Jennifer J Fondrevay – Merger and Acquisition Human Capital Advisor and Keynote speaker
While M&A deal volume normalized and progressively improved throughout 2023, for CEOs and boards, considerable uncertainty remains in today’s market….. There is a simple exercise I employ with companies pursuing a deal to address these questions and bring more certainty to the deal’s unknowns: a premortem analysis.
Click here to learn how to implement my premortem exercise and its benefits for leadership before heading into an M&A conversation.
Jennifer was quoted in this Lattice article on aligning Life Sciences Teams following a merger.
Innovation requires a culture of trust.
Life sciences companies are built on innovation — and research shows that innovation takes trust, collaboration, and the sharing of ideas. Unfortunately, trust is often one of the first casualties of an M&A.
“One of the great ironies of M&A activity is that trust, a key ingredient for business success, often quickly dissolves, as M&A activity is usually cloaked in secrecy,” Jennifer J. Fondrevay, the founder of Day One Ready, an M&A consultancy, explained in a 2018 article in Harvard Business Review.
“A workforce can feel blindsided when a deal is announced, eroding trust and transparency in three mutually reinforcing ways: “our” company versus “their” company; the executive team versus frontline employees; [and] who stays versus who goes.”
I spoke with Fox 32 Chicago to break down several less-than-effective leadership styles and how employees can best mesh inside the workplace.
Jennifer was honored to speak at ACG’s April InterGrowth conference. On the panel “Managing Post-Transaction Integration: How to Achieve Cultural & Operational Success,” experts shared their experiences and advice for how to ensure M&A deals have positive outcomes.
The merging of two entities will undoubtedly ruffle some feathers, and human capital should be the focus of developing an effective post-transaction strategy. Yet Jennifer notes that the people of a merged entity are rarely the focus of post-transaction due diligence, and are more often an afterthought.
Trust, she said, is “critical to business success.” Yet it can dissipate virtually overnight following a merger because the majority of post-transaction integration planning is focused elsewhere. And in trust’s absence, an “us-versus-them” mentality can emerge that threatens to derail post-transaction success.
Read the full article here.
As featured on Lisa Nirell’s blog – the original can be found here.
As a new year approaches, I frequently see a litany of growth projections for the coming year. I’m always amused when these forecasts and undermining practices contradict one another.
Take, for instance, the world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), an area where I specialize. Even in the face of geopolitical and global recession fears, companies are expected to continue pursuing M&A as a growth strategy. Why? Because regardless of whether you are a global, Fortune 500 company or a small to medium size business, it is becoming increasingly difficult to go it alone and succeed in business.
I’m seeing a trend that M&A can undermine—and marketers often ignore at their peril. Glassdoor’s recent job and hiring trends for 2020 study predicts that 2020 will “usher in a culture-first decade for employers…. as growing numbers of companies come to rely on the individual knowledge and creativity of their people as their core business asset.”
During my research for my M&A handbook, NOW WHAT? A Survivor’s Guide for Thriving through Mergers & Acquisitions, “poor cultural fit” was the most consistent challenge I heard from executives as the reason for M&A failure. In my experience, both sides usually believe their culture is best and stay stuck in their old way of doing things. And today’s ongoing frenzy of M&A deals only make this impasse worse!
As marketing leaders, you know that a strong company culture cultivates a workforce of powerful brand advocates who enhance marketing efforts. What can marketing do to navigate the culture war that ensues in the face of increased M&A activity?
Here are three rules of thumb to consider as you evaluate an M&A deal on the horizon, and when you are in the throes of a post-deal journey:
Checking your ego will likely be the hardest for you to do. As marketers, we tend to be exceptionally proud of what we have achieved. And we should be. We’ve typically put our blood, sweat and tears into making our marketing efforts a success. But you need to always remember, your success in the marketplace post-M&A deal hinges on how well you can work together. Check your ego, bring the best of your strengths to the union, and find common ground.
About the Author:
Jennifer J. Fondrevay is the Founder of Day1 Ready, a consultancy that advises forward- thinking business leaders, owners and C-Suite executives on how to prepare for the human capital challenges of M&A and business transformation. She shares her expertise as a contributor to Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Thrive Global, American Marketing Association, and Middle Market Growth. She is also a frequent podcast guest and keynote speaker.