Communications Playbook: Use Webcasting to Keep Employees Informed & Engaged During the M&A Process

Just after lunch on February 12 the emails started to pour in: Nasdaq announced its intent to acquire Marketwired. The news rumbled through our London sales pit (and across our other global offices) like a freight train, and with it, the questions: What did this acquisition mean for our growing business? And—most importantly—were there any new colleagues to meet here in the UK?

But within the hour there came another round of emails—this time, invitations to a town hall webcast later that same day, with Stacie Swanstrom, Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Solutions at Nasdaq. Of course you would expect a company with its own webcast platform to use this technology to communicate on such a critical day, but our use of our Nasdaq Webcasting solution that day was about much more than simply practicing what we preach.

With colleagues all around the world there is no better way to connect and communicate on such crucial days than with a webcast. Stacie and her management team gathered with our new Marketwired colleagues in their offices in Toronto and Montreal to share the good news with those of us in New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, Stockholm, Hong Kong, Sydney and beyond. One unified message to all of us, no matter where we were. And for those of us still in bed—Hello, Asia!—the on-demand replay was made available immediately following the live presentation.

Webcasting provides teams with the ability to make a "no one left behind" mandate core to their internal communications. M&A activity happens quickly and suddenly for those not on the secret project team leading up to the announcement. And once it does, rumors, speculation, concern and fear can run rampant across your entire organization if you're not communicating widely and frequently within the company.

There Are Really Two Day 1s

Often, we think the communication mandate to employees centers entirely around "Day 1"—that is, the day the deal is officially closed and the acquired or merged company becomes a part of your team. But the need to communicate on goals and strategy actually begins when you announce the deal, and this is often months before the official completion of the deal. This interim period between the announcement and deal close is actually one of the riskiest parts of the M&A process, when the rumor mill cranks up to full capacity while your key leaders are often heads-down getting ready to close.

Having a webcast the day you announce the intent to acquire is a perfect way to set the tone and manage expectations for the interim period that will follow before the official close:

• Consider this your first "Day 1" when an audio webcast will suffice to communicate quickly, easily, and effectively across your entire organization.

• Align the timing of your email to employees (with a webcast following shortly thereafter) and external press release, so that there is no time for the rumor mill to get fired up.

Get Ready for the Main Event

Depending on the size and scope of the deal, there can be a week—or more often months—before the official close happens. This interim period provides your team with the time needed to plan and execute on your main event: starting the process of uniting your cultures with a single, global video webcast platform.

• Opting for video is crucial here as employees are often meeting new business heads for the first time. Add a face to the voice they heard on the webcast the day of the announcement by gathering your senior management together for a "panel-style" discussion.

• Start planning and testing several weeks in advance to smooth out any internal streaming or bandwidth considerations—this is a mission critical communication that simply cannot fail.

• Don't forget about remote employees—ensure you include interactive elements within the webcast to help colleagues who are remote to engage with their new team.

• Leave plenty of time for questions and ensure webcast attendees can submit them via the webcast player—there may be a lot of them!

The days which proceed and follow any major corporate actions are critical for driving engagement with employees. Using a tool like webcasting can help you communicate clearly, efficiently, and add a personal touch while you reach your entire team.

Download Nasdaq's M&A Communication Guide for a blueprint on how to use multimedia to keep employees informed and engaged during critical times. Then contact us to learn more about how you can create these interactive multimedia experiences with Nasdaq Webcasting.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.