How M&A impacts employees (Episode 28)

[00:00:00] Be Informed, these things are out there to help you because a productive, a healthy employee is a productive employee. Your company is incentivized to help you, to get you good, right? I need my team good, right? I need folks to be healthy and happy, you know what

[00:00:19] I mean? Welcome back folks, this is another episode of Its About Your Paycheck and this is episode 28 already. How you doing today, Walt? How you doing sir? Season 3 episode 28 man, I'm good, I'm good. Another good Sunday in the state of Georgia. Yeah, yeah.

[00:00:39] Some good food, nice. I had a cold weather, enjoying the sun a little bit man, it's not too hot but it's hot, it's good man. Exactly, Hotlanta we're gonna get hot this summer. Thank goodness for AC. I know. Nice man, that's dope man, I'm happy

[00:00:55] for you bro, I love it. How about you man? I'm good man, busy weekend, my daughter has dance recitals this weekend, hanging out with my son and stuff so just busy weekend like normal, like normal. I just gotta go to bed a little earlier that's all,

[00:01:13] keep thinking I'm gonna get some time to rest during the day. Non-stop usually from when I wake up till I go to bed, I just gotta get enough hours of sleep and that's all. I feel you bro. But yeah, let's see we're gonna, we got, we're talking about

[00:01:28] employee concerns during a merger or an acquisition which is really like it's some real stuff right and a lot of and that happens and it's happening and I think it happens all is probably it happens all the time but

[00:01:42] I'm more sensitive to it in the last few years because it's been part of our day-to-day business and as we research payroll stuff and as I look for articles to share and pay news updates, I see it so much right you see

[00:01:58] consolidation of things so it's a real concern for employees and we just get we want you to be more empowered and be more savvy about what's to come. I have some personal experience with it and not only as from

[00:02:14] different angles as an employee so we'll go into that a little bit but before that let's get some payroll news, pay news updates going. We're gonna start us off and I'll share mine as well. Yeah so I got this article from join

[00:02:29] homebased.com it's a blog about what employees want. Oh love it. Right. You're killing me with this research bro. I'm loving it man. I love it. So the number one thing on the list was

[00:02:43] there's 10 different things so I'll try to speed through them. So the number one is company leadership. So companies like really want good leadership over pay is what this was saying. So I really have a good... Okay you said it better there, a good

[00:02:58] manager. I believe that yeah you're right. You know because what is that what is that saying? People don't leave jobs. They leave the manager. Managers. Yeah that's what made me think. So you said manager I was like oh he's

[00:03:09] right. Yeah you know saying so they want somebody who's gonna lead, gonna be leading by example, be engaged with employees, they're gonna provide feedback and encourage collaboration and knowing when to delegate. They want

[00:03:23] somebody who's a good leader. Yeah. They have a bad leader they're gonna be like I'm out. I'm out. I'm not dealing with this. Yeah exactly. So number two they want competitive income offers.

[00:03:36] The top one, so the wages are there it was just number two and manager was number one. They want fair wage. Fair wages are crucial for employees. We as employers should really analyze our pay scale and try to be competitive as

[00:03:49] possible with whatever industry that we're in right? Number three they want great co-workers. You don't want to work with a bunch of grumpy people or shady people or anything like that. Again some people the employees

[00:04:03] leave people or managers. Yeah no doubt. Sometimes you're gonna work in a place that even if it's stressful but the people are good, you'll stay but like you said if the job is easy but the people are super toxic like to your

[00:04:17] point what you just said you might want to chuck the deuces on them. Number four they want flexible work hours. Hey I have a family especially with this hybrid COVID situation that happened remote. I want

[00:04:30] to be able to work the schedule I need to work because I've built my life now around it. So people want to be flexible with their work hours. They want predictive work scheduling so that means they

[00:04:44] want advanced notices of schedules in advance. So you just don't want to be caught off guard because some people to this day there's still jobs that are writing the schedules out for the people and surprising them

[00:04:56] with it. Hey next week go look at make sure you go look at the schedule. I wonder though you're right and I but I wonder if we maybe this is like a little something we can pin to learn more about. I wonder what industries where it's

[00:05:09] unavoidable. Are there industries where no you don't think so? I don't think I think there's too many software solutions now no matter what if you're in the restaurant business if you're in the construction there's too many different softwares available even for small businesses that

[00:05:22] you can say hey you just need a scheduling tool. Like there's too many things out there that you can use for that in my opinion. Yeah no I'm just wondering is there something with the business that makes it hard? I don't know

[00:05:37] folks if you hear it and you if you work in something that's oh no my job you can't do it because blah blah blah share it with us because I'm just trying to allow for that. Yeah a little gray area exactly but I am an

[00:05:51] agreement I think that you should be able to schedule out you should know in advance you know what I mean? Maybe ask your wife how the scheduling is done for the hospital she's in the medical industry so just different things maybe

[00:06:04] we can ask a couple of different people hey is scheduling an issue but I think that's a great that might be a great show. Yeah exactly. Number six they want a relatable company culture so basically to me that's just

[00:06:16] they want a good culture they want someone they want a company that that who they can resonate with that resonates with their own values that has a positive vibe to it and involves rewarding their efforts in acknowledging what their contributions as employees and fostering those relationships and

[00:06:34] promoting transparency. Number seven they want learning and development opportunities so they want to be able to grow basically they want to have a lot of employees want that career path now there's some employees who are be steady eddies they'll just sit there hey if I'm

[00:06:48] able to stay here 20 years doing the same job I will sit here doing the same job but there's other people that want to want to excel and grow in their careers and make sure they have a career path with that company. Number

[00:06:59] eight they want a commitment to sustainability and the environment so this is a lot of people who care about global warming and what's going on with the environment and stuff like that so they want some people want an employer that can demonstrate that same commitment through certain

[00:07:13] initiatives that they put through by using maybe using sustainable products or providing commuter benefits for people who have to travel or you have to go into work and traffic is crazy so they give you or they give you parking

[00:07:26] benefits or give you a little card I think it's called a Wex card they give you they load that with money so you can pay for your parking and stuff like that and working with green vendors is another thing.

[00:07:37] Speaking on that or adding to that number nine is they want a short commute if they have to go in they don't want to drive an hour or two in traffic one way and these want to be like I live 15 to 30 minutes

[00:07:49] from my job and I'm good that's a good doable for me and then the last thing is which I was surprised wasn't higher is they want health insurance benefits. Yeah you're right. They want access to health insurance and

[00:08:06] I think they want better options too right because some employers might not offer the best and they like and the employers dictate what percentage they pay too right. So they say hey we'll pay 50 percent or we'll pay 60 or 70 or 80 percent there's even some employers who for certain industries

[00:08:24] and companies pay 100 percent for a certain payroll or certain levels of employee too but the people want good health insurance benefits especially in today's climate man our economy. Yeah that's a big opportunity for America I think is like to fix the way

[00:08:39] we handle health benefits and stuff I think it's just a money grab from for the most part and that's the sad part. Yeah thanks for sharing man. Really good and then I love again I love the energy and the synergy of this

[00:08:55] all because I didn't read your article while I was preparing mine and what's mine about it's mental wellness and some help right just the better thing right what employees wants right what employees just want to impact their mental man.

[00:09:14] Yeah so this University of Phoenix and the executive network study on workplace well-being highlights challenges of current approaches and addressing mental health. So in a twenty twenty four research industry research study with the human resource leaders and knowledge workers provides insights on

[00:09:34] how employers can improve workplace mental health during mental health awareness month. University of Phoenix and the executive networks have released the findings of the twenty twenty four workplace well-being report H.R. misses the mark with the employee mental health.

[00:09:51] That's the name of it down like that title at all because like as a HR payroll professional is take it personal you know what I mean. But any who this is what makes us better.

[00:10:01] This is what this is why we have to be these type of this type of information is an opportunity for us to get better but anyway surveying human resource leaders and knowledge workers across North America they survey the survey examined well-being and specifically mental health with

[00:10:17] the findings revealing on how H.R. leaders and knowledge workers see the state of mental wellness at their organizations providing insights and practical actions organization and leaders can take to help employees with mental health challenges and contribute to their overall well-being.

[00:10:35] So in a pause for a second because I had to define what knowledge workers meant I was college and it's basically anybody that's responsible for disseminating information teaching knowledge to their organization. So H.R.

[00:10:51] Pro is in that bucket and there could be other folks in that bucket as well. Yeah so that's what a knowledge worker is. So I guess what I wanted to share here. Let's see. So the survey was conducted among 500 H.R.

[00:11:06] leaders and 500 knowledge workers in the United States with participants evenly distributed between large small and mid-sized organizations and varied industries during December 20 23. The study findings include discovery of a well-being gap between leaders and workers while 83 percent of H.R.

[00:11:25] leaders rate their overall well-being of employees at their organization as good or very good. Only 56 percent of knowledge workers do work. Yeah. So there's a disconnect there right. And then when it comes to the impact of a person's job on their

[00:11:43] well-being the study found that work life balance was the most important factor of well-being overall and more so with female H.R. leaders than with male H.R. leaders with a 50 to 38 percent comparison 50 percent to 38 percent 50 percent of women 38 percent of males on the work life balance issue.

[00:12:08] Another one a wide array of benefits offered is not solving the challenge for many more than 80 percent of H.R. leaders say it's very important or extremely important to offer well-being resources in the workplace and this has held across all organization sizes gender generations.

[00:12:25] Strikingly however only 36 percent of organizations surveyed offer behavioral health benefits to their employees. Only what? Thirty six percent. So a third. A third. I love how most of us like this study good man and then okay this

[00:12:45] will be the last one I'll share because you can go into the full article in the show notes you can download the complete study in this article as well and let's see additionally the study highlighted the persistence of mental health stigma employees expect repercussions at

[00:13:00] work for seeking mental health support. Yep even among H.R. leaders 75 percent of men and 56 percent of women feel there are repercussions on the job for seeking professional counseling that is horrible folks that's horrible and that is it and I'll stop there.

[00:13:24] You're going with some good stuff man. Tell me about me man. That's right. Wow. The dynamic duo bro the one two punch man we got this covered bro we got this covered for especially for our employees as we continue to build out

[00:13:37] this product for our employees and the product is this show we are going to want to deliver a great product for you guys. We want a place for employees to come to actually learn and get empowered on

[00:13:48] their job and what their career all these things and this is this great stuff we love it. How many of you listening to this can identify what that Brian just said as a man or somebody who identifies as a man.

[00:14:01] Do you does that 75 percent resonate with you do you find yourself in that and for the women as well. Do you do this. Does that resonate with you as well. Do you find yourself like basically 60 percent of women and almost 70

[00:14:14] percent of men like come on like that is a problem that is a huge problem. It is. It really is. Yeah it really is a big problem on mental health. It's really huge. We're getting better. Sure. More more to come folks I think there's just options there's opportunity

[00:14:37] there right there's opportunity there to be better at it. And what I tell you is what I got to tell you is if you had a good company if you feel like your company is a safe place then please go to your

[00:14:49] HR people and ask for assistance in this. If your company ever said anything about EAP right they love to throw the acronym out but we don't know what the heck it means. EAP is an employee. Dang I don't even know what it means now. I didn't know.

[00:15:07] Yeah but it's basically an employee assistance program I think it is. And as I would. OK. And that and basically it's probably a phone number that you call or nowadays a website or something you go on to.

[00:15:20] But that's if you don't want to go to your HR person because maybe you know them and you're oh that's my cool there we go buddy blah blah blah. And I don't want to tell them that I'm having a problem with mental wellness.

[00:15:31] One you should be able to trust your HR department right. Right. There are HIPAA concerns and most HR professionals are aware of that and they don't they know right. It's not this. But any who if you don't want to go to them and you have an EAP and

[00:15:45] employee assistance program and you're as part of your benefits is usually free including in your if you it sometimes it's free even if you don't subscribe to the benefits like meaning you don't have to get medical vision dental from

[00:15:58] your company to be able to take advantage of the EAP. OK so keep that in mind as well look at your benefit manual and look at your employee manual folks like I'm going to keep repeating that you've got

[00:16:09] to repeat you got to read your employee manual your employee handbook and your benefit handbook. Yes bro. Because in there that's how you find out if you have these benefits if you have that and again it's most of the time it's free to all employees even

[00:16:25] if you don't subscribe. Say that because I just looked up a stat to see what percentage of companies offer EAP programs 90 percent of smaller companies which is which LinkedIn classified here smaller companies between one thousand to five thousand employees.

[00:16:44] As a piece you see what I'm saying is that about 80 percent of larger companies which is over the five thousand have EAP. So you may have you may be at a company right now that has a EAP program. Brian's point you don't know.

[00:16:59] Yeah and look this fine let me clarify let me go a little further finding the help might be free now OK if you actually find a doctor that you need that part may not be free right. You may have to endure some expense right but investing yourselves

[00:17:16] investing your wellness. You know it's to the point that goes back to that retaliation thing that you said. Yeah. So even though they even though these companies offer it there's another stat here that says the usage of the EAP programs according

[00:17:32] it says it's between two and eight percent. Oh my folks. My people my humans we got to do better we got to get better man we got to go. Wow folks it's OK to ask for help.

[00:17:47] I'm the first one to tell you I'm going through a time in life where is any help and I'm not afraid to say it and looking for solutions looking for ways to get that help because the world life everything can

[00:18:00] be challenging real challenging sometimes and we can't be afraid to ask for help. There's so many resources out there anonymously. Then let me tell you you take advantage of your EAP. They're not going to report it back to your company.

[00:18:13] Oh hey Brian and Walter mentally ill they take an advantage of it not. It's this HIPAA laws that were just strict that and no you're right and I'm to that point is if you find out that they do it something's correct you can sue OK. Call a lawyer.

[00:18:29] Well now you got some money. You know what I mean. I'm exaggerating a bit but it's those are things that should not be violated and if you see that they are you could escalate that through other channels and legal channels through other things be informed.

[00:18:44] These things are out there to help you because a productive healthy employee is a productive employee. Your company is incentivized to help you to get you good. Right. I mean my team good right. I need folks to be healthy and happy. You know what I mean.

[00:19:04] I think that is a societal impact to some where you're not just a company or professional Ryan because there's still the stigma that you seek mental health help you reach you seek help for mental health that you know you might be classified as crazy

[00:19:20] or people look at them. Well you know losing it. Don't tell nobody then. This is what I'm this is right. Here's the thing. You don't have to shout in the world you don't have to go on social media talking about I need mental wellness help and don't

[00:19:32] do it. Be private. What do we talk about all the time. As I say there's three things you should never do. Shit talk about your money your love life and your next move. Right. Those are the things that are private. Keep it to yourself.

[00:19:44] You know what I mean. And your next move could be how I need mental wellness help just keep it to yourself. You know you don't have to put it on blast. It's not something required to share. Yeah.

[00:19:54] No look if you have a friend a close friend trusted friend that you can confide in. That's different. But just don't be like spitting that stuff out like Brian said to everybody at work. Oh yeah. Listen listen that you're telling people you're over sharing. Yeah I'm bipolar.

[00:20:10] No just keep it to yourself man and talk any who. Right. Be this have some discretion about your personal life. You deal with it behind doors. Yep. Usually grind in silence not in silence but in private and do your thing and maybe in silence too.

[00:20:27] Like it is what it is. I keep these things to yourself folks. There's avenues to get better. We just got to exercise and try to. What I mean an exercise is call the EAP go look in your employee handbook and your benefit manual to see if you

[00:20:40] have these resources like it's out there. You it's out there. And when you log when you if your company uses one of the big boys like I know ADP for instance a lot of the companies put that EAP stuff on when you log into the app website.

[00:20:55] It's right there for you to utilize those different programs and reach out and get help. Yes absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah yeah good stuff man really good stuff. And you yeah so before we get into our main subject the employees concerning about M&A we do have a

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[00:21:50] the tests that is going to change is your salary threshold. Basically if your company wants to call you a salaried employee right now you have to make at least forty three thousand eight hundred and eighty eight dollars a year in annual salary.

[00:22:03] That's going to increase to fifty eight thousand six hundred and fifty six dollars annually. So what that means is if you're a salaried employee and you don't make at least fifty eight thousand six hundred and fifty six dollars you can't be considered a salaried employee anymore

[00:22:22] by law as of Jan 1 2025. OK. What companies are going to prepare for that right. One of the ways is this means that millions of additional workers will be required to track time. So time track go is there for you. You want to finish that out for us. Yes.

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[00:23:15] time track go it's a great product great folks great customer service they've been doing time and attendance for over 40 years. All right. They had those wooden things. You took the thought out of my mind. Check out our episode on that actually we had

[00:23:30] two folks on there Brian and Chris from time track go and Brian another Brian he told us he was one that told us about a wooden time we were like what. That's got to be in a museum we're going to put together the payroll museum one day.

[00:23:44] Yeah back in the day when they had that steam time clock you had to pour water. No that's fine. Yeah. There's a market on the rock. Yeah. Yeah. Rocking the rock. Chiseling the rock. I was told that. That was wild boy. Proxy over the battle of my goodness.

[00:23:59] Oh man. Anywho let's get into the main subject here we talk about marriages and acquisitions but basically more importantly how it impacts employees right. Yeah most pay points man. Yeah. Yeah so we've got a good article from Think Herman Calm and Anne Herman Neby highlights an often overlooked

[00:24:22] human element in mergers and acquisitions M&A emphasizing the importance of addressing employees pain points during such transactions. So we're going to talk about the things that she identifies as those pain points. And so there's four of them. So we're going to get right into it.

[00:24:39] So number one identity crisis. So mergers can disrupt a workplace social dynamics leading to the leading to disorientation turnover and low engagement. Combining companies successfully requires a middle ground between their separate histories cultures and identities. So that's what is that's what it's

[00:25:01] saying because there's a lot of times Brian and I have been in the education sector for a good chunk of our careers right. So we're seeing these mergers and acquisitions and sometimes we're talking about what this is talking about the identity crisis is talking about going from that

[00:25:16] small mom and pop shop to this corporate company that may not resonate so much with some of the employees. There's the feeling of hey that small mom pop shop being feeling like more like family. And you transition now. Here I am. I've got to go to this corporate

[00:25:34] place and it might not in their mind they might not feel the same. Yeah. You know what I'm saying. And so that's something that you have to consider when it comes to these employee pain points. And I think sometimes companies should do a better job about that.

[00:25:47] Also recognizing teams based on individual preferences can help mitigate dysfunction caused by the identity crisis. So that's what she's saying with the identity crisis here. Really just tying in the two cultures and making them making a good marriage of those things. And then there's number two is

[00:26:05] manager apprehension. So M&A shifts relative power dynamics to causing anxiety and frustration among amongst managers or personnel departures especially of favorite managers can lead to further tone over how many times have we seen M&A happen. And one of the people that is

[00:26:26] a casualty of that M&A because there's no room for them or the person I'm not joining this and that person decides to leave and then that disrupts everything that goes on in that business man. That's a pain point. And hey this manager I've had

[00:26:41] employees tell me like if you leave this job I'm leaving too. Yeah no doubt. Like we were just saying people leave managers not jobs. Yep. So yeah you know what I'm saying. Yeah and so this can definitely impact employee morale and the the engagement that employees

[00:27:01] have especially during these acquisitions right. So change overdose. Employees can perceive M&A as threats especially if they involve layoffs or relocations fear of the unknown contributes to the M&A hangover effect. I've never heard of this before this article there's a hangover effect resulting in decreased

[00:27:25] productivity open. You know it exists you just never nobody's ever named it right. I didn't know there was a term for it. Exactly exactly. So open and frequent communication between management and employees along with providing tools for prep can alleviate fear and reduce turnover.

[00:27:43] That's why it's important for the company that's making that's acquiring the new company or acquiring the other business. It's important for them to really communicate this to show face to get out there and do that those face to face announcements and say hey we're here to help to

[00:27:58] really have those things broken out for the employees that we're going to be emerging with or acquiring during this during this transaction or whatever. So it's really important for us to really get out there and help out with that stuff. And one of the many in the

[00:28:11] last part of last pain point is something that you and I clearly know happens is that communication or there's a miscommunication which often leads like something's promised during the M&A that shouldn't have been promised by somebody who was trying to do the right thing.

[00:28:26] Somebody spoke out of the side of their neck as they say made a promise about something that should not have been done and they have to go back and say hey no that shouldn't have happened or no I'm sorry or regret we can't keep doing this or whatever.

[00:28:41] And you may work something in a way that makes it seem like oh this is how it's going to be forever. Yeah that wasn't the intent. Oh this is how it's going to be until the end of this year or what the next fiscal year or whatever it

[00:28:54] may be. So you want to make sure that you really that people employees have a good understanding of what is going to happen. So it says many managers lack understanding of how people interact especially under pressure. And I think people we don't really realize that

[00:29:13] that some of these employees it may feel like pressure to them. Yeah. During this M&A. It makes you like oh think about it. If your company was just bought out or whatever what's some of the things that may go through your mind as an employee.

[00:29:26] Am I gonna lose my job. Yep. First thing that's the first thing. What's going to happen to me and what's going to happen here. Am I gonna lose my manager or I'm going to report to somebody else. Are we going to report to this person that I

[00:29:37] don't like here. Yeah for real. What's going to happen. No and that could feel like pressure to the employees. So you want to go over the steps to help employees or you have something to say. Absolutely both. Yeah. Both. Maybe I'll do the steps

[00:29:51] because I might cover it in here but I and then I have some side notes as well. Some of the things that can help is understanding the individual traits. Meaning M&A leaders should study managers thinking problem solving approaches and communication styles to guide them to guide

[00:30:05] team compositions effectively. Understand individual traits. M&A leaders should study managers thinking problem solving approaches and communication styles and guide teams compositions effectively. What are you gonna say. So for me when I hear that it makes me think like that is coming from the company that

[00:30:24] is acquiring the other company. Yeah right. So I need to make sure that we have the right person in place. So yeah I know of Walter is a hard ass in some cases. I may not want to put him with this new group. I want to put Brian

[00:30:39] because he has a different approach. You know what I'm saying. Yeah and not only that maybe this was nice. So open and frequent communication keeping employees informed before during and after M&A to reduce fear and uncertainty. Communication is definitely key for that. Provide preparation

[00:30:58] tools when you can equip employees with resources to prepare for the change reducing perceived threat of the unknown outcomes utilize scientific techniques implement tools like Herman's whole brain thinking methodology and the HBI HBDI assessment to understand and address communication challenges systematically. So yeah these are all good things.

[00:31:24] My personal comments are around basically the I guess how the human the human experience in this right. And because it doesn't matter all this stuff like what I can tell you from it right from years and probably agree doesn't matter how much how well how much

[00:31:45] information how great you execute all of this how much is very that's who we're talking to right. The employees being impacted. This is not a fluff episode for the employer in the big business and omega M&A you could keep doing this is the real impact of it.

[00:32:06] And the only thing I can say to employees is trust what they're telling you if they're communicating well trust what they're telling you wait and see what happens. If they're saying that is going to change then nothing's going to change. Why get why panic and leave if you

[00:32:27] if nothing's happened yet right. Just wait now if you feel like things aren't good then here's another thing you wait for wait to get fired. Don't quit don't wait prematurely when oh my God merger I'm quitting I'm done by why did you do that. You could have been

[00:32:49] a key employee that they needed was so I get what you're saying. You're saying don't have a knee jerk reaction to this stuff. Don't have an emotional reaction to the hey hey when you come through and you're scared and then you're like oh I don't like this

[00:33:03] and it just makes me feel this way. Don't make a decision from that place. No. It's business. You're a good employee. You have nothing to worry about. Well you shouldn't. You shouldn't. Wait and see what happens. Wait and see what happens if they and what I mean by

[00:33:25] wait and see is if they say one thing and they keep doing another then you've waited they're not being then you can make a different decision. Right. What's your saying Brian. Trust but verify. Yeah. Trust but verify. Trust that. Oh they're saying nothing's gonna happen.

[00:33:41] The verification of it is waiting to see if that if nothing actually happens. OK. Get my note was get fired or leave. Now yeah get meaning wait to get fired if you're gonna get fired. Because most likely they're going to give you a package on the way out.

[00:33:57] Hey oh we have to shut this office down or we have to shut this department out. Hey they're gonna pack they're going to they're going to give you some type of severance package or at least they should if they do it right because if not

[00:34:08] then they're gonna be all out of compliance like it's gonna be a whole nother heartache and we're here to tell you be savvy about you. If this walking in and telling you hey we're shutting over what's in it for me. Ask the question speak up in these situations

[00:34:22] right. Because if you're part of a good business that was purchased guess what nothing's gonna change. It's a good business. Keep doing what you're doing. Now if you're a bad employee then you should be worried all the time anyway. M&A doesn't matter. Yeah. You probably insecure

[00:34:39] anyway all the time because you don't do your job well. Your insecure period because you don't do your job well. So this is not really talking to the we're not really speaking to the person who doesn't do their job well. My advice to you is

[00:34:52] do a better job be intentional doing better work. But to the person who is a great performer or good performer you know what do you need to worry about. If they're saying there's nothing going to change guess what. Most likely that is going to change. OK now

[00:35:09] and again wait just wait have some patience stand on your business and just wait it out. Even if even but even if things do change slightly if you have to if you have to if your current company has to acclimate to this new environment

[00:35:28] and to these new policies and stuff like that. Wait those things out too to see it resonate with you because you may find out like hey the way my old company was doing things was completely wrong. We've seen that too. Right. We've gone through a merger

[00:35:41] and they were doing things like it wasn't up and up. They could be better. Hey by doing this we're actually protecting you as an employee. Yeah. We're actually having your back more. You know what I'm saying because we're doing it this way. And then but

[00:35:55] then you explain that to them and say hey this is why this matters. This is why this happened because there are going to be those people who have those they're going to have a bad reaction. If one place was paying a bonus incorrectly and they get with

[00:36:08] the new company and the bonus is taxed and paid properly then you have and you get less money but more taxes taken out. You're going to have you may have a bad result or a bad reaction to that. Not bad result but bad reaction to that.

[00:36:19] You have to understand that a lot of these companies aren't just most of these companies in my opinion aren't just buying you just to have another business under the belt. Some of them are like that. Some of them just want to have this growth model where they just

[00:36:32] line their pockets. But there's some companies who actually want to do both. They want to grow. They want to get paid but they also want to take care of the people. Yep. They want you to succeed. Yep. You know what I'm saying. So that right.

[00:36:46] I think I think during this M&A I think the communication is a big piece of this. It is. It is. It's such a big piece of this. So that's it. No but that's the that's the employers responsibility right. For the employee I urge you to wait

[00:37:03] and ask questions. If the employer is not communicating enough just keep asking questions. Keep asking your employer or your manager questions. Keep asking questions because the communication is the important part. And then if they're not doing it ask for it. Yeah but for me the communication

[00:37:19] works both ways right. For sure. Not just the employer the community. You can ask questions as the employee. You should feel the right to ask questions to the person that's in the company that's acquired or you're merging with. Ask the questions. Hey what's going to happen with this.

[00:37:36] A B C or D. What can I. What could you. What are you going to do as the employer to help me as the employee. That's right. Communications. Brian taught me this with it with the interview aspect. He said you're not just going in there to be interviewed.

[00:37:51] You're actually going in as an interview as well. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I'm saying. So think about that. You're not just being acquired here. You're merging with another company too. So it works both ways. Works both way. Absolutely right. Absolutely right. Now you can interview them

[00:38:06] and now if you don't like the answers then you have that right to move on. You have that right to move on. So I give you my personal experience with M&A. Like I was part of a company who was purchased

[00:38:19] and I waited as long as I could. But the fact of it was that the office that I was a part of was going to be closed down. Right. And I could have waited it out. Could have waited. The office stood open for another two or three years

[00:38:33] after I left and I could have waited it out. And that's why I say wait. It's not going to hurt. I had time but I had another opportunity came up and I spoke to some mentors that I was like what should I do? And my mentors were like

[00:38:46] you should make that jump because that office is definitely going to get closed. You know what I mean? It just is what it is. It took time but it definitely happened and I left. I could have waited and it would have been no problem waiting.

[00:39:00] But there's something to be said about seeing the writing on the wall and knowing like where you are in the world with your job like for payroll and some HR positions there are not a lot of positions available in the world. For payroll most companies

[00:39:15] may only have one payroll person. It's the really large companies that have bigger teams meaning it's not like accounting and see there's not there's some jobs out there that is just an ocean of opportunity for payroll. It's peaks and valleys. So I took advantage of it

[00:39:32] at a peak and exited accordingly but you got to there was and mind you there was no it wasn't a panic reaction I just happened to get recruited at the same time. I wasn't looking I hadn't started looking yet. I knew the merger was coming.

[00:39:47] I was going to wait it out. You know what I mean? Yeah I could share a personal story that I had like where a company was bought that I worked for they went through like sometimes they had new investors come in a new group of investors come in

[00:40:01] and they were bringing in some of the investors own people to our company. And so in my head at that time earlier in my career I was not that I was doing a bad job but I was still worried about hey are they going to keep me?

[00:40:14] There was a natural reaction to have as an employee. Hey like they said they were bringing in a new accounting person and a new payroll person. So I'm like OK who is one of us going to be let go what's going to happen and nothing like that happened.

[00:40:28] They just brought in their people because they wanted their own trusted resources or people. Yeah sure. Yeah yeah. There was a natural reaction to me for to have that. Oh man like they're bringing in somebody else. What the heck is going to happen? Yeah yeah.

[00:40:43] It's the human nature of things right. And that's why I just urge wait try to wait for the communication ask the right questions and wait it out. You know what I mean. And wait it out. Wait it out. It's much easier to go on the next interview saying

[00:40:57] I was laid off because of a merger instead of I left. Why did you leave? I didn't like their what they stood for. Yeah because now you got to make something up right because you let really the honest is you left because you were scared

[00:41:10] that you panicked and left. Why are you leaving? Oh my company just got merged. All right. Are they going to eliminate your department. No I'm just scared. You're not going to be honest. At that point you got to make something up because you want

[00:41:21] you just scared and running. You're leaving you're panicking. Like why do that. And folks I know it's easier said than done. Believe me I go through the human experience every single day and I panic and I'm like oh my God. But I have trusted advisors.

[00:41:34] Wal is one of them and he's calm down relax. Same thing. You do the same thing with me. Like I get worried over. But Wal. Relax. Relax. And put that we're blessed. Yeah we're blessed to have that with each other and I know

[00:41:50] a mom is another girl my wife of course is another one. True you know my daughter sometimes I'm blessed to have people around that just say no you're good you're going to be fine. And even then I still like you still because the human experience is so

[00:42:04] like visceral like it's so consuming right. You just like. But it ties into the mental wellness piece of it all it ties into the other thing that like other things that we have to really be intentional about being well and try to wait it out.

[00:42:18] This is really a jarring experience it's a scary experience and that's why it's a good thing to cover. But trust what your leaders are saying hold them accountable to what they're saying and. Look if you find something that you're going to leave with that

[00:42:34] means you were going to leave anyway. You know what I mean. You should you should you should you should you should feel empowered to voice that as an employee. If you are scared. Hey I'm scared here. I'm scared. I don't know what this means.

[00:42:47] I'm afraid I have no worries. It should be OK for you to voice that and give the people a chance to alleviate those fears for you. Yes. And give you that reassurance that you need. Hey no no you don't have to worry about that.

[00:43:00] We got you we got your back. We want to help you have the right for that as an employee. Word. So we're good stuff. Man. Yeah man. Great. Our safe talk question there. Yeah. Sure let's do it. What is it. Should an employee job hop

[00:43:18] until they get the job they really want. Excuse me there to the extent that you can. But it's not as easy. It's not right. It's not easy to do that because you do it too much. Folks are going to notice it on whether they're hiring

[00:43:33] you know one job for a year every year you change it. Now the folks that can do this and this is why young folks should take advantage of different opportunities. When you're in high school you should start getting exposed to different summer jobs and internships and

[00:43:50] weekends and part time like I encourage I wanted my daughter to work in every friggin industry she possibly could. And it's on my side. All my kids just as you're young just try to expose yourself to as many different industries business and things that you can

[00:44:07] do so you can see what you like. And that's the opportunity when from high school through college and maybe just a little bit after is your time to job hop to find something that you want. Right. Because if you find if you fall if you figure

[00:44:25] out where you want to be as far as industry is concerned then then it's other factors is the company good for the people around me good. Then it becomes other things. But the first main thing is it's like that same do what you love and the

[00:44:38] money will follow. Right. Yeah. That's what I encourage young folks to do from high school through college. That's your time to drop off because when you're grown and you got rent to pay and you're on your own. You have people to take care of. How's the family says

[00:44:55] right. People depending on you like you can't just job hop and that's be reckless. You know what I mean. And look unless you have a lot of savings but we already know 60 percent of Americans don't have enough savings even just for emergencies. Yes. So I'm a thousand dollars.

[00:45:15] They don't have even a thousand dollars saved up. So we already know that most of us are not in that situation. If you are then great. Yeah you can drop off a little more if you have that financial wellness. But again something that you build in your

[00:45:27] early years is that you should be building is that what they call that that safety net where you can and most most statistics and articles will tell you that it needs to be like three to six months of operating expenses. Right. So if you spend two

[00:45:43] three thousand dollars a month on living probably four or five these days with rent and food and car then you need four or five times three times six I would say a year to really be comfortable and then then you can job hop around

[00:45:59] and do what you want to do. But again these all these factors are not usual. So you have to be very careful which oh yeah. Yeah. House of pain. I mean brought me back there. No but look this is how I feel right. I think you're absolutely correct.

[00:46:19] I think you have more opportunity to do this when you don't have so many things or if you're in a if you're in the lucky or fortunate situation to where you have a partner who is high earning and can cover all the bills and

[00:46:32] allows you to do all that while you figure that out. That's great for you. But if you're not if you're like the rest of us and you have to list pay that your paycheck you want to use wisdom with the stuff you want to be smart

[00:46:45] about it and don't put yourself in a situation where you're going to be struggling then have to move back in with mom and pop or your parents or your lucky to have that opportunity. And then because look I think that people do more job hopping now

[00:47:03] in today's society because back then even for us in our own careers we seem to where like hey you don't leave a job just because it's bad. Yeah for real whatever but now more people are like hey I'm not taking that I'm out. Yeah it's more of

[00:47:16] the gig work gig working is more popular now so it's a whole different landscape now. Yeah. Yeah. So be careful. You have to really be careful with that. You have to plan it out. Yeah I think before you make a like we spoke too early before

[00:47:30] you make an emotional decision or anything like that. You want to make sure that you are thinking these things out. So yes it's your right as an employee to want to be able to leave a job if you want to. It's up to you. But like Brian said

[00:47:44] if you're leaving every year you're not like and that's on your you're putting that stuff on your resume they're going to be like OK so you're going to leave us after a year or two. Yeah basically. Especially if it's a job that you want. Exactly.

[00:47:56] Yeah you have to be prepared to explain or speak to that in that interview process. They say hey yeah I do want a job that I can stay have longevity at. I just haven't found it until now. And you may have to it may be like

[00:48:09] a prove it moment for you in a 90 day orientation or 90 day period you may have to prove that out. Hey you have to understand the consequences that come behind that as well. Yes what I do suggest is build a better if this if these things are important

[00:48:28] to you at all it's like finding that right place is important. Build a better interview process for yourself. Where you take you go into it knowing that you're also interviewing the company. It's not just you that's being evaluated. You're evaluating them. You want to speak to

[00:48:44] sometimes you get a job and you never spoke to the hiring manager like the HR just hires you and you're oh boom done. No wait whoa hold on now. Who do I report to? Who's that person going to be? What is can I talk to the

[00:48:58] team that I'm going to be on? I don't I'm not accepting this. I want to meet with the team that my team that I'm going to be on. I want to speak to my direct report. I want to speak to their man. Build out a better interview process

[00:49:10] for yourself and then the right time to execute on it might be after you get the offer. Hey we want to offer you the job. Awesome. Here are my must haves first. I must speak to my manager. I must speak to the team

[00:49:23] that I'm going to be on. Now if they don't want to do that's a red flag run because there's no company that's going to that's going to say no to that. They're going to be like, oh really? Oh wow. This is amazing. Yeah absolutely.

[00:49:33] Let's set up the calls. Let's set up the interview. Let's set up the time. Let's do it. You know what I mean? And think of it and then not only that then but have good questions ready. Have some really good questions ready for those folks

[00:49:46] because if you ask the right question there'll be red flags or not in their answers. Yeah right. Culture you want to know about the culture. Right. So interview different people research different ways to do the interviewing so that you are also putting them on the hot seat. Yeah.

[00:50:05] I think I encourage some of the things that I like doing and again as an employer or a manager I like having my team members involved in some interviews process. They can meet with this person and interact with them and say, okay yeah

[00:50:20] this person gives us a good vibe and stuff like that. Now I'm not saying you have to do that in every situation. It works for you. But those are things one of the tactics are strategies that you can consider during those processes. Right.

[00:50:31] You want to be sure that you're getting the right fit and that they're the right fit for you because it works both ways. Yes. It goes. Exercise. Exactly. Exercise that. And again if there's no opportunity to do it in their interview process hope as soon as you get

[00:50:45] that offer be like pause. I got some things I need first. You know what I mean. And that's when you really you know you can really do that. But yeah just yeah that's it. Yeah. What you gonna say? I thought you were going to say something else.

[00:50:59] No no. No. Yeah. It was just I was just trying to see if I had anything else for it. But that's pretty much it. That's pretty much it. Be mindful. Be careful. Should you as an employee hot job hop until you find the job you want. Exactly.

[00:51:13] It all depends. That's the thing with a lot of stuff in life. It all depends. You got to evaluate. You got to see it all depends. So hopefully that was helpful folks. I think that again we're really for me we're really trying we're really focusing in on here

[00:51:27] what this opportunity is for employees. And it's about empowerment empowering the employees to be better and do better. So hold on for a second there. Yes sir. Means I'm going to make some pancakes. OK. Did you hear that? Yeah I did. Well you heard my say pancakes.

[00:51:48] Yeah I heard you say hey means I want to make pancakes. Really? So then this thing ain't mutant. It's not mutant. You still hear me. I still hear you right now. Oh dang see then that's not working. Sorry folks. It's time to make breakfast. I'll take it out.

[00:51:59] I'm taking out. I'll delete it. All right. Is it on the right one? I hope so. Oh no it's a. I can't hear you now. Yeah I think I just got a muted. Hey man I thought it was on the right one.

[00:52:16] As long as you hear me good we're good. Yeah you sound good. All right cool. Well that's it folks. We love you. Till the next time. Till the next episode. Cheese grits and biscuits y'all. Yep. Peace. Before we sign off. Here are a couple quick things.

[00:52:37] Don't forget to follow. It's about payroll on LinkedIn and it's about your paycheck on Facebook and TikTok. Thank you for being part of our payroll community and thank you for being a part of this journey with us. Until the next time. Keep learning. Keep growing.

[00:52:52] And most importantly keep going.