Talk of mergers and acquisitions often incites dread for employees — and for good reason, since it may mean the loss of jobs and an irrevocably damaged
Over the last three decades, there have been more than 325,000 mergers and acquisitions transactions in the U.S., according to the Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances. Most recently (and infamously), Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla, acquired Twitter, garnering negative criticism after he laid off half of Twitter's workforce, as the remaining employees reported 84-hour workweeks.
However, acquisitions can be a source of growth for employers and employees alike, if approached humanely, says Paula Pryor, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Walker and Dunlop, a commercial real estate finance advisory.
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"We've grown through direct hiring as well as bringing on those other firms," says Pryor. "Now we're just shy of 1,500 employees."
Pryor recalls a particularly memorable acquisition ten years ago, when Walker and Dunlop acquired CW Capital, doubling in size overnight. She wasn't sure their work culture would survive intact, but she proved herself wrong. Ten acquisitions later, Walker and Dunlop are still named a "Top Workplace" by the Washington Post.
EBN spoke with Pryor along with Bruno Rodriguez, vice president and senior construction project manager at Walker and Dunlop and a former CW Capital employee, to gain further insight into how Walker and Dunlop maintained and even strengthened their work culture through acquisitions.
How does Walker and Dunlop approach acquisitions?
Pryor: When we approach various transactions, we do not look at it as Walker and Dunlap acquiring and taking over. Rather, we are very thoughtful about finding the right partners that will be culture adds and working together to bring new a Walker and Dunlop reality into the future.
We closed the CW acquisition on September 4th, 2012, and [that same month] I remember getting a phone call that we had made it for the first time ever on the Great Places to Work list as one of the best small companies to work for. I was so excited, but that excitement was pretty short-lived. I just thought we would never make it on this list again because CW people were not very excited about us entering their domain. Lo and behold, a year later, after a lot of hard work by 400 people, we made it back on that list.
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Still, when we first did the CW acquisition, there was the CW way of doing things and the Walker way of doing things. Candidly, there were rough times when we were not sure which would prevail, but ultimately we won the CW folks over, they won the Walker and Dunlop folks over, and we became one team.
What is your prevailing philosophy on layoffs?
Pryor: There were layoffs tied to the CW transaction, particularly from the parent company, but we have not done layoffs in subsequent transactions.
We take the people-first approach. Whenever possible, if there are tech enhancements coming into the business or there's a transaction, we prioritize finding other roles people can fill in the organization. There's a time and place for layoffs, but I do think that they can be very undermining to the culture.
How does Walker and Dunlop ensure they retain their best talent?
Pryor: A lot can happen at the corporate level, but it really comes down to the managers knowing their employees as individuals and figuring out their strengths and desires for growth, and then working with them on a path.
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Rodriguez: When Walker and Dunlop acquired us, they definitely gave me the opportunity to grow and helped me get where I am today — whereas where I was before, there really wasn't much growth.
Pryor: In the initial planning of the transaction, CW didn't even necessarily envision bringing Bruno over to Walker and Dunlop, but his [new] manager met him and said, 'I want that guy.'
Rodriguez: I was prepared to look for a new job, but my manager and I hit it off, and it's been good ever since.
What is the biggest mistake companies make when making an acquisition?
Pryor: Our biggest mistake is not being willing to rip the bandaid off. For example, as you bring in two companies, they oftentimes will have duplicative functions. And we've held out in merging those groups together, particularly on the corporate side — but that delays the ability to bring the culture forward, and it results in a lot of duplicative work.
It may be easier to go into a transaction and say, "We're not moving you, you will stay in the same role.' But it creates more tension and frustration for individuals in all parts of the organization when you don't move people around earlier.
What's vital to maintaining culture after an acquisition?
Pryor: The biggest component is communication, especially in a pandemic. We went through the exercise of codifying our values: collaborative, tenacious, caring and driven. And we continuously try to figure out different mediums to connect with employees. The underpinnings of our culture were always there, but you have to make sure people know.
