Preparing for a Merger or Acquisition: An HR Primer
Author: Brightmine Editorial Team
Mergers and acquisitions can be exciting when they go well but can also lead to a lot of apprehension within an organization. Between 70% and 90% of mergers fail. Some key reasons for failure, which can lead to the loss of critical talent and other consequences, include:
- Mismanagement of employees' anxiety and fears;
- Too little communication to employees about what to expect;
- Lack of clarity about talent-process changes to existing and incoming employees; and
- Misalignment of employees within an integrated culture
"Widespread organizational change is never easy on individuals, but M&A-driven change has the unique characteristic of making employees feel like the ground is shifting beneath their feet."
People challenges can be common even in the best of times, but they are amplified during M&A when the path forward is uncertain and poses a potentially significant disruption to the business.
Tomorrow's most successful M&A transactions will be those in which the business can count on the HR team to successfully lead the people component of the M&A process.
