Keep employees focused
After the acquisition was announced in April 2008, Margolis and his leaders toured TriZetto locations across the country to share the vision with the company’s 2,000 employees. They gave presentations about the strategies and initiatives that would carry the company toward its goals.
“It’s important for the employees to see that we’re not waiting around till some magical day when the transaction closes to get on with life,” Margolis says. “It is business as usual, and for the average employee, things aren’t going to change much.”
Of course, the employees’ first reaction is to worry that things will change. Give them opportunities to share concerns and ask questions.
After each presentation, TriZetto’s human capital management team distributed surveys to gather additional questions and concerns that didn’t come out in the forum. They posted those questions, along with the answers, on the intranet as part of an online publication devoted to the transition.
“Interestingly, a lot of the questions in these situations tend to be about employee benefits: What’s going to happen to my salary, to my health care, to our 401(k)?” Margolis says. “So it’s natural for the human resource area of the company to manage this employee communications link.”
To move past employees’ “me” issues, Margolis appeases their fears by focusing them on the task at hand.
“It’s important to create a robust enough agenda of things that have to be done so that people don’t really have time for excess nervousness or excess energy,” Margolis says.
He did that by laying out clear goals as precisely as possible — down to the dollars of new software that employees had to sell, the number of deals they had to close and how much they had to improve customer service.
These goals were nothing new to them.
“I’m helping them understand that the same things that would make us successful when we’re not changing ownership are the same things that will make us successful when we are,” Margolis says. “If they keep promoting our business and promoting our offerings to these customers, then that’s the pathway to the least amount of disruption. If they spend a lot of energy thinking about things that they can’t control, then that raises the probability that we’re going to mess up with our customers.”
From dealing with new owners to adjusting to a new governance structure, chances are you’ll see more day-to-day changes than the employees will. Margolis found that by reminding employees of his busy schedule, he put the big picture into perspective and kept them focused on their duties.
“When you let them know a little bit about what’s going on in your life as a leader, it helps because they’re going, ‘OK, we’ll do our job. You do yours,’” he says.
Beyond sharing what you’re doing, you should also share what you’re seeing from your position. Be honest about smooth stretches ahead as well as obstacles.
“You have to balance your confident expression about what the company can accomplish with the realities of whatever might be going on in the marketplace,” Margolis says.
For him, that balance is in the details. More specifically, it’s in the words he chooses when he crafts messages. If you want to build trust, you shouldn’t promise more than you can deliver.
“You have to be careful not to speak in absolutes that nobody believes anyway, using words like always and never or promising people that you’ll be here forever,” says Margolis, who is conscious of keeping his credibility intact. “But you can say, ‘It is my genuine desire to be part of the company going forward. It is my expectation that you will join me on this journey.’”
TriZetto’s transaction closed near the onset of the recession. With such a tumultuous backdrop, being blunt about possibilities is crucial. Margolis was frank about what might happen if employees didn’t meet goals during the transition. So he presented a backup plan — lowering the company’s expense structure — in tandem with their goals.
“Make sure you talk to the employees like adults, not like children. Don’t sugarcoat the potential things that could happen,” he says. “[Have a] very adult, business conversation, as opposed to doing something like, ‘Well, if we all believe and if we all have faith, then I’m sure everything’s going to be all right.”