I am currently head of training, but my company is about to be integrated
into a huge conglomerate. My department will be taken over and I am deciding
where I should focus my psychology skills. I believe there will be a role in
welfare. What qualifications would I need to work in this area?
Professor Bennison says:
You could be in a very influential situation in your company at this time.
In my experience, those responsible for taking strategic decisions in the
majority of take-overs and mergers are over-influenced by the financial
benefits, and fail to see the impact on employees. They find that these
expected benefits are swallowed up by the increased costs involved in dealing
with the turf-fights that follow as the two organisations begin to integrate
their activities.
Many HR problems will emerge during the acquisition. For example, an
employee who has worked for the company for 20 years with excellent appraisals,
may find that a worker from the other company is preferred for their job.
In a welfare role, you can use your psychology skills to counsel staff in
this situation. I don’t believe you need any specific qualifications to work in
this area.
As head of training in your company, you should have an excellent
understanding of the range of skills and knowledge of your staff, and
understand that the major changes and uncertainty involved will have a major
impact on their performance.
You now have the chance to be a valuable resource in forming the policies
the newly-merged organisation will use to make job selections, and in the
development of policies to assist the unfortunate workers displaced by the
merger.
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