Charity Merger – Transition Planning and Change Management

Our Client

The legal enactment of a merger is the “easy bit” – getting the new entity to think and act as one organisation was the real challenge in the merger of two medium sized charities.

Our Brief

All the necessary actions were in place to become one legal entity, and our expertise was required to support the chief executive, senior management team and trustees in the transition to an integrated organisation that thought and acted as one.

Our Approach

Our first tasks were to develop a project plan of tasks, timescales and responsibilities, and a project management and governance framework for the transition. This framework defined the role and composition of a Transition Steering Group and the 9 Transition Teams for each key element of the project. It included guidance notes and templates for the preparation of project plans, risk registers, budgets and contingency plans. We also:
• Provided expert change management and merger implementation advice
• Were members of the Transition Steering Group and the Finance, IT and Governance Transition Teams
• Gave one to one support to the Chief Executive.

Our Achievements

The transition to one organisation is a marathon not a sprint. Our input has enabled the charity to:
• Achieve key deadlines
• Assess and manage costs and risks
• Involve key staff in the process
• Anticipate problems and issues and mitigate against them.
In tackling the hearts and minds issues that would prevent a successful merger, a rigorous change management process was important but this needed to be underpinned by an acceptance that no matter how good the process, it is the people that “make it happen”.

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