If you’ve been in the workforce a while, chances are you have been a part of a company merger. Organizational change is a regular part of professional life – especially in the world of government contracting. While change is always hard, these transitions can offer unexpected and unique opportunities to grow your career.
If you want to know how to handle organizational change, look to General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT). This April, GDIT acquired and started to integrate CSRA into its operations, doubling the size of their organization and enhancing their ability to serve their customers with new capabilities and technical solutions. Just over six months into this massive acquisition, the Next GDIT has solidified its position as a tech juggernaut with a deep bench of talent and solutions. And not only are GDIT customers benefiting – their employees are too.
But the team at GDIT can tell you that successfully uniting two companies takes effort, planning, and the right attitude. Here are five ways to handle organizational change like a pro.
1. Stay.
When many people get wind of a merger or acquisition, they pack their bags and leave. They don’t want to wait out the uncertainty. But wherever there’s a question mark, there’s also an opportunity. Organizational change will expose new needs and disrupt organizational hierarchies. There may be opportunities to be promoted, learn new skills, or try new roles you might not otherwise consider. It often is a catalyst for rapid advancement that couldn’t be found at another organization. By staying, you can step up, fill the need, and help create the future company. Finally, experiencing the process of two organizations merging and the formation of a new culture is an invaluable learning experience.
2. Integrations are challenging. Be patient.
GDIT has been an enterprise IT and mission services leader for decades. Combined with CSRA, GDIT has rapidly expanded its capabilities and delivery models. The benefits of the merger have materialized very quickly and the company is better positioned to provide innovation in cyber, cloud, analytics and Artificial Intelligence. But even for industry leaders, combining two organizations is challenging. There are decisions to be made across the company at many levels and organizational priorities to evaluate. IT systems to integrate, health insurance, and seating charts for thousands of people – there can be bumps on the integration road. Be patient. Things will fall into order – piece by piece.
3. Get ready to learn.
There’s something your new coworkers can teach you – that’s the reason you’re joining forces. Organizational integrations are great opportunities to keep what works and shake loose what doesn’t. GDIT has used the integration with CSRA to combine the best practices of both companies and engineer even more effective solutions moving forward. The learning experience doesn’t stop here – be the part of building a new company. This will offer you lessons, development opportunities and experiences that will last your career.
4. Expand your horizons.
Merging with a new company means that employee resources, offices, company strengths, and areas of expertise multiply. You may get to travel to exciting new places to visit company partners. You may get to work from an office that’s closer to your home. You’ll most certainly have access to resources that weren’t there before. One of the most exciting additions to GDIT was CSRA’s Integrated Technology Center in Bossier City, LA. This state-of-the-art facility provides a broad portfolio of next-generation IT services – offering GDIT employees even greater resources to learn and meet customer needs.
5. Concentrate on the customer.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day activities of combining companies. But at the end of the day, the focus is on customers and their missions. With the integration of CSRA, GDIT had a simple mission: to deliver cost-effective, next-generation IT solutions and services to the DoD, intelligence community, homeland security, and federal civilian agencies.
They have combined alliance partner programs with Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft Azure. Their Centers of Excellence in Cloud, Data Analytics, and Cyber technology advance employee knowledge of established and emerging technologies, allowing GDIT to better meet customer needs. GDIT’s recent integration shows that the best way to make any integration successful – both at an individual and organizational level – is to remember the mission you’re there to serve.
If you want to serve critical missions for government clients while advancing your own career, check out current openings with the new GDIT.
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