Is your company going through a merger or planning for one? Is your company acquiring another? Are you laying off staff – through retrenchment or retirement? Are you readjusting for growth and development? Company mergers, acquisitions and readjustments are supposed to create bigger and better groups who maximize on the best from both sides in order to create a better whole. The new amalgamation should create value for the company and/or staff.
However, the endings and new beginnings – all of them classified as change that comes with mergers or acquisitions, have the capacity to cause staff disorientation, anxiety, fear, insecurity, conflict of interest and stress. Sometimes, there is excitement and optimism. Where there are negative reactions to change, company productivity suffers as staff try to navigate the new reality. For this reason, some mergers succeed while others fail if the new amalgamation fails to engage all staff in harnessing value for the company and/or staff. Some challenges that merging companies may fail to manage include competition for leading positions, conflict between divisions formed by the newly merged unit, disregarding needs and interests of staff, ignoring team building in the newly formed merger, prolonged and poorly-managed integration period and lack of communication regarding various aspects of the merger.
Over-all, mergers bring change that is can be stressful to employees and as well as traumatic adjustment for some, especially if any staff member is already going through pre-existing challenges in their personal lives or at their workplace. For this reason, sensitive professional and well-coordinated support needs to be offered to the affected staff as well as psychosocial education on the impact of change so that employees can offer peer/mutual support to one another from a position of understanding.
THE OASIS AFRICA GROUP
The Oasis Africa Employee Psychosocial Support/Employee Wellness Consultant Group of over 50 professionals is led by Dr. Gladys Mwiti, Founder & CEO. She is a PhD Clinical Psychologist & Trauma Specialist, a seasoned trainer and strategist. Oasis Africa has had the privilege of working with other companies and organizations dealing with change management: For example:
- ICEA-LOK merger through 2016 and still servicing their staff as needed;
- Chase Bank re-structuring and readjustment from 2016 to 2018;
- USAID re-adjustment – 2016 and 2018;
- HFC Group for 2018 retrenching and restructuring;
- ChildFund, Africa, for their 2019 restructuring program; and currently,
- CBA.NIC Banks ongoing national and regional merger.
Depending on the size of the merger, Oasis Africa Group brings together a team MA and Doctoral level psychologists, personal development coaches, financial growth trainers and legal advisers to offer a well choreographed multifaceted multilevel intervention that reaches staff members at different levels from national headquarters to regional and county company offices. Services are tailored to meet the psychosocial needs of all staff – from management to casual staff members, providing change management and resilience building sessions at plenary, group and individual levels.
Do you need to synergize the gifts of your staff towards a new beginning? Call Oasis Africa to help allay their anxieties and fears – and call them to walk together with management towards a greater beginning marked with shared core values and a “winning” tomorrow. For any staff leaving your company, offer them support through Oasis Africa’s Outplacement Counseling Program – for a soft landing and a new beginning in their next place of employ – self or other.
Note that for individual counseling and support services, if your company pays for insurance services and the insurance company has included your staff mental healthcare in their service provision, then employee individual sessions are already catered for. We service over eight (8) insurance companies, for example: UAP Insurance, APA Insurance, AON Minet, Heritage Insurance, Pacific Insurance Brokers, Madison General Insurance, and CIC Insurance – soon coming on board.
Get in touch with us
Individual Staff Sessions – call Oasis Africa Admin:
+254 725366614 and book for an appointment
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) needs
Email or call Oasis Africa’s Corporate Liaison (Grace Dhahabu):
E-mail: grace@oasisafrica.co.ke
Mobile: +254 725 366614