Acquisitions for Agency Owners: Taking Care of Your Team During & After an Acquisition

With an insurance agency acquisition, a significant portion of the value is in the team. How do you ensure your teammates feel good about their new company and employers post-acquisition? Here are eight factors to speak to your teammates about as you consider transitioning your organization into the hands of another company. 

1. Inform teammates of continued employment

The acquiring business will want to retain all of your A and B+ players, so make sure your team understands they will continue to have a job after the purchase. If that’s not the case, communicate that information clearly and honestly. Inform the employees why they are being let go at the time of the acquisition.

At Brown & Brown, we typically hire 99% of a company’s teammates after we acquire the company. It is very rare that we do not welcome all of them to our team. 

2. Note any changes in the reporting structure

Make sure you understand the reporting structure of your organization after the acquisition is complete, and determine whether or not your team will continue to report to you. Convey who you will report to and who your teammates will report to as soon as you know.

At Brown & Brown, we typically don’t change the reporting structure. After an acquisition, teammates continue to report through their existing local leadership. 

3. Advise about their continuing benefits

Your team values their health and retirement benefits. Soon after you announce the acquisition, you need to be able to clearly communicate any changes to their benefits plan — positive or negative.

At Brown & Brown, we work hard to make the acquisition a positive move regarding employee benefits and compensation and perform a detailed benefits comparison by teammate. 

4. Be clear about working hours and expectations

In today’s flex environment, businesses work a variety of hours, so teammates will be especially curious about any changes to their current hours. Are there new start times? Do they have to take a mandatory lunch? Can they work 37.5 hours, or do they have to work 40 hours? Is overtime allowed?

After an acquisition, we try to be flexible about working hours. We work with the seller, assess what works best and agree upon working hours based on the culture and history of the team. While hours of operation are handled at the local level, all our offices remain consistent with state, local and federal regulations. 

5. Share new growth opportunities

As a local team leader, no one knows your team better than you. Some of your teammates may be very satisfied or content working in their current role for the rest of their careers, while others will want opportunities for growth and development. This could be an exciting time for those seeking advancement opportunities within the new acquiring organization.

With 16,000 teammates working in more than 500 locations worldwide, we have many opportunities for talented people to expand outside of their local area. This applies to sellers and selling shareholders, too. There are broader leadership opportunities across Brown & Brown. 

6. Brief producers on the new products, capabilities and resources

You’ve built something great to get to this point, so when evaluating potential buyers, you want to ensure they are adding to your strengths — not offering the status quo.

We know that producers love to sell new products and services. Inform them of any new capabilities or resources early in the process to help the transition and jump-start their growth plan.

At Brown & Brown, we have the ability to train new teammates and increase their skills. New Brown & Brown producers traditionally gain expanded opportunities because of our size, extensive capabilities and deep carrier relationships across the business. 

7. Update teammates on tenure status

Your 15-year employee will want to know if they’re keeping their tenure in your organization post-acquisition. In most cases, they will. Inform teammates as soon as possible if not, as it could impact their retirement vesting, annual paid time off and other benefits they had with their previous company.

At Brown & Brown, we always recognize tenure with the company after an acquisition.

8. Establish a communications plan

How will your team find out about the acquisition? Creating a plan to inform teammates about the acquisition will help ease employee anxieties about the change.

At Brown & Brown, we announce our new teammates and then follow up in person to answer questions. We also provide in-person benefit enrollment sessions. We believe that spending the time and effort to make sure that the team feels good about joining our company is well worth it.

The Takeaway

If you want to sell your agency and ensure your team’s best interest, take the time to get to know your potential buyer and learn about their culture and people philosophy — make sure that you have a level of comfort about how they will treat your team going forward. Consider joining the Brown & Brown team — prioritizing people is a must for us.

Interested in speaking with our Mergers & Acquisitions team?
Email [email protected] or contact us directly below. 

Acquisitions for Agency Owners
2024 Insurance Mergers & Acquisitions Outlook
by Vaughn Stoll, SVP & Director of Acquisitions
co-authored by Mark Prampero, Regional Director of Acquisitions

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