Employer REbranding: navigating employer branding amid mergers and acquisitions

Balancing new logos and unchanged core values based on a real-life example

Mergers and acquisitions bring not only business transformations but also major challenges in employer branding. Employees sometimes face uncertainty, cultural shifts, and new leadership dynamics, making it crucial to maintain engagement, trust, and consistency in employer branding efforts. In this article, we explore how EssilorLuxottica navigated these challenges following its acquisition of GrandVision.

Adam Horvath, Board Member of the European Association of Employer Branding Agencies (EAEBA) and Chief Sparkle Officer at Brandfizz Employer Branding, sits down with Gabor Szilvasi, HR Director for Optical Retail CEE & Balkans at EssilorLuxottica, to discuss key strategies in employer branding during M&A transitions.

Adam Horvath: Gabor, from your multi-country HR leader role, what were your key priorities in employer branding when the EssilorLuxottica acquisition became a reality for GrandVision?

Gabor Szilvasi: Those early days were challenging; we had to figure out how to handle the changes from an employer branding perspective. However, two main points guided us from the start.

First, cultural integration in an M&A deal of this scale doesn’t happen overnight. So, we needed to continue executing our strategic roadmap, keeping it aligned with market realities and employee expectations while staying alert to the new parent company’s direction.

Gabor Szilvasi — HR Director for Optical Retail CEE & Balkans at EssilorLuxottica

Second, we needed to identify and preserve the key pillars, values, and strategic activities that form the backbone of our culture and employer branding. Stopping these would have been a mistake. They are essential for maintaining engagement, trust, and a sense of stability for our people.

Navigating Employee Experience During Change

According to the American Psychological Association, significant organisational changes can negatively impact employee experience. Companies affected by mergers have reported:

Employees are almost three times more likely to say they don’t trust their employer (34% vs. 12%),
More than three times more likely to consider looking for jobs elsewhere (46% vs. 15%),
55% experienced significant stress, which affected their performance.*

In times of upheaval, the credibility of an employer brand is tested. Organisations that prioritise clear communication and consistent values can not only mitigate the erosion of trust but also position themselves as anchors of stability amidst uncertainty.

Adam Horvath: What strategies proved most effective in navigating organisational change? Which factors were pivotal in ensuring a seamless transition at EssilorLuxottica?

Gabor Szilvasi: Theoretically, success lies in understanding cultural gaps, anticipating new ways of working, and managing change as proactively as possible. In practice, however, every change brings unexpected challenges, mistakes, and even moments of chaos. Our approach was to stay calm and avoid rushing into changes just for the sake of implementation. Finding the right pace for the organisation is key.

Another key factor is communication; this is an overused topic, but it remains true. The most important thing is to communicate openly, even when the message is simply, "We don’t know yet." However, communication should never be forced or excessive. Overloading people with unnecessary information is just as harmful as not communicating at all.

Leadership Advice for Navigating M&A Transitions

Gabor Szilvasi: Mergers and acquisitions are more than financial transactions. They are seismic shifts that ripple through every layer of an organisation. In my experience, the real challenge isn’t just managing the operational changes. It’s navigating the human impact. You’re not just dealing with new structures or systems — you’re dealing with people, and that’s where the real work begins. After acquisitions and ownership changes, companies often face:

Waves of collective resignations,
The loss of key talent,
A significant drop in internal satisfaction,
Declining performance,
An increase in sick leave.

These factors are heavily influenced, positively or negatively by three key elements:

Internal communication,
Management credibility, and
Changes in corporate values.

Align these three elements, and you’re not just managing change — you’re shaping a stronger, more resilient organisation.

Adam Horvath: Gabor, your leadership team is undoubtedly strong, but I’m sure you encountered hurdles along the way. What advice would you offer to leaders in similar situations?

Gabor Szilvasi: There’s no universal toolkit for this. However, transparency, explaining the "why" and "what" behind decisions, always helps. For us, a key strategy was maintaining our management’s communication style. We aimed to project stability, consistency, and a genuine concern for our people, qualities that transcend company cultures.

Illustration: EVPs behind the ‘See more. Be more.' tagline, connected to commercial brands

Additionally, as we transition into a new set of company values, we’re ensuring they can be integrated into our local reality. By aligning them with our existing EVP and culture, we can facilitate a smoother transition while reinvigorating our employer branding strategy.

The Role of Values in Employer Branding

One of the most critical questions in employer branding during a major organizational shift is: What aspirations and values does the new owner want to bring into the company’s future?

Even companies considered among the most attractive in the world have faced employee pushback when leadership decisions contradict established values. A notable example occurred in 2018 when Google employees protested against the company’s involvement with the U.S. Department of Defense, leading Google to decline a contract renewal. In the same year, employees also demonstrated against severance payouts to executives facing harassment allegations.**

By 2021, over 400 engineers attempted to form a union, prompting Google to take steps to curb such initiatives. This highlights a key lesson: when a company’s actions diverge from its proclaimed values, employees may begin to see those values as empty rhetoric.***

Adam Horvath: Values play a crucial role in organizational performance, and in employer branding, our EVP serves as our DNA. How important do you think EVPs are when a company undergoes a brand transformation, such as a logo change?

Gabor Szilvasi: Every company has EVPs, whether they explicitly define them or not. The real question is how we choose to use them and for what purpose. During times of change, EVPs act as anchors that help navigate the transition. If we can align our existing EVPs with the new company values, we can bring our heritage into the future while preserving our identity.

Photo: Sneak peak from the Ambassador Kick-off day in Budapest, Hungary.

Adam Horvath: Is it possible to reshape EVPs during a merger or acquisition? What advice would you give to teams that receive 'new values' from HQ and are tasked with implementing them?

Gabor Szilvasi: Absolutely. Values cannot be dictated solely by top management—they must reflect the collective experiences and perspectives of employees. In most cases, there will be natural overlaps between the old and new values, and it’s crucial to identify and leverage those intersections. The key is translating values into a language employees understand, integrating them into processes, and making their impact clear at every stage of the employee journey. If employees can easily answer 'What's in it for me?' when thinking about a company value, then that value is truly embedded and meaningful.

Data-Driven Decision-Making in Employer Branding

Adam Horvath: Beyond cultural and operational challenges, scalable and replicable processes are essential for managing employer branding across multiple teams and locations. How has data played a role in navigating these changes?

Gabor Szilvasi: Traditionally, HR data is retrospective, we analyze past trends to predict the future. However, in a fast-changing business landscape, that’s not enough. Real-time reporting and visibility into employer branding activities have been game-changers for us.

With our new report dashboard, we can track employer branding results alongside key HR metrics in one place. This allows us not only to react to changes but also to proactively drive them. During times of uncertainty, this level of insight helps sustain momentum, support informed decision-making, and build trust.

Final Thoughts: Employer Branding Lessons from M&As

Adam Horvath: Thanks for sharing your rich hands-on experiences Gabor about the rebranding challenges. What’s your top advice for employer branding professionals navigating mergers and acquisitions?

Gabor Szilvasi: Treat it like a marathon, not a sprint. Also, you’ll make mistakes—own them! Admitting missteps makes you more credible and stronger. Sorry, these were two tips! 😊

3 Pitfalls to Avoid in Order to Save Your Employer Brand After M&A

If a company fails to communicate in a timely and authentic manner during a merger or acquisition, it risks losing employee trust, affecting retention, and weakening company culture. Here are three key pitfalls to avoid:

1. "We prefer not to communicate anything yet." Silence breeds uncertainty and rumors. A lack of internal communication can increase anxiety among employees. On the other hand, regular and specific information helps reduce uncertainty and fosters trust during transitions.

2. "The email will be enough—ask the legal department to write something!" Leadership involvement is critical during times of change. Employees value personal, two-way communication, whether through digital platforms like webinars or live town halls for smaller teams. Maintaining a Q&A platform can also provide reassurance and transparency.

3. "Do you think this is authentic and true?" Authenticity is key. Employees will quickly see through corporate slogans if they aren’t backed by action. Instead of generic messages, leaders should focus on fact-based communication that reinforces credibility. Employees want to see that promises align with actions, rather than empty statements.

Sources:

* Change at Work Linked to Employee Stress, Distrust and Intent to Quit — The American Psychological Association, 2017

** Protests from Within: Engaging with Employee Activists, by Stephen A. Miles, David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan, Stanford Closer Look Series Corporate Governance Research Initiative 2021, Stanford Graduate School of Business

*** Communications in mergers: The glue that holds everything together By Oliver Engert, Becky Kaetzler, Kameron Kordestani, and Anish Koshy, McKinsey Quarterly, 2019