Day 1 marks the beginning of a potentially turbulent period as two organisations come together. In order to set up your integration for success, you must lay the groundwork with intense planning and a focussed set of priorities for your first day as your newly combined company. Day 1 readiness is a key part of integration planning; preparation should begin long before the deal is officially signed on the dotted line (minimum 4-6 weeks).
You should always keep the deal rationale at the forefront of your mind whilst preparing for Day 1, as this is the key driver to make the integration valuable. A lack of alignment around this rationale within your executive team will inevitably trickle down into the newly combined organisation, creating disruption and confusion within your staff. Transparency with your M&A objectives is key from the outset.
First and foremost, make it easy for day-to-day work to continue. For example, it’s likely that both companies will be operating on different IT systems at the point of close, so you need to create a plan for sharing to take place on Day 1. Your staff will be experiencing a lot of emotions as the M&A news is communicated (particularly those from the Target company), so you can help to reduce their anxiety by providing some continuity and enabling them to get on with their jobs. Creating a communal site for sharing org charts, FAQs, leadership bios and any other need-to-know documents will make for a smoother transition into a united company model.
On that note, a successful integration requires incisive communication. Many organisations make the mistake of focussing predominantly on external comms (to clients, suppliers and the press) and thus overlook the importance of employee buy-in. Your internal audience holds a huge sway over making or breaking an integration — particularly in people-first businesses — so you must communicate with them openly and empathetically. We recommend hosting individual one-to-one meetings with those who are most affected by the changes. Always consider how you’d want to be treated were the roles in reverse.
Finally, signpost clear routes for staff queries or feedback. Whether it’s to managers, the integration team or to leadership directly, every individual should know who to go to with questions related to integration. No matter how much planning goes into Day 1, there will invariably be unforeseen challenges that crop up (whether that’s to do with people, systems or processes). Don’t let these setbacks dishearten you, just focus on finding solutions that connect back to the deal rationale, and you can’t go wrong!
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