Q. What advice would you have on how to anticipate employee concerns during an acquisition?
Going outside your organization and sitting down with experts who have gone through these transactions before is definitely a positive.
The other thing is I think you get so busy closing the deal and meeting with the banks and the lawyers (you need) to spend some time with your employees. Sit down with them on a one-on-one or each department group basis and have an informal setting where you can really sit down and talk about thoughts and concerns in a very relaxed atmosphere.
Q. How do you set up a relaxed atmosphere?
A lot of our key managers and employees we went out to dinner one-on-one before the announcement was made and told them on a one-on-one dinner or lunch what was going on. In that environment, it’s relaxed. The person is getting a lot of attention, and we made sure to try to talk as little as possible and listen.
Q. How did you determine the employees you took out to dinner?
We based it on a couple of factors. We wanted to make sure the managers of each department were brought into the loop before we made the general announcement, so they could be prepped then to answer the questions and concerns of all of their people that work underneath them in each individual department.
We also looked at the people who had been here 10-plus years and really had a lot invested in Tri Star. We felt we owed them the special attention and more time because they have got a lot invested in this company and, therefore, they really should be included in the group and have a chance to bring out their thoughts and concerns. And that whole series of lunches and dinners brought out a lot of questions and concerns that we were then able to answer for the rest of the employees.
We started about a week and half before the announcement so that we had enough time to take out all the key managers and top salespeople. We made sure we did a dinner or lunch with each personal one. It was Dan (Buba, Tri Star’s CEO) and I at the dinner. Most of these dinners end up being two- to three-hour affairs because most of them were pretty shocked and then a lot of questions came up, and it also gave us an opportunity to explain to them why we saw this as a good opportunity.
How to reach: Tri Star Metals LLC, (800) 541-2294 or www.tristarmetals.com
