Mergers and acquisitions bring together more than organizations. They bring together different cultures, expectations, and ways of working. For employees, the transition can create uncertainty about responsibilities, relationships, and their place in the new organization. Culture clashes, resistance to change, attrition, and role ambiguity can all complicate the process. One of the most important challenges is redesigning jobs and helping employees adapt to new roles.
A More Collaborative Approach to Change
A productive approach to organizational change combines top-down direction with bottom-up employee involvement, both before and after a merger. Rather than asking employees simply to accept redesigned jobs, leaders can invite them to help shape their new responsibilities. This gives employees an opportunity to align aspects of their work with their strengths and talents.
This approach draws on the concept of job crafting, a framework that can be particularly useful during periods of organizational transition.
What Is Job Crafting?
Introduced by organizational psychologists in 2001, job crafting is a strengths-based approach rooted in positive psychology. It allows employees to make thoughtful adjustments to their tasks, workplace relationships, and how they think about their work, within appropriate organizational boundaries.
When employees have a meaningful role in shaping their work, they may feel more motivated and engaged. In the uncertain environment of a merger, that sense of involvement can help shift the experience from anxiety and confusion toward greater ownership and commitment.
From Individual Roles to Team Strengths
Job crafting can extend beyond individuals. Team or group crafting considers the collective strengths of employees and how those strengths can inform the design of shared responsibilities. This is especially relevant when merging organizations have different norms, cultures, and expectations.
Teams can provide valuable input about the tasks they perform best and the capabilities they bring to the newly combined organization. They may also have shared mental models: common understandings of how work gets done that allow individual strengths to complement one another. Recognizing these capabilities can help leaders redesign roles in ways that support effective collaboration.
People Decisions Matter Alongside Financial Decisions
While financial teams evaluate costs, risks, and return on investment, leaders should also pay attention to the human side of a merger. A strengths-based approach to job redesign can give employees a greater sense of involvement and encourage them to work together through the transition.
The Conditions for Success
Job crafting is not appropriate for every role or situation. Any changes to responsibilities must fit the needs of the organization and have leadership support and approval. Equally important, employees need a climate of psychological safety and trust so they feel comfortable offering ideas and participating in change.
A merger may require significant changes to how people work. Giving employees a voice in those changes does not eliminate the challenges, but it can help organizations draw on the strengths of the people who will ultimately make the transition succeed.
