How DEI is Essential to Mergers: Creating Company Culture by Building Understanding — In Conversation with Tanya Stewart Blackmon
At the core of any successful merger or acquisition lies the “people” aspect of corporate culture. Many call this the “soft” side of the business — in reality, it’s the most challenging part. Unlike figures in an Excel spreadsheet that you can run functions on and augment to reach your goal, you must paint a compelling vision that motivates your employees to deliver the outcomes you want for your business. Understand and inspire people in order to create the culture you want.
Tanya Stewart Blackmon, a nationally recognized DEI executive, brings a wealth of experience to the table. Her leadership has been instrumental in driving award-winning cultural change, and she has a proven track record of delivering organizational revenue growth and performance improvement. As a systems thinker and servant leader with a business mindset, Tanya has consistently championed inclusion and equity in her executive roles and on various boards.
Tanya, you have years of experience implementing Mergers and Acquisitions, and you’re especially adept at applying a DEI perspective to M&As. Can you share with us how this unique perspective set your work apart and contributed to better merger outcomes?
“In my experience, mergers usually begin with a stage of excitement and optimism from both organizations, followed by what I call a “stormy phase” that is the natural result of two distinct cultures coming together. After a lot of work from both sides of a merger, the organization only passes this difficult phase to build a new culture together. There are three key measures any merging organization should take to set the new organization up for success.
“The first is making sure that the people’s voices are heard and their input is valued. People want to know that they have a place and voice in the new culture, and your understanding of your people will inform the creation of that culture. My philosophy is that the portal of entry into any culture is through its people, so I always take a ‘listening tour’ during mergers, where I take the time to listen to employees from all backgrounds and levels of the organization to understand them better.
“Sometimes, two organizations coming together may have very different work cultures, so it may be difficult for their people to collaborate or communicate. The second measure I take with merging organizations is to bring people together and explore their commonalities, especially when they aren’t getting along. When I was the president of an orthopedic hospital, we had 85 surgeons, all wanting the limited time available for the operating room. To reconcile this issue, I brought them together in small groups to discuss their shared goal of developing a world-class orthopedic hospital and ways to address their unique needs. If individuals see what they have in common with others, they’ll be more ready to accept their differences and work together.
“Dealing with M&As is all about consistent communication. The third key measure for mergers and acquisitions is when you feel you’ve communicated enough, do it ten times more. You can never communicate enough when there is change because people are naturally afraid of change (even if it’s good). Try to understand why they resist the change — this will teach you about your culture and where you want to take it. By taking the time to understand people, focusing on common ground between different organizations, and keeping consistent communication, you’re laying the foundation for a new culture that resonates with all.”
Tanya Stewart Blackmon is a nationally recognized DEI executive with an exceptional record of leadership, cultural change, performance improvement, and revenue growth. She has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, Inclusion & Equity Officer and President and Chief Operating Officer at an award-winning integrated healthcare system along with several Boards.
Connect with Tanya on LinkedIn.
