Make Every Employee Responsible for the Success of the Merger

All employees need to get the message that, so long as they work for the organization, it’s their merger. They don’t have to like it . . . they don’t have to believe it was a good idea . . . they don’t even have to want it to succeed. But they’re supposed to do everything they can, at their respective jobs, to make it a success story.

The merger is a monkey that belongs on everybody’s back, not just top management’s. So long as an employee is accepting a paycheck, he or she should assume mainstream responsibility for making a positive contribution on behalf of the merger. People can hate it, and feel like it’s a bad thing for their careers, but they’ve got to support it. They have to promote it, energize it, and fix it when it breaks. If they’re not willing to do that, they’re supposed to leave because, frankly, they’re no longer doing their jobs. . . .