Training Managers First

Before communicating to the employees, we knew HR had to focus first on helping the managers understand the new structures for benefits, vacation, compensation, etc. Once those leaders had a grasp on the specifics, they’d also need training to learn how they could help employees embrace the changes.

Training the trainers. Working with HR, we helped write and design presentations they could use to explain the entire process to managers in the field. These presentations covered the following topics…in simple language:

• Background and reasons behind the acquisitions
• Changes that would need to be communicated to employees
• A roadmap, called a Crosswalk, for explaining those changes
• Scenarios that might arise, and appropriate responses

Crosswalk meetings with employees. These were one-on-one meetings where leaders sat with an employee to explain how things were changing for them in the newly merged company. These meetings provided certainty and opened a communication channel that was previously unused.

We worked with HR to create Crosswalk documents that helped these leaders communicate the changes to each employee group — from corporate employees and medical practitioners to independent contractors.

Each Crosswalk document was a personalized comparison showing:

• Total compensation, current year, and next
• Payroll changes
• Benefit changes
• Updated contracts

Change management can be tricky business, especially when it involves changes in compensation and benefits. Making sure managers are trained, and equipped with the right tools and messaging, helps take anxiety and ambiguity out of the equation.