{"id":41194,"date":"2023-10-20T15:12:17","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/uberchina-staff-left-shocked-by-didi-chuxing-merger-how-to-tell-your-team-about-major-changes-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:12:17","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:12:17","slug":"uberchina-staff-left-shocked-by-didi-chuxing-merger-how-to-tell-your-team-about-major-changes-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/uberchina-staff-left-shocked-by-didi-chuxing-merger-how-to-tell-your-team-about-major-changes-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"UberChina staff left shocked by Didi Chuxing merger: How to tell your team about major changes – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Uber<\/div>\n

Earlier this week, Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick announced to the world the ride-sharing company would be surrendering in China and entering a merger with rival Didi Chuxing.<\/p>\n

The $35 billion deal took the world by storm, but reports are emerging that Uber\u2019s own staff were the last to know about the deal.<\/p>\n

According to The Information, many of UberChina\u2019s 800 employees discovered the merger after coming into work and realising they could no longer access their Uber email accounts.<\/p>\n

The Information claims engineers and data scientists at Uber headquarters in San Francisco were told not to speak to their China-based colleagues about work anymore as they now belong to Didi.<\/p>\n

People management expert and coach Pollyanna Lenkic says the alleged handling of this change is shocking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s appalling to have your team find out that a major decision has been made in the company and the world found out before you,\u201d Lenkic told SmartCompany<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little bit tabloid press, it\u2019s very unprofessional and it\u2019s very uncaring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Failing to communicate and empathise with your own employees can undermine the company\u2019s core values and brand, Lenkic says.<\/p>\n

In Uber\u2019s case, she says it puts into question its promises of \u201cputting people first\u201d.<\/p>\n

At any organisation, Lenkic says it\u2019s important for leaders to be open and honest with staff about changes, big and small.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s no silver bullet approach for it. Instead she says it\u2019s about being human and putting yourself in their shoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important to understand when people go through change they respond and react to it differently,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow would you feel?\u201d<\/p>\n

Some may feel anger and shock while others will see opportunity, and Lenkic says the onus is on leaders in the business to take an empathetic approach so staff feel respected and considered.<\/p>\n

A great example she says is the way LinkedIn\u2019s chief Jeff Weiner announced its Microsoft acquisition to staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cEssentially, the good thing he did was he had empathy, he delivered the message and said as a leadership team they\u2019ve had months to get across this and you\u2019re hearing it for the first time,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt acknowledged that and gave space for people to [process] the news.\u201d<\/p>\n

So next time you need to tell your team about a major change, Lenkic recommends being respectful and communicating shifts as early as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cChange is complex,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Lenkic says it\u2019s essential to consider the impact of the change as it will be different for everyone.<\/p>\n

One business leader she worked with said a major change affected their team because they would be moving away from a local caf\u00e9 they loved so they had to get together to find another place to bond.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe respectful about the moment,\u201d Lenkic says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe as honest as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important to be present, she adds, and focus on the people standing in front of you.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink about how that person will be thinking and feeling,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunicate respectfully from where the other person is coming from rather than where you are.”<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on SmartCompany.<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter,LinkedIn and SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this week, Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick announced to the world the ride-sharing company would be surrendering in China<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,24,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41194"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}