with the company. If you’re worried you might get let go and want to exit on your own terms, Blair said you could leave as soon as you hear about your organization’s M&A deal. However, if you want to move from your current company to another one, he noted that it’s easier for people who have jobs to get jobs.
“It’s a day and night difference because they’ve got a swagger in their step,” Blair said of those who interview for their next opportunities while still employed.
Clingman advised that for financial reasons, including severance, those worried about downsizing should stay with their companies until they have another role lined up.
“If you’re going to be part of that layoff, you suspect that that’s the case and you leave on your own terms, you may not get that nice severance package that you would have if you had waited a month for it to actually happen,” she said.
5. Consider the Benefits of Staying
If you’re considering leaving your employer because of the uncertainty associated with an M&A deal, Clingman said there could be benefits in staying on, as situations can turn around for the better. For example, she noted, you may suddenly have an integral role in your organization’s new direction, such as getting a drug candidate through the clinic. Clingman said this can be especially true for smaller companies that gain new resources, as those resources can help employees drive projects they were passionate about forward.
“So, staying with the company, fighting through that little period of uncertainty can mean that you get to actually see your drug that you’ve put your heart and soul into in this startup actually end up in patients, which is rare if you’re in the startup world,” she said.
6. Look for Your Next Job—Now
However you feel about your company or job security, you should always passively look for your next position and interview for interesting roles at places where you could see yourself working, according to Blair. You could get wowed with a great offer or at least grow your network, he explained.
“And if you’ve already interviewed with a company, you are so much more likely to get a request for an interview in the future,” Blair said. “If you got an offer, it’s almost a guarantee, even if you turned it down.”
Blair also recommended job hunting at the start of your employer’s M&A transition period.
“You’ll be one of the only people at your company—if you start early—that’s interviewing for all these positions as opposed to if you wait two or three weeks,” he said. “Then, everybody next to you might be doing the same thing.”
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