M+A
There’ve been a lot of discussions lately about acquisitions in restaurants. What a time to be alive! I love the chance to create solutions that acquisitions afford me. I always viewed each acquisition as an opportunity to make a new restaurant team “safe”. I’ve been through acquisitions before, and I remember how scary that can be.
When I was in telecommunications, M+A was not quite as fun as it is in restaurants. My first experience was working for the Acquiree and not the Acquirer. Every Friday afternoon managers across the country would file into conference rooms to join a call where someone would literally read a list of the people we would be laid off at the end of that day. It was grim and ominous. Over a decade later, when it was our turn to be laid off, I could see the toll that it had taken on our kind and vibrant Director of HR. And it’s colored my approach to acquisitions.
When on the restaurant side I was fortunate to work on about a half a dozen acquisitions. I knew two things about the teams we were acquiring:
They’d lived in fear for months. That wasn’t going to go away overnight.
The restaurants probably didn’t have a ton of support. They were used to being on islands without help.
I always reminded my team that, no matter how overwhelmed and frustrated we might be onboarding our new friends, the teams that we were helping had felt scared for months with a “For Sale” sign on their backs. They didn’t know if they’d have a job and that had to be absolutely exhausting. It was our job to make them feel supported, make sure they knew we were on their side, and do everything we could to make the transition smoother.
Fortunately, our leadership team never went in guns blazing. They always wanted to understand how things worked and why they were set up that way and work with teams to make it better. In each acquisition, that meant something different. I loved being a part of those betterment projects. You could feel morale boost.
I always asked to talk to field leadership as soon as possible. Online ordering was never their number one priority, but, it was often a huge pain point. I was eager to help make it easier. The conversations usually started out rough. In our acquisitions, most Field Leadership wasn’t accustomed to someone from Corporate asking how they could help rather than telling them what to do. My objective for those conversations was always to tell them what my team handled, what support we could offer, collaborate on how to effectively communicate that to their team, and gather a list of their pain points so we’d know what our onboarding priorities were.
At the end of the day, I always viewed my primary job as building relationships between Corporate and the field. While it always took a little longer and was a little more complicated to execute, Franchise relationships were just as important, if not more. I’ve found that talking directly to Franchisees, communicating often, and setting expectations always goes a long way to mending those relationships. Most Franchise owners I’ve met during acquisitions are super reasonable people who have been frustrated with empty promises, deaf ears, and a lack of innovation for years and years.
This is, of course, a very simple summary of an incredibly complex and emotional process for people who were experiencing this change. It was long nights and heated conversations but making sure people felt heard and considered in the process has always been worth it for me.
To bring it all together, the first order of business with an acquisition should be to listen. See how you can support the team during this challenging time and for the future. Communicate often (this includes listening). Teams you’re onboarding won’t know what to expect so, as you onboard, provide clear, written Standard Operating Procedures and expectations (even if you’re not changing any). Having something that they can refer to will ease new team members minds. Never assume that new team members know what you expect. Set them up for success by communicating that to them.
If you’re looking at an upcoming acquisition and need an extra hand, reach out. I'd love to help.
All my zest,
Xtina