Project Signal

A large transportation organization engaged us during one of the most complex moments in its history: a multi-year, approximately $6B merger involving large-scale U.S. operations, multiple employee populations, union considerations, operational dependencies, and federally regulated transportation environments.

The merger created a significant communication challenge. Leaders needed to keep U.S. operations teams informed, aligned, and confident while business processes, reporting structures, work rules, systems, and operational expectations continued to evolve. The environment was especially complex because internal communications had to account for Joint Collective Bargaining Agreements, federal transportation regulations, operational safety requirements, and the practical realities of communicating with distributed frontline and management teams.

The client did not need a one-time communication plan. They needed a long-term strategic and implementation partner that could own internal communications across the merger journey, translate complexity into clear messaging, and help teams understand what was changing, why it mattered, and what actions were required. Just as importantly, they needed a partner who understood that morale could not be treated as secondary. Employee confidence, trust, and emotional readiness had to be built into the communication strategy from the beginning.

We were contracted as the internal communications partner for the U.S. operations workstream, supporting both strategy and implementation over a multi-year engagement.

Our work focused on five key areas:

1. Developing the internal communications strategy for U.S. operations throughout the merger

2. Translating complex merger, regulatory, labor, and operational information into clear employee-facing messages

3. Coordinating communication across stakeholders, leadership teams, HR, labor relations, legal, compliance, and operations

4. Creating repeatable tools, messaging frameworks, and delivery processes that helped the organization communicate with consistency and control

5. Building morale, trust, and employee confidence into both the communication strategy and post-implementation success measures

Because the work sat at the intersection of people, operations, regulation, and change management, our role required more than writing updates. We helped create the communication infrastructure needed to support a high-stakes integration while protecting the employee experience through a prolonged period of uncertainty.

We began by mapping the internal communication landscape across U.S. operations. This included identifying key audiences, stakeholder groups, communication channels, leadership decision points, message approval requirements, and moments where employees would need timely, accurate information.

From there, we built a communication operating model that could support the merger over multiple years. This included editorial planning, message governance, stakeholder intake processes, review cycles, audience segmentation, leadership talking points, employee updates, FAQs, change narratives, and communication calendars aligned to major integration milestones.

Morale was built into the process from the start. We assessed not only what employees needed to know, but also where confusion, uncertainty, fatigue, or mistrust could emerge. Communications were designed to give employees practical clarity while reinforcing stability, respect, and confidence in the path forward.

We worked closely with cross-functional teams to ensure communications were accurate, practical, and compliant. This was especially important given the complexity of JCBAs, federal transportation regulations, operational procedures, and the need to avoid creating confusion around roles, responsibilities, work rules, or safety-sensitive processes.

We also supported implementation. That meant drafting communications, preparing leaders, managing updates, refining messaging based on stakeholder feedback, and helping the client maintain consistency across a long, complex, and highly visible change effort.

Our review found that the merger’s communication challenge was not only about volume. It was about precision, timing, and trust.

U.S. operations teams needed information that was specific enough to be useful, but carefully structured enough to account for regulatory, labor, and operational constraints. Without a disciplined communication process, the organization risked inconsistent messaging, employee confusion, duplicated work, leader misalignment, and unnecessary escalation.

We also found that different stakeholder groups needed different levels of detail. Senior leaders needed strategic clarity and talking points. Managers needed guidance they could use with their teams. Frontline employees needed direct, practical information about what was changing, what was not changing, and where to go for support.

The client had strong internal expertise, but the pace and complexity of the merger required a dedicated communication structure that could connect strategy, compliance, and execution.

We recommended a centralized internal communications model for the U.S. operations workstream, supported by clear governance and repeatable processes.

This included creating a structured message approval workflow, a shared communication calendar, audience-specific messaging templates, leadership briefing materials, FAQs, and a consistent narrative that could evolve as the merger progressed.

We also recommended segmenting communications by audience and impact level. Rather than relying on broad updates, we advised the client to tailor messaging based on what each group needed to know, when they needed to know it, and what action they needed to take.

To reduce risk, we recommended stronger coordination between communications, legal, labor relations, compliance, HR, and operations before major messages were released. This helped ensure that communications were not only clear and timely, but also aligned with JCBAs, regulatory requirements, and operational realities.

Finally, we advised the client to treat communication as a core integration function, not a supporting activity. In a merger of this scale, communication was essential to maintaining trust, reducing disruption, and helping employees navigate change with confidence.

The Success Story

By the end of the engagement, the client had a disciplined, scalable communication process for one of the most complex workstreams in the merger.

What had previously been a high-risk communication environment became more structured, coordinated, and manageable. Leaders had clearer messaging. Managers had better tools for answering employee questions. Operations teams received more consistent information. Cross-functional stakeholders had a defined process for reviewing and approving communications before they reached the field.

The multi-year nature of the engagement became a major proof point. The client trusted the consulting team not only to design the strategy, but to stay close to the work, manage implementation, and support communications through the complexity of a live merger environment.

The result was a communication function that helped protect operational continuity, support employee trust, and give leaders greater control over the flow of merger-related information.

Outcome

The communications overhaul gave the client a repeatable operating model for managing internal communications across a large-scale, federally regulated transportation merger.

Over the course of the engagement, the team supported communications across multiple U.S. operations audiences, created a centralized process for message development and review, and reduced communication turnaround time by an estimated 30 percent by standardizing intake, drafting, approval, and delivery workflows.

The client also gained a stronger communication infrastructure for future integration milestones, including reusable templates, stakeholder maps, review protocols, leader talking points, employee FAQs, and communication calendars. Most importantly, the work helped the organization communicate complex change with greater clarity, consistency, and confidence.