How is the best way to handle telling your employees that you are selling your business?

Your employees ARE your major asset and the main reason why you have goodwill to sell, and if you have been a good employer then you will have run your business with half an eye on your staff’s welfare. So breaking the news to your employees is one of the most difficult elements of selling your business.

So how should you deal with this issue?

You could wait until the very last minute to tell your staff when contracts have been exchanged, or you could address the subject and state the obvious at the earliest opportunity – that, based on your personal situation, that you have given some thought to selling, but that nothing is imminent.

This basically comes under the heading of dealing with change management as a change in boss will clearly affect your employees in one way or another. Redundancy may be on the cards, perhaps promotion it the new boss will not have a hands on approach to running the business, almost certainly there will be a difference management style.

Change management entails thoughtful planning and sensitive implementation, and above all, consultation with, and involvement of, the people affected by the changes.

Our recommendation would be, when you place your business on the market there is no point in rocking the boat and creating uncertainly in peoples lives over something that MIGHT happen in the future, after all it may take a year or so for you to find a buyer. So you shouldn’t tell your employees en mass.

It is only when a deal has been reached in principle and negotiations have reached an advanced stage where the effect on your employees will be known they should be told.

The new owners will certainly want to be involved in this process, and will be in a position to scotch the rumour mill and tell their new employees whether anything is likely to change, otherwise they will be in a position of losing their major asset, and all the goodwill they have purchased.

This entry was posted on 26/02/2010 at 12:34 pm and is filed under Selling Your Business, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.