Interview with Gina Speck
Former SVP and CFO for the Americas of FTSE 100 Client
As an SVP and CFO for the largest region of a multinational FTSE-100 company, Ms. Speck was intimately familiar with the challenges and opportunities of M&A activity. The upside is obvious: acquisitions create an opportunity to accelerate growth at a scale typically not possible through organic strategies alone. The potential for challenges, however, are far more nuanced and unique.
When bringing together two companies, each with their own unique strengths and identities, talent loss is a top-of-mind concern. It is one of the most common ways M&A activities get derailed or fail to live up to their full potential, and avoiding “brain drain” requires a deliberate, measured and hands-on approach. With the goal to maintain the unique culture of the acquired firm, they engaged Amira elAdawi for the post-acquisition integration instead of relying upon a “traditional” consulting brand.
“We quickly determined the need to take an approach that was more bespoke than formulaic, and when we were introduced to Amira we were immediately impressed.” said Speck.
Speck cited Amira’s ability to quickly gain the trust of executives and operational personnel alike as a key differentiator in the process: “Successfully blending two cultures post-acquisition requires the ability to listen with intent to all parties, to make them feel at ease, and to empower them to move past the stress and worry that accompanies such large-scale changes. This gets them to focus on activities and programs with all sides working together, and Amira accomplished this in a way that made people feel comfortable, confident and positive.”
Central to Amira’s ability to drive this level of change is providing enough insight into the process to satisfy the executive and board level personnel, without getting them bogged down into the weeds of the project.
“Through a combination of multi-dimensional scorecards and ground-level insights, Amira created a cadence that the board could count on,” said Speck. “She normalized a process where we executives knew what to expect, while providing VP and director level personnel with the leadership, guidance, and latitude they needed to execute without excessive oversight. Her ‘send-receive-translate’ abilities are extraordinary.”
With any M&A activity, conflict – healthy or otherwise – is to be expected. However, it has to be addressed head-on and harnessed in a positive way or it can lead to resentment, inflexibility and, ultimately, higher attrition rates. Mitigating this risk often requires having direct and challenging discussions at the operational level, another key point of differentiation Speck called out.
“Amira had the courage to raise and resolve items that were difficult,” said Speck. “She has an incredible capacity for gathering and understanding complex data and enormous amounts of personal insights, then relentlessly pushing through challenges until everyone comes out better off on the other side. This approach empowered her to build an incredibly collaborative and inclusive dialogue across the teams, which helped everyone get through the difficult times. This also inspired key personnel to stay engaged while achieving the full promise of the acquisition.”
Combining the resources and infrastructure of the parent organization with their own unique attributes and capabilities, the acquired organization is achieving a level of scale and global growth that is driving substantial benefit and return. Speck cites Amira’s work as a key contributing factor.
“By the end of Amira’s engagement, our teams had a robust set of processes in place to work better together that Amira had helped us create. Through this, they were well equipped to apply what they learned to other challenges and opportunities that arose in the business.”
“Amira’s brand is passionate, professional, and energetic,” concluded Speck. “Even when people thought the sky was falling, Amira would keep up the engagement level and help them focus on their successes and their ability to deliver the goals ahead. She brought new and fresh ideas to the table, translated those ideas into action, and created an environment where our teams could thrive. I highly recommend her and look forward to working with her again.”