And all staff members will have a chance to sit down and try to understand the aspects of the merger that affect everyone on the general information section of the website. This web-based approach will also allow the company to add more information, as it becomes available.
Having a webpage is not a replacement for one-on-one or small group information sessions. In fact, the worst way to announce the restructuring would be through a general, impersonal email that would shock most members of the organization with its abruptness. Employees, especially those who have devoted many of the best working years of their life to the organization, wish to know that the organization cares about their welfare. Even the webpage providing updates about the restructuring should have the email addresses and phone numbers of individuals to consult for further questioning and information about the proposed changes. This will add to the 'media richness' of the site. Of course no website will have as much 'high media richness' as a small meeting, but making the website interactive allowing personal contact information to be available to users will make the website more emotionally and practically accessible and useful for employees than an email.
In such a situation, there are always specific guidelines that are germane to the particular nature of the organization: for example, an organization that is restructuring so it can merge with another entity with a profoundly different corporate culture than itself (such as when Pixar merged with Disney, for example) may need more...
Some restructurings may affect certain departments more than other departments, as well. But once again, generalized communications are not replacements for the 'high' media rich approach of personal contact, and even largely unaffected departments should be reassured that their standard operating procedures will not be altered.
Given that distrust of management is running high in the corporate world, and rumor-mongering is frequent in the tenuous economic environment, it is even more essential that managers are clear in the way that they express themselves to employees, and give information in an effective and timely manner. Managers often do not like to give bad news, such as the need for pay cuts and layoffs, but forestalling such hard decisions only makes things more difficult, as supervisors will then have a rumor mill to overcome, as well as angry and confused employees. Managers should also expect that proposed major organizational changes will invariably meet with change resistance. Change resistance is a nearly inevitable psychological phenomenon observed in most employees. Employees must gain a sense of reassurance that no matter what the pain in the interim, the frustration will be worth it, because the resultant change will bring positive results for everyone.
Reference
Kotter J.P. And Cohen D.S. (2002). The heart of change: Real-life stories of how people change their organizations. Cambridge: Harvard Business School Press.
