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In a press release, Jaroslav Sadovski of Devbridge, an IT company owned by Cognizant, offers his advice on how companies can learn from mergers.
“Both Cognizant and Devbridge are focused on product development to help customers achieve the results they want,” emphasizes J. Sadovski.
Cognizant generates most of its revenue in financial services, healthcare and other areas. The main market in terms of revenue generated is North America.
According to the manager, such a transaction has opened up a significantly broader range of customers and opportunities – the company now has access to global players that it could only dream of before.
Therefore, when such a process takes place, although various other aspects arise, it would make sense to calibrate so as not to lose direction to achieve business results.
“Corporate indicators are important – each department in the company has clearly defined goals (KPIs), but it should be noted that the individual goals of each employee should initially be creatively adjusted and help the company achieve the overall strategic goals of the organization. A general meeting of office workers is held every month to discuss the current events and results of each department, to understand the importance of the goals and to feel the pulse of the company. We have maintained this even in this uncertain situation, which helps to maintain motivation and consistency,” emphasizes J. Sadovski.
“The most important element for the success of any company is the team. In our case, it is a first-class team of professionals. Joining Cognizant gives current and future employees perspective and helps them gain new skills,” he says.
According to the manager, the business model of the organization he represents is quite simple: the stronger people are brought together, the more talented people can later be attracted to their team.
“The market we operate in is small – the professionals know each other and can therefore easily assess what type of team we have put together. “You want to work with talented colleagues and implement complex projects,” says the manager, revealing the business recipe.
One of the company’s main tasks is therefore to put together a team that lives the same values as the entire organization and wants to help the company achieve strategic goals together.
“Seeing future strong employees makes people realize that there will be no lack of support and that together they will be able to make bigger and better decisions.” Furthermore, as we can now see, such teams work stable and confident and achieve goals without uncertainty,” the interviewer reveals the recipe.
Open communication with employees
Another aspect to pay attention to, according to the manager, is protecting your employees and the relationships between them during changes in the organization. Under new circumstances, the importance of open communication becomes particularly clear.
In the company, all information is shared with employees – financial results, income, profit, new and lost customers, newcomers to the company are introduced, people who have left the company are mentioned. Employees know the level and salary range of their own and other positions.
“When we joined Cognizant in 2021, we had the same strategy – we were open about it from the start. In companies, deals of this size are typically communicated five minutes before public communication. We gave all top and middle managers the opportunity to meet with the leaders of the new organization and ask them questions before the deal was closed. This way, managers could immediately contribute to change management when we communicated the message to the entire team. We welcomed the news with a holiday for employees and performance bonuses. But after every party comes the challenges of reality, and after that we have already started to prepare for changes and get used to the uncertainty,” says the head of the IT company.
In his opinion, strengthening the employee-manager relationship that already existed in the company helped push this path further.
“We encourage managers to pay even more attention to employees – to organize one-on-one meetings (1:1) more often.” There are also meetings where a senior manager of the company and a team member meet (skip a level) – this contributes to this helps to show the big picture of how the organization works and what benefits this change will bring to the company. At the same time, this also strengthens the feeling that every employee is very important,” says J. Sadovski, describing the measures.
Every detail is taken into account
Another important point to pay attention to is the introduction of a new corporate brand within the organization itself using various tools and gifts.
Cognizant branding was immediately introduced in the company’s offices, with logos at the entrance, office, meeting rooms, etc. The company also provided backpacks, mugs, etc. to employees.
Such decisions promote the company’s acceptance and identification with the new organization.
Other details also contribute to this. For example, Cognizant is the main sponsor of the Aston Martin team. The company’s team can be seen at Formula 1 competitions with a green car with the inscription “Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team”. The employees were given dark green sweaters with such inscriptions.
“Quick and smooth introduction of the new logo, gifts for employees – these are important steps to strengthen traditions and get used to the new reality.” “Such decisions are also an important part of the team spirit,” the manager has no doubts.
Learning to live in uncertainty
J. Sadovski took over as CEO during the height of the company’s merger process – this spring, which is why he emphasizes that in any situation where you have to step out of your comfort zone, it’s worth remembering the cycle of change.
And the process of every change is similar – initially there are negative emotions involved, after these subside there is acceptance and the creation of a new reality. In addition, changes are usually received personally and sensitively.
“Because of what the organization can do – create a sense of security that is strengthened by the relationship between employee and manager.” Another option that can help is to distance yourself from the current situation and have a broader perspective “It’s important to take a look, because if you give in to fears or emotions, you just end up stagnating and you no longer have the resources to move forward,” says J. Sadovski.
In his opinion, in such a situation, the company must openly answer the following questions: what did this change not take away from us and what is the greatest strength?
“After analyzing the available employee opinion data, our values, openness and connection to the employee stood out the most. That’s why we’ve gone back to basics – we’re honest about what we know and don’t know – we don’t try to paint everything in the prettiest colors, we tell it like it is. We do not hide the fact that not everything is going the way we want. We try to maintain the need for stability wherever possible. And if we don’t have answers to the questions that concern us right now, we say so. “The most important thing is to maintain the existing values and strive for even bigger goals,” the manager concluded.
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