Deal with stragglers
Despite your best efforts at team building and integration, there might be some stragglers. You might find employees who are loyal to a certain process or department or to the old, pre-merger company name. You might not want to part ways with them, but sooner or later, either they’re going to make a change or you’re going to have to make a change.
It’s a situation where compromise really isn’t an option. Either they’re on board with where you want to take the company or they’re not.
“First off, make sure they understand why you’re trying to change,” Grimm says. “The rationale has to be there, and that goes back to communication. That is why the integration teams have been important for us, because it’s not just me saying it. It’s Joe and Susan and Mary and all the people putting the plan together. They’re the ones who are saying, ‘This is where we want to go.’
“Maybe you have to educate them, but after awhile, it’s change the people or change the people. If you’re all moving in one direction, and 90 or 180 days later, certain people can’t get on board, it’s probably time to make a change. You have to set the tone at the executive level and the macro level, but how we go about accomplishing what we’ve set out to do, a lot of that is going to depend on the team you’ve assembled and how they do their jobs.”
HOW TO REACH: Grede Holdings LLC, (248) 522-4500 or www.grede.com
