Employee Surprises

06/11/2019 Redacted Redacted

Carleton College University of Chicago

As a beginning searchfunder I've been talking to small business owners in my community about their experiences and strategies as managers.  One recently mentioned to me that his human resources philosophy is "Hire good people."  That sounds great, but as a searchfunder, part of the deal is to take on someone else's choices in human resources.  Has anyone here experienced or heard of situations in which the employees at an acquired business just aren't working out?  How long should one expect most employees to take adjusting to new ownership?  Or have you been worried about taking on someone else's workforce but were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly that particular transition went?

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admin Stanford University - Graduate School of Business Massachusetts Institute of Technology Harvard University - 06/13/2019

Hi, ^[redacted]‌ - I look forward to seeing comments from others on your questions. In the interim, you may wish to check out our interviews. You can find them by searching for "Searchfunder Interview" (in quotes). or clicking on the Interview tag under browse posts. A few interviews quickly come to mind for me in thinking on your questions:
* ^[redacted]‌, The Importance of the Right Incentives and the Right Talent, https://www.searchfunder.com/post/the-importance-of-the-right-incentives-and-the-right-talent
* ^[redacted]‌’s Betting on Your Success https://www.searchfunder.com/article/viewarticle/1956
* ^[redacted]‌'s Gaining Traction https://www.searchfunder.com/post/gaining-traction-as-a-self-funded-searcher
* ^[redacted]‌'s, A Marathon, Not A Sprint https://www.searchfunder.com/post/a-marathon-not-a-sprint

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Carleton College University of Chicago - 06/14/2019

Thanks, Karen! That's helpful.

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searcher - 06/14/2019

Hi Anne - I have some relevant experience both in managing people you didn't hire and post acquisition transition. Happy to chat offline any time. I could type up a book if I try to answer your questions here :)

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searcher Arizona State University Hult International Business School - 06/14/2019

Anne, it depends....from my experience if you are a traditional searcher, most SF investors don't want you rocking boat too much within the first year. Others have a strong 100 day plan of finding those people immediately and trimming down to bring in new talent and make all your big changes quick and fast. Hope this helps in some small way.

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Carleton College University of Chicago - 06/24/2019

This is interesting. It highlights the importance of discussing strategies and other expectations before entering into any final agreements.

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searcher University of Melbourne - 06/24/2019

You will spend 80% of your time as a new CEO/Owner dealing with some form of people issue, regardless if you hired or inherited them. One could say that if changing the culture is high on you priority list, then starting fresh is an easier path, however be mindful that most of the time the people who work in the business are the ones who keep the business ticking along and probably were a main driver of getting the business to where it is. Best advice I was given, is to just SLOW DOWN, you are going to want to change things from day 1, but you probably shouldn't, It very hard to exhibit this control especially after you have done your DD and created strategy decks after strategy deck and want to move fast in an enthusiastic manner, but the aim is for slow and consistent growth at the start, learn the inner workings of the business that you have acquired, learn about the people that that will become your soldiers and when you figure our what soldiers you need then decide the best course of action

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