Telling employees that you're selling your business

If you are a business owner and you are planning to sell your business, there are obviously many obstacles that you will need to face. One of those obstacles is informing all your employees about the intended sale of your business. This needs to be done carefully and at the right time, or else you will make your employees feel uncertain about their future in the company. They might assume that there will be layoffs to follow after the sale by the new owner. As a result, their current job performance may decline and this will affect the overall productivity of your organisation. It will then be harder to sell your business if its value is getting worse instead of better.

The proper timing is the most important thing when it comes to telling staff that you’re selling your business. But this doesn’t mean you will tell every employee in the company about the business sale at the same time. There are different staff levels that will need to be told at different points throughout the sale. You will start with the managers first and then move on down to the lower level employees after it looks like the sale is a done deal.

Managers

When you have made the decision to sell your business and you are confident in that decision, the first thing you need to do is notify your senior level managers about it. After all, they are the ones in charge of major operations and departments within the company. They need to stay in the loop about what you are planning to do with the company in the near future. That way, they can make the proper management decisions to accommodate the preparations for the sale. This doesn’t mean they are going to tell the lower level employees that they’re in charge of about the sale. It just means that they’ll be ready to make decisions or maybe even partake in the sale itself.

Employees

Now the next question is, when do you tell your lower level employees about the sale? This will definitely not be something that you would do if you’re just thinking about selling the business. In fact, it is better not to be completely transparent with your employees about your intentions to sell the business until much later in the process. The exact time when you will tell your employees will ultimately depend on the business itself and its culture.

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For more information on selling your business click here or contact a member of our Business Sales team on 053 9170507