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Last year was a historic year for mergers and acquisitions, with an estimated $212 billion in transactions closing. As pent-up demand for travel skyrockets, the hospitality industry has seen a number of major deals in recent years like Marriott Vacations Worldwide purchasing Welk Resorts and Hyatt taking over Apple Leisure Group.

While bringing two companies together has always presented both opportunities and challenges, the key to a successful merger lies in people. Companies navigating mergers today face many unique circumstances as they continue to manage the ongoing pandemic. Unprecedented staffing shortages and evolving workplace trends have further highlighted the critical need to have a people-first strategy that promotes diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging (DEI&B) to ensure the various teams in a merger can effectively join together as one unit with one mission.

As we set out to develop the human resources strategy following the acquisition of Diamond Resorts by HGV last year, I was struck by a startling statistic. It’s estimated that 70 to 90% of all mergers fail to achieve their anticipated strategic and financial objectives. This breakdown is most often caused by leadership’s poor communication, diminished employee morale and incompatible cultures.

Effective leadership is absolutely essential to ensuring an entire organization is aligned and inspired to move forward together. Here are five key strategies every company should consider.

1. Clear and transparent communication is key to maintaining trust

Maya Angelou famously said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you make them feel.”

During a merger, employees are likely to feel uncertain and anxious about what the future holds. Answering the five Ws: who, what, when, where and why at every stage of a transition is critical to not only maintaining but further expanding trust and morale.

At HGV, this means cultivating strong communication at every level of the organization, from managers hosting frequent one-on-ones with direct reports to routine town halls with the CEO. We believe that to be successful, each and every team member must understand the vision for their business and their critical role in achieving the company’s goals.

Through our merger with Diamond Resorts, we significantly focused on team member communication, to include a new internal website for Diamond employees and a roadshow where our senior executives went to Diamond locations to meet with team members personally. This level of communication has been essential to keeping the team moving all in the same direction.

2. Encourage knowledge sharing and expertise

When bringing together two companies it is crucial to find opportunities to empower employees to share lessons learned and ideas while fostering collaboration. Typically, the company being acquired has extensive expertise within their company, as well as within their particular field. The sharing of best practices and historical knowledge is invaluable and should become part of the full integration process.

When our company hosted the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions celebrity golf tournament in January, the majority of our team members had never executed an event of that scale before. We relied heavily on the expertise of our legacy Diamond Resorts colleagues who had hosted numerous LPGA tournaments. Together, we delivered an event that exceeded all of our expectations featuring 50 sports and entertainment celebrities and headline concerts. Each side of a merger brings value (that’s why the companies are coming together!) so when you recognize that and make sure employees feel valued, the combined entity will function at a much higher level.

3. Commit to a shared mission

As I mentioned previously, communicating the five Ws is imperative at every stage of a transition, but the most important question any company must answer is why? Gen Z and millennials now make up nearly half of the full-time U.S. workforce and these generations want to work for an employer who cares about their well-being and is driven by a mission.

At HGV, we are laser-focused on creating a culture of belonging and inclusion, growing our relationship within our communities, and celebrating the success of our team members.

Uniting team members behind our shared belief that people are the heart of everything we do has been an incredibly motivating call to action. Bringing together HGV and Diamond Resorts’ extensive portfolio of world-class properties has further enabled us to deliver exceptional travel experiences to our owners and guests.

4. Celebrate milestones

The average merger can take up to three years to complete. At every stage of the process, it’s important to celebrate key milestones to keep team members engaged and motivated. To help our more than 14,000 global team members feel connected, we’ve created an app that encourages all team members to share photos and updates from their office or resort. As Diamond Resorts properties are strategically rebranded under the new Hilton Vacation Club brand, we’ve hosted ribbon-cutting ceremonies bringing together team members, owners, guests and elected officials. In addition, we’re rolling out a new rewards and recognition program designed for the new company.

5. Servant leadership

Above all else, my guiding principle is to be a servant leader. I’ve had the good fortune throughout my career to learn firsthand from tremendous, servant leaders whose guidance has impacted me immensely.

The philosophy of this leadership style is a “serve-first mindset,” which unlocks potential and drives a strong a sense of purpose. Servant leaders enrich the lives of others, build better organizations and lead by example by paying it forward. It’s incredibly important to actively facilitate the success of others. One way to do this is to make sure every employee knows that the work that they do is valuable and contributes to the overall success of the company.

While mergers and acquisitions are driven by strategic business decisions the success of any deal and company comes down to its people. Successful corporate mergers are built on a foundation of trust, open communication and a relationship that is supportive and empowering. Companies that put people at the center of their decisions will be the most successful.