Table of Contents 6 2012 OVATION Awards Winning Entries

Q&A, information on the amalgamation voting process, DCU fact sheet, and key messages on what
to say to Members about the amalgamation
Getting to Know Meridian ‐ (Communications tailored to new Meridian employees/former DCU
Employees)
CEO Roadshow– Shortly following the announcement on March 1 st , Meridian’s CEO embarked on a
roadshow to visit all 19 DCU branches and corporate office to meet with DCU employees face‐toface
and give them an introduction to Meridian and answer any amalgamation questions they might
have.
Welcome Conference Call – Following the successful amalgamation vote of both credit unions in
late April, a conference call hosted by Meridian’s CEO was scheduled for all DCU employees
welcoming them to Meridian. The call also introduced employees to another key communications
tactic called “Ask Sean” where new Meridian employee questions could be posted anonymously via
the employee intranet regarding the amalgamation and conversion. In addition to the call, all 19
DCU branches and corporate office received a welcome fruit basket with a note from Meridian’s
CEO. All welcome baskets were hand‐delivered by a veteran Meridian branch manager.
Total Rewards Roadshow – Following the vote approval of both credit unions, a roadshow was
scheduled. Members of Meridian’s HR department hosted evening meetings for all DCU employees
across Ontario to explain Meridian’s Total Rewards offering (employee benefit program), after
employees enjoyed a buffet‐style dinner.
Monthly New Managers Meetings – Following the amalgamation deal close in June 2011, a monthly
New Meridian Managers Meeting was scheduled. All new managers would travel to Toronto for a
day‐long meeting to keep them informed of the conversion process including product and
operational changes. This meeting provided face‐to‐face interaction for the new managers and
Meridian executives to help them transition from DCU policies and operations to Meridian’s.
Learnings from these meetings would then be shared with their home branch staff.
Integration Leadership Updates – Until the full system conversion is completed in spring 2012, DCU
employees would continue to operate on their DCU portals and technologies. Therefore this weekly
email newsletter was developed to inform former DCU managers about the operational updates and
changes that would take place throughout the system conversion process. This email was sent to all
former DCU managers every Friday.
Employee Updates – Similar to the item above, this weekly update regarding the amalgamation was
posted on the DCU intranet, accessible to every former DCU employee.
Implementation & Challenges
Meridian’s budget for the rollout of the 2011 integration communications plan was approximately
CAD $175,000. This budget included the travel costs associated with the two roadshow
presentations and monthly branch manager meetings and the development and distribution of new
employee Integration Leadership Updates and employee updates.
In developing and implementing the communications program, a few challenges were experienced
and addressed:
Job security –Due to the sluggish economy in 2008, some Meridian employees were laid off.
When announcing the amalgamation it was important that all current Meridian employees
understand that no job loss would occur.
Information Overload – A full system conversion of the former DCU into Meridian was expected
to take a year to complete. In that year, the new Meridian employees would be facing a
multitude of changes from products sold to various reporting and operating functions. To