Mergers and acquisitions are an opportunity for organisations to get rid of people they do not wish to hold on to.
This is according to Andrew Stemp, director of European reward at Amazon, who discussed the importance of benefits and reward during mergers and acquisitions at the Employee Benefits Summit 2011 in Portugal on 22 June.
Stemp advised delegates not to hang on to people they do not have to. While this is mainly a succession planning issue, compensation and benefits professionals should also ask a series of key questions, including:
What different groups of people do you have? Who do you really want to retain and why? Would they pass your recruitment process and get their own job? How long do you want them for? Does it really matter if they leave?
“Don’t overpay them,” said Stemp. “Just sort out the problem.”
He added that the HR team would not be able to address everything on day one but should prioritise their approach, doing things that really matter first. These include factors such as reassurance, role and remit, responsibility and reward.
Stemp added: “Give key people a reason to stay. ‘Key’ and ‘senior’ are not always the same – this is also a good time to get rid of blockers, dead wood, problem people.
“Reward alone will not ensure the success of a merger and acquisition but look to business culture and values as well.”
Read more articles from the Employee Benefits Summit 2011