SUBJECT: Strategic Human Resource Management

SUBMITTED TO: Prof. Ekta Sharma

DATE: 3rd October, 2020

TOPIC
Mergers & Acquisitions

SUBMITTED BY
NAME ROLL NO
Amrit Parmar AU1914017
Sampada Ghodki AU1914027
Seema Raghani AU1914045
Princy Mehta AU1914051
Valerie Ann D’Cruz AU1914085

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Introduction
Employee engagement is necessary in mergers and acquisitions. It is necessary for the
employees to understand the cultural similarities and differences. The employee has two
ways during mergers and acquisitions one of which is growth which is promotion and the
other one is that it could lead to layoff. Communication is key and it is one of the challenges
that is faced by the employees and it may lead to conflicts. It becomes necessary for the
company to proactively keep the employees engaged by effectively communicating with
them.
During mergers and acquisitions, employee retention can be a great challenge which is due
to the negative feelings. It is necessary to keep the employee turnover ratio low in order to
raise the benefits from the skills of the employees. Culture influences the behavior and it
is difficult for the merged company to carry the culture of the previous organization. A
sudden shift in practices brings unease in the company. For measuring the employee
interaction with the merger related content, it is necessary to have the feedback from the
employees. Creating an effective approach for employee engagement would be beneficial.

Activity Objective
We are choosing to design Games and various other activities for breaking the ice and
keeping up morale during mergers and acquisition. Also, we need to understand the
qualities of each individual employee as we will be working with them now. So, we have
tried to formulate games in such a way that it brings out the qualities of an employee. The
employees will also have to align the processes and working pattern with the values and
culture of the new entity.

Introduction of activity
• Provide with updated Staff directory, organization chart, point of contacts,
contact of mentors in the mentorship program, etc.
• Stories/infographics/videos that reinforce the company’s mission, vision and
values among employees of the company
• Mentoring Program: Sometimes the most rewarding work is helping others.
Employees will be given the opportunity to help others grow by starting a
mentorship program. “A group of three buddies” where the problems related to
work can be discussed, skills will be developed. Every mentor can’t have all the
skills and knowledge which should be provided to new hires/existing employees So,
buddy or mentor will be rotated to add more value in the employees. These buddies
could be a leader buddy, role buddy and culture buddy.

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 • HR chat box- This chat box helps employees in asking queries whenever they are
hesitant or have too many queries.
• A potluck party can be arranged wherein employees will bring food and have
a group lunch in the office.
• Games
o Scavenger Hunt- Increase bonding between employees, Leadership
skills, Decision Making skills
In this game the team will be formed of 5-6 members, in a team employee of
both the companies will be mixed and will be given clues to find specific
items which are hidden at the company premises. The team who will find all
the clues in the least amount of time will be the winner of the game and points
will be added to the employee’s account.
• The Marshmallow Challenge – Teamwork, using available resources
effectively and Leadership
All the employees will be divided into teams. The teams will be given
spaghetti sticks, string tapes and marshmallows. They will have a time of 30
minutes to make a tower using these materials. The team who builds the
tallest tower will be the winner. Devised by Tom Wujec. It’s reasonable to
assume that leaders will confront more, not less, ambiguity in the future. The
best way to prepare is to seek every opportunity to plunge into chaos and
radically diversify your innovation network. At the very worst, it could help
you build a marshmallow tower that beats Holly’s.
o Form the shape – Leadership
All the employees will be divided into groups and each group will be asked
to form a specific shape. The group which forms the accurate shape in the
least amount of time will be announced as winner.
o May I help? – Team Building, Helping attribute
All the employees will write their name on balloons. The balloons will then
be put on the floor. The moderator of the game will mix up balloons and ask
employees to search the balloons of their name. There will be few employees
who will not only find their balloons, but also help others find their balloons.
The moderator will keep a check on the number of help each employee offers.
The employee who would have helped the highest number of employees will
be the winner.
o Chinese whispers- Communication and Listening skills
Employees will be divided into teams. One employee will whisper something
to the other and it must continue till the last team member. To assess, a

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 comparison will be made between what the first person said and what the last
person says and whether or not, it is the same thing.
o White Lie - 2 truths and 1 lie- Ice breaking, Employee engagement
The employees will be set up in teams and they have to write a piece of paper,
write 2 truths and 1 lie about themselves. The other team members will then
have to identify the lie and each person gets to choose once. The people who
identify the maximum number of lies correctly, get awarded with maximum
points and eventually win.
o Solve the Issue- Problem solving, Decision making, Creativity
When employees are involved in figuring out the details of a change, they’re
more committed to seeing it through. In other words, don’t simply tell them
what’s happening; involve employees in the process of shaping the change
and making it a reality. A series of workshops will be hosted where employees
of all levels can volunteer to help brainstorm a solution for a challenge/issue
they are facing related to the merger or acquisition. Divide session participants
into groups of 5-6 members. Describe a problem that needs to be solved.
Then:
▪ Give each player an index card and have him/her write down an
idea/solution
▪ Ask each player to pass his/her index card to the right
▪ Tell each player to write an additional idea motivated by the original
one on the index card
▪ Continue to pass the cards, adding ideas until each participant gets
his/her original card back
▪ Write ideas on a whiteboard, creating a mind map of similar ideas,
and have a discussion
▪ The team whose idea will be concrete and interesting will be rewarded
with the points

o Minute to win it- creativity, quick thinking

This will be an individual exercise. For example, each employee will be
asked to write positive words for any category given by the moderator in 60
seconds. The employee who writes the maximum number of words, wins.
Or, Name as many Amitabh Bachchan movies as they can in 60 seconds. The
person who gets the highest, wins, etc.

o ‘Minefield’- leadership, team work, trust building, communication

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 This activity helps build trust and improve communication skills. It involves
participants working in pairs, with one team member being blindfolded.
Then, using only specified communication techniques, the pair negotiate
their way around or over a ‘minefield’ of obstacles. So, for example, the
participants may be told they are only able to use commands such as the
words ‘left’ or ‘right,’ ‘forwards’ or ‘backwards.’ The aim is to help the
blindfolded team member to navigate the ‘minefield’. -

• Encourage networking
The employees must be encouraged to participate in small talk, water cooler discussions,
and even regular communication during the office hours. These games too will help the
employees to mingle and socialize amongst themselves.
In the current situation of pandemic where employees are not able to meet their colleagues
and share their problems or stress from work pressure due to which mental stress among
them increases. In order to reduce their mental pressure, we can encourage them to connect
with their colleagues on a regular basis in order to share their problem and then find a way
out.

• Arranging virtual/team lunch

Companies can have weekly Happy hours with different senior teams to learn about the
objectives and goals of other team projects of the company. They need not be formal, and
can be casual family dinners or just teams from each department getting together and
having fun.

As for the pandemic, when all the face to face meetings get cancelled, we can arrange a
virtual lunch once a month. We can invite the CEO and top management during the virtual
lunch and all the employees whose birthday falls in that particular month. Send in snapshots
of the team having first lunch together

Process of Conducting the activity

There are totally nine different games which will be spread out over three months. This
means that there will be three games per month. The games will be aligned in a way that
talent recognition and boosting morale go hand in hand. At the same time, the games will
help strengthen and boost communication. A lot of times after mergers and acquisitions,
employees of both the companies have preconceived notions about each other because of
the organization they come from. The games will help employees break these biases as
they form informal bands while participating in the games. The games as well have been

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selected and curated for particular reasons as well. The mentorship program will continue
throughout the process.
While all the games will be in progress for three months, each game will accumulate a
certain number of points as well. Each team member will be allocated points accordingly.
Every game will have a shuffled set of team members so employees get to communicate,
mingle and meet each other this way.

The point system will be:

Winner: 10 points
1st runner up: 7 points
2nd runner up: 5 points

There will be a leaderboard where the points will be publicly kept track of to create an
environment of healthy communication and competition. The prizes for the employees
could be a gym membership/a weekend spa resort trip/gym membership/tickets to a famous
cricket match etc. This will be disclosed in the beginning of all the games so the employees
would work towards a mutual goal in sight. At the end of three months, after all nine games
are completed, the final points will be calculated and the employee with the maximum
points will be rewarded.

Monthly feedback will be taken by the employees. Some questions of the feedback form
will be-
1. Was the information which you received so far regarding acquisition and merger helpful
in giving necessary clarity?
2. Do you know where to go to get additional assistance on personal matters, benefits and
paperwork?
3. Are you done with all the documentation?
4. Have you gone through the new policies?
5. Have you understood your new salary structure? (If applicable)
6. Have you received the information on benefits and were they insightful enough and
complete?
7. Was the assistance that you've been receiving helpful and enough for you?
8. Do you think you are able to align your individual goals with the organizational goals?
9. Do you have enough clarity regarding your responsibility and job role? (If changed)
10. Are you encouraged enough to do what you do best every day?
11. Are you satisfied with the reward system for games?
12. Are you comfortable with the work environment?

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13. Are you feeling comfortable within the organization in general?
14. Do you feel your personal development is also taken care of?
15. Do you have a friend circle at work?
16. Has someone discussed your progress with you?
17. Is there anything you think you should be told? (Please specify)
18. Do you feel the games were worth engaging and increasing the bonding among
employees?
19. Did you learn new skills during the games?
20. Did you enjoy the games? (rating system)

Conclusion
Mergers and acquisitions are a difficult time for companies, and they don’t take in account
employee morale, employee satisfaction, fear of layoff or salary cuts, employee
engagement, clarity about hierarchy, and other such employee related issues. In order to
keep up with the changing environment, the HR department has to take over and actively
promote employee engagement as a top priority. This will include goal alignment,
orientation programs and induction into the organization's culture. These games and
activities will help bridge the cultural gap between the merged organizations. If followed,
this will lead to growth of organization as well as employees, in the long run.