Company acquisitions and the like

[Willthisworknow]

Our company acquired another. Will increase our numbers from 14 to about 40. Just been speaking to the director who currently runs our dept and essentially I'm going to be placed under a team leader from one of the newbies. I'm annoyed as I want to get promoted but now we have acquired a company which is top heavy and also the staff I have... Well don't know what will happen to them. Just voiced my concerns but I don't see promo happening for a LONG time now. I will have to get used to a new manager and will go from being fairly influential in dept to an unknown. Any tips for handling this? I've been at my level now for 6 years and to start building my rep again with new manager with what appears as less responsibility is so frustrating.

Unusual for a company of 14 people to acquire another company of 40 - usually the other way around. You can bet that overall headcount numbers will decrease e.g. finance operations/logistics of both companies become one. You should seek out key influencers and ask them how you fit into the 3 year plan.

Was your company the bigger company? If not, are you sure your company was acquired? It may have been a merger or your company may have been acquired.

Regardless, in these situations there are winners and losers in my experience. (I worked in M&A for many years). If your performance or attitude decline, you risk losing your job, and will certainly damage your prospects for promotion.

My advice is to be patient, professional and not show your emotions or any negative opinions at work. Figure out who the new leaders will be, and find a way to build a relationship with them. Who do those leaders depend on/who has their ear...try to build relationships with those people too. You will be closer to knowing what's happening.

If you're still unsettled after trying that, polish your CV and see what else is out there. I've seen instances of people getting a generous redundancy package, and not losing a single day of work, as they already had something else lined up. Smart.

Thanks for advice. Definitely an acquisition. We lost folk in our dept due to redundancies and in hindsight looks like they were laying the foundation for this. The issue we have is that we don't have as many levels so people with lots of experience do not have glossy titles such as Vice President so from their titles, they are top heavy (tho looking at years of experience, they have much less)..... So concerned ill be managed by someone with just as much experience as me yet they have the title director v me which is senior manager. Think our head of dept is also,bricking it as she is snr director yet there's a woman with 'less' experience but is a VP. She's concerned she'll be sidelined!

I would hope that the Board look past 'job titles' which are really irrelevant, and look at the experience and job descriptions/performance of the relevant people before working on restructuring.
If they don't do that, and base any decisions solely on arbitrary job titles, then I probably wouldn't want to work for them anyway!

Someone with fewer years of experience can often be promoted ahead of others, and I don't see anything wrong with that. Try to look for opportunities, rather than problems. It's understandable that you're feeling vulnerable, but being positive will give you the best outcome (for yourself to keep your sanity, as well as for your career).

The management will probably want to promote people who are proven competent, good people managers and self-managers, and have integrity. You can't go wrong if you show those things.

You never know, it might work out well for you. I would definitely polish that CV though, as a plan B.

If your company acquired the other one then chances are the other company has staff less effective than the staff in your own org.

The whole org structure has multiplied and that means more openings above you. Even better, the mgmt in your company will be very actively assessing the competence of the people acquired and how it fits into their own culture and plans. Be patient because some people will find they no longer fit in and will leave of their own accord (or be encouraged to leave), resulting in promotional opportunities.

I've worked in M&A at a senior level doing lots of post merger integration and business redesign. Good ambitious people get far more opportunities to progress rapidly in such situations than companies that just grow organically. Hold steady, don't worry. This is a great opportunity for you.