Your company’s merger might not have the same splashy headlines as Facebook founder <strong><a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/2012/04/09/facebook-to-buy-instagram-for-1-billion/">Mark Zuckerberg buying Instagram</a> </strong>or the intense game of executive musical chairs being played by <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/05/arianna-huffington-no-longer-runs-the-aol-tech-sites/" target="_blank"><strong>Arianna Huffington and the TechCrunch editors</strong></a>, but the impact of a company transition on your career is no less important. You could be faced with not only answering to a new boss, but an entirely different corporate environment.
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Here are five tips to avoid being a merger casualty and instead successfully transitioning your old job into the new space.<em> — Demetria Irwin</em>
<strong>1. Quantify your job.</strong> When companies merge, two of the top concerns are profitability and efficiency. When the time comes to evaluate your position, you want to have quantifiable, irrefutable evidence of your work. Use trusted, reliable tools to break down your contribution into dollars, hours, page views or whatever makes sense for your position.
<strong>4. Ask the right financial questions. </strong>Once the dust settles, make sure you are clear on how the merger will impact your financial well-being. Do the insurance premiums stay the same? Will you have to endure a pay cut? Is the travel expenses policy the same? The answers to these questions will help you determine if you can afford to stay or if you need to be looking elsewhere for employment.
<strong>5. Expand your network.</strong> Get to know your new colleagues—both your new direct co-workers and your new managers. Deloitte, an international business consulting firm, offers tips to company executives leading mergers and acquisitions: “Be highly visible and especially communicative from the moment the deal is announced,” the firm advises. Be sure to work with your new co-worker, but stand out with your ideas, enthusiasm and your desire to make the merger go as smoothly as possible.
