Over the last few years, Credit Unions have been steadily growing with regards to employees, clients, and revenue, as well as a series of credit union mergers and acquisitions. We provide insight into some challenges faced during acquisitions, and 5 solutions to ease the aches of growing pains.
Mergers and acquisitions are incredibly beneficial with regards to market penetration, diversification of skills, and growing their economies of scale. That being said, there are a number of challenges as well. Complications such as organization acceptance, technology, and remote management are high-risk factors that can be deterred with the proper integration of intranet software.
Credit Union Mergers and Acquisition Problems
1. Organizational Acceptance
When a series of acquisitions occur, there is the risk of a culture clash. If two organizations have fundamentally different ways of doing business, it can generate angst or frustration, leading to demoralization and potentially a decline in employee retention.
2. Ambiguity after a credit union merger
Credit Union Mergers and acquisitions can often generate uncertainty across the locations. Information sharing and internal communication are imperative to ensure all employees are aware of the new policies and standards. If the information is scattered, out of date or inaccessible, it can generate an air of uncertainty within an organization.
3. Communication and Remote Management
As with any management, communication is crucial and already has a set of challenges. Whether it be intercultural differences, generational gaps, or varying communication styles, it can often be a barrier. As remote managers of newly-acquired locations, the distance can add additional constraints such as the ability to develop personal/face-to-face relationships, multitasking causing a distraction, or lost and forgotten emails.
Alleviate the Stress of Expansion
1. Improve Organizational Acceptance With Employee Engagement
Ensuring employees feel valued by celebrating employee milestones and birthdays, communicating company core values and mission statements, and celebrate wins such as increasing NPA numbers or top revenue generators.
2. Create and Use a Knowledge Base
During a series of acquisitions, it is important to provide clarity for both the existing employees as well as the newly acquired talent pool. Create a central Knowledge Base to be the main resource for Frequently Asked Questions, and how-to’s, as well as store policies and track who’s reviewed them. Make sure it’s collaborative, and an intuitive search platform. Intranet Connections software will automatically archive old documents, ensuring they do not pop up in search results. Archiving also allows the whole life cycle of the document to stay online. Not only will this ease the transition, but it will also engage more employees, and help them become more self-sufficient, all the while simultaneously relieving some of the workloads of the IT and HR departments.
Tip: A Knowledge Base can also be used to store reports to ensure a more organized system during an audit/compliance.
3. Offer an Employee Directory and Employee Organizational Chart
With the employee directory, employees can easily look up, connect, and network with their new colleagues through multiple touchpoints. The employee organizational chart application displays manager and supervisor relationships, ensuring all employees are aware of who they can contact for different requisites, which is especially important during a change of management.
4. Project Collaboration Software
Streamline projects with a dedicated workspace for project teams to collaborate in one central location. Providing an online space promotes the synergism of new teams materializing. It adds a layer of security to ensure your projects are only accessible to those with proper authority. Remote managers can easily assign tasks to individuals and teams to promote accountability and improve efficiency.
5. Provide Online Training
HR forms and policies can easily be added with an online form builder, with templates pre-built, specifically for credit unions. Onboarding and offboarding forms can be automated, along with a training calendar and online surveys to ascertain employee satisfaction, or to identify areas of improvement.
Utilize a powerful intranet to minimize the risks of a credit union merger
When it comes to Credit Union Mergers and Acquisition, there is always the potential to face some risks. Before spreading yourself thin, consider installing an intranet provided by Intranet Connections. With an out-of-the-box intranet solution, there’s no need for expensive third-party consultants or a devoted IT team to customize the site. Additionally, with a one-time licensing fee, there are no increased costs.
To learn more about a Credit Union Intranet, request a demo, or comment below.
This blog was originally published in 2017, but updated October 2022.
