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How to prepare your team for the sale of your practice

Whether you’re heading into retirement or starting a new adventure, negotiating the sale of your practice could be quite an exciting event in your life. But for the people who work for you, the opposite might be true.

Many employees prefer stability, and a sudden shift that’s out of their control could potentially lead to fear, anxiety or confusion. Here are some simple guidelines to help you prepare your team for the sale of your practice.

Discuss future plans with the new owner

Team members will likely be concerned with basic job security, as well as new office culture, salary, hours, vacation time, insurance, benefits and more. Anticipate such staff concerns and do your best to gather this information on their behalf.

Wait until you have concrete information

Employees will likely have many questions, so make sure you have at least some of the answers prior to breaking the news.

When you’re ready, schedule a formal Q & A session shortly after the announcement to give employees time to process the change and formulate their questions. The group setting will remind employees that they’re not alone in this change and will save you from having the same discussion separately with every member of your team.

Write down any questions you don’t have the answer to, but assure your team that you’ll find out. Help your employees to understand that some of their concerns might be out of your control.

Stay away from guarantees

As tempting as it can be to reassure your team about the future, remember that you are simply sharing the new owner’s intentions as told to you. There is no guarantee that they will follow through, so you need to be careful to not speak in absolutes.

Preface statements with phrases like “as I understand it.” Don’t make promises you may not have the authority to fulfill.