At some stage there comes a time when you will have to tell your staff that you intend to sell, or that you are selling, or even that you have sold.
Over twenty years of doing this, I have seen some widely differing approaches to this thorny problem. The seller may be worried about how his workforce will react: will they start looking for other jobs? Will they get too engrossed in what is an enormous step for the seller (and not so much them) that they will be unable to work?
Several years back I sold a factory to a sporting icon. The seller had been adamant throughout the process that absolutely nobody was to know about the sale, and he placed all sort of restrictions on advertising, telephone calls, meetings and so on. It was a difficult process, but one thing that is of paramount importance in our business is confidentiality. We soldiered on, and found the sporting icon who was very keen and very willing to buy the business at a bit more than the asking price.
The negotiations were fairly simple and straight forward, and everybody involved to that point was very happy with the way things were progressing.
Let me add here that the seller was 85 years old, and had been a fighter pilot in the war. (The second war, if you’re going to be petty) He was selling because his son was in his 60s and wanted to retire as the chief engineer! And there was the small matter of his wife declaring that if he died and left this thing to her, she would not erect a headstone for him.
Age alone dictated that the workers in the factory must have thought at some stage that he was going to sell. But no… Absolutely nobody was to know.
With everything signed and paid for, the sports icon stood up and announced that he wanted to talk to the staff. He strode into the factory and impatiently called everyone away from their various machines. “Morning everybody. My name is Jock*, and I have just bought this business. I am your new managing director, and I will take no crap from any of you.” The rest of the address was along similar lines.
The response was interesting. I have this abiding memory of the foreman looking at the old man with tears streaming down his face. “I have been working for you for more than twenty years, and you could not tell me or anybody else that you were moving out? This is how you treat us after such a long time?”
On the other hand, I have been involved in sales where the owner has called the staff together on the day he signed the mandate with me. He introduced me to them, told them I would be around quite a bit, and what I would be doing. I then explained to them how their jobs, service, leave and terms of employment are protected under the labour laws, and answered any questions. smiles and greetings every time I went around. I didn’t have to pretend to be an ever visiting insurance assessor.
So two very different approaches. Which will be best for you?
I don’t know. You know about the culture in your organisation.
* Not really
We recently sold two family owned businesses, one a food factory with 800 employees and the other a small guest house with only 7 employees. In the case of the factory the CEO, my elder son, addressed all the staff as soon as the deal was signed and assured them that nothing would change as part of the deal was that both my sons stay on for a year. They asked a lot of questions but we were able to to answer them all to their satisfaction, and all went very smoothly and today they and the business are thriving. In the case of the Guest house the same son held a BBQ for the staff and explained it all, and assured them that the new owners had agreed to keep them all on under current contracts. He then gave them each a cheque equivalent to what we would have had to pay in the case of severance. I received letters of thanks from them all and I still go and stay there as a paying guest and get hugs each time. No man is an island and your staff are the very blood flowing through the veins of your enterprise. It’s just such a pity that the Unions tend to divide us.