EMerger Workshop - Merger Integration



Creating an HR Integration Team Charter

Objective

Practice completing a HR Charter.

Outcome

❑ Task Force Charter completed (Resources, Boundaries, and Links).

Instructions

1. Review case study background information.

2. Review the scope and objectives of the Task Force Charter.

3. Complete the Resources, Boundaries, and Links sections of the Task Force Charter.

Time

This team activity will take 30 minutes to complete.

HR Task Force Background Information

Hill Country Technology Human Resources Department Organizational Chart

Human Resources Department

Hill Country Human Resources Department—Background

The Human Resources function at Hill Country Technologies started two years ago. The last few months have been spent developing and implementing an employee stock option program. Employees seem pleased with the new benefit; however, there is still some confusion about how it works.

Recruiting is one of the best processes at Hill Country. The organization has been spending a lot on recruiting agency fees which has been deemed necessary due to the company’s high growth. The employee referral program has also contributed to the success of recruiting.

Managers are heavily involved in hiring decisions, the orientation process, making promotions, and giving spot rewards and recognition. Retention of staff is critical due to the steep learning curve on the products. Managers are evaluated based on employee attrition in their area. So far, Hill Country’s turnover is below the industry average.

Employees generally like to work at Hill Country Technology. The benefits are progressive and the pay is above market to attract the best and the brightest.

The company does not have an expense policy in place, which is resulting in abuse of the system.

Hill Country Technology is very goal driven and all incentive programs are tied to performance. Many measures are in place to monitor the status of the business, and they are shared openly with the organization.

As a result of this openness, employees are well aware of the quality issues with the O chip when coupled with different software. Most were very supportive of the merger in order to have one consistent software development partner.

Columbus Communication Human Resources Department Organizational Chart

Human Resources Department

Columbus Communications Human Resources Department—Background

The Human Resource function provides support to the managers when needed. Little recruiting has been necessary the last few years due to the company’s slow growth. People are hired as experts and not much of an investment is made in their development.

The biggest positive about the merger perceived by Columbus employees is the stock option program. They are anxious to learn what the benefit is and how it works.

A few employees just left to join startups in the area. A buzz has started in the hallways as employees are considering other opportunities because of the uncertainty of their roles after the merger.

Managers are not very involved with employees’ careers. All promotions and salary increases happen once a year and must be approved by the CEO, Peter Murphy.

Many employees were not aware of their company’s flat revenues and were caught by surprise with their CEO’s decision to sell the company.

They are concerned with the quality issues that Hill Country is experiencing around the O chip. Total quality and continuous process improvement are ingrained values in the Columbus organization.

Human Resources Task Force Profiles

Team Members

Sally Anderson, Task Force Leader—Hill Country Technology, HR Manager

Sally is an opinionated woman with a strong personality. She is not afraid to speak her mind, but sometimes does not know when to stay quiet. Her primary philosophy is to take care of employees and they will take care of customers. She plans to push to convert Columbus Communications’ employees to Hill Country Technology’s pay and benefit programs as soon as possible.

Alex Mitchell—Hill Country Technology, Compensation Specialist

Alex is one of Hank’s buddies from college. He has limited HR experience and is learning on the job. Alex has spent the last six months designing and implementing the new stock option program at Hill Country.

Joan Jacobson—Columbus Communications, HR Manager

Joan has been with Columbus Communications for four years. Joan has started to see a rise in attrition and has raised red flags to Lynn and Peter, but they appear to fall on deaf ears. Also, in Europe, the company is starting to have difficulty attracting new employees because pay, benefits, and employee development is not competitive.

Joan has recommended many programs to aid employees. At each suggestion, Lynn Gain, the VP of HR at Columbus, has turned her down and always has an argument against change.

Amy Baker—Columbus Communications, Payroll & Benefits Specialist

Amy joined Columbus Communications when she completed college two years ago. Lynn Gain hired Amy per instruction from Peter because she’s his niece. She has picked up the job responsibilities fairly well, even though she is not very detail oriented and continues to make mistakes with each payroll.

Peter wanted Lynn to participate in the integration process, but Hank refused because he had heard complaints from the key principals about her aversion to change. Without Lynn on the team to look after his interests, Peter sees Amy as his proxy for influencing the team’s work.

Memo Regarding CrosStream Communications’ Strategies

|To: |Integration Team, Integration Task Forces |

|From: |Steering Committee |

|Subject: |CrosStream Communications’ Strategies |

The Steering Committee discussed the following keys to success for the new organization:

• Reducing the time to market for new products

• Consistent high-quality products

• Trained global resources to meet demand in leading-edge technology

• Controlled growth—spending plan in line with revenue growth

In order to achieve these strategies, the organization needs to be able to support:

• Crisp product development and introduction processes

• Total Quality Process Improvement methodology

• Continuous investment in employee development and retention

• Forecasting, spending plans and fiscal controls

Task Force Charter

Team Name: 

HR Task Force

Team Members: 

• Sally Anderson, Team Leader—Hill Country Technology, HR Manager

• Alex Mitchell—Hill Country Technology, Compensation Specialist

• Joan Jacobson—Columbus Communications, HR Manager

• Amy Baker—Columbus Communications, Payroll & Benefits Specialist

Team Scope/Objective

• Integrate compensation, benefits, and stock options plans, and employee development, recruiting and retention processes. Address employee issues about the integration in a highly responsive, timely manner. Stay within budget allocated to the HR Task Force (which is to be determined).

Deliverables

|Deliverable |Approximate Due Date |

| High-Level Initial Plans Due | June 2 |

| Weekly Status Reports Due | Starting June 1 |

| Detailed Project Plans Due | June 30 |

| Comprehensive Plan Review (HR portion) | July 5-6 |

| Detail Project Plans Approved | July 10 |

Success Measures

• All managers and key employees have stock options and benefits within 60 days of the merger.

• Lose less than 1% of employees during the Integration Planning and Implementation periods.

• Do not exceed budget approved for HR Task Force.

Reporting/Communication: (Accountability, to whom, how often) 

• Task Force Leader reports weekly to Integration Team Leader by Friday

• Task Force members report weekly to the Task Force Leader by Thursday

Resource(s): (Needs and Availability)

Boundaries/Constraints/Assumptions:

Can Change

Cannot Change

Links to Other Task Forces

Sub-teams: (Identify sub-teams if needed)

• Key Talent Retention Sub-Team

• Communication Sub-Team

-----------------------

Hill Country

Technology

Sally Anderson

HR Manager

Jennifer Gonzales

Communications Specialist

Chris Claybrook

Recruiting Manager

Janet Thompson

Training Specialist

Alex Mitchell

Compensation Specialist

Tori Lakers

Corporate Recruiting

& Support

Glen Bradshaw

Technical

Recruiter

Heidi Volpe

Benefits

Coordinator

Lynn Gain

VP

Human Resources

Joan Jacobson

HR Manager

Philip Parson

Communications

Manager

Amy Baker

Payroll & Benefits

Specialist

Sharon

Napolis

Communications

Consultant

George Haycock

US Employee

Relations Generalist

Sophia Chow

International

Employee Relations

Generalist

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download