Mergers & Acquisitions

A colleague in HR was lamenting the challenges she faced in a merger recently. The two organizations were not integrating well, and her counterpart in the purchasing company was "ghosting" on a regular basis. While there were talks prior to the deal closing about how the people and policy side would work, those have not played out well. 

What have you all seen as effective remedies to facilitate this part of the merger?   Specifics welcome, in terms of leadership team coaching, up-front negotiation tactics/strategies, anything else. I have not specifically worked in the integration of the HR department in my work. 

I'm in a unique position where my boss is in charge of M&A as well as transformation. I've been able to point out the drag that an unsuccessful merger (people still referring to themselves by the old company name, not recognizing their new structure, following old processes, etc.) has on the ability for our company to achieve our goals. This got his attention and we're working to incorporate change management into the M&A process, starting with a cultural assessment during due diligence and culminating in a parallel effort on the HR side when the merger is announced. I'm happy to walk you through our approach (although yet untested) if you want to connect. 

A colleague in HR was lamenting the challenges she faced in a merger recently. The two organizations were not integrating well, and her counterpart in the purchasing company was "ghosting" on a regular basis. While there were talks prior to the deal closing about how the people and policy side would work, those have not played out well. 

What have you all seen as effective remedies to facilitate this part of the merger?   Specifics welcome, in terms of leadership team coaching, up-front negotiation tactics/strategies, anything else. I have not specifically worked in the integration of the HR department in my work. 

A colleague in HR was lamenting the challenges she faced in a merger recently. The two organizations were not integrating well, and her counterpart in the purchasing company was "ghosting" on a regular basis. While there were talks prior to the deal closing about how the people and policy side would work, those have not played out well. 

What have you all seen as effective remedies to facilitate this part of the merger?   Specifics welcome, in terms of leadership team coaching, up-front negotiation tactics/strategies, anything else. I have not specifically worked in the integration of the HR department in my work. 

A colleague in HR was lamenting the challenges she faced in a merger recently. The two organizations were not integrating well, and her counterpart in the purchasing company was "ghosting" on a regular basis. While there were talks prior to the deal closing about how the people and policy side would work, those have not played out well. 

What have you all seen as effective remedies to facilitate this part of the merger?   Specifics welcome, in terms of leadership team coaching, up-front negotiation tactics/strategies, anything else. I have not specifically worked in the integration of the HR department in my work. 

Your choice of language caught my attention here - you call it a merger but mention a purchasing entity. That makes it an acquisition, no matter what shiny lights and decoration is put upon the labeling. I question if her counterpart is leaning into the acquisition aka takeover mindset and not recognizing the values that can be achieved from amalgamating the knowledge bases.. 

My questions resonate around - do both sides actually have the same goals, expectations and desires for the future? 

Have they made time to create "the new" rulebook or are they still trying to "smush it together" (tech term)? In successful mergers and acquisitions until both sides can agree the baseline for the new entity, the old ones will keep on scrambling for space in the dialogues and attempting to assert authority over the other. This sounds like your colleagues issue. This all comes down to the biggest challenge with change success, time and again, where is the sponsorship support from leadership - not project delivery sponsorship, but true change and business sponsorship - sounds like they've stepped aside.

Sorry I can't be more positive, but really without the foundation stones success will never happen until everyone has left the org from the one company. 

A colleague in HR was lamenting the challenges she faced in a merger recently. The two organizations were not integrating well, and her counterpart in the purchasing company was "ghosting" on a regular basis. While there were talks prior to the deal closing about how the people and policy side would work, those have not played out well. 

What have you all seen as effective remedies to facilitate this part of the merger?   Specifics welcome, in terms of leadership team coaching, up-front negotiation tactics/strategies, anything else. I have not specifically worked in the integration of the HR department in my work. 

Very well said, Rich.  It seems like unless you get leadership from both side of an acquisition, in particular, but also in many mergers, you will have issues.  With few exceptions, absent monetary incentives for the departing leadership, they tune out causing confusion and depression for the acquired personnel.  I estimate that most of the attention needs to be on the acquired entity to facilitate a smooth transition. Their fears and possibly their depression need to be a primary focus for the Change Team.

Your choice of language caught my attention here - you call it a merger but mention a purchasing entity. That makes it an acquisition, no matter what shiny lights and decoration is put upon the labeling. I question if her counterpart is leaning into the acquisition aka takeover mindset and not recognizing the values that can be achieved from amalgamating the knowledge bases.. 

My questions resonate around - do both sides actually have the same goals, expectations and desires for the future? 

Have they made time to create "the new" rulebook or are they still trying to "smush it together" (tech term)? In successful mergers and acquisitions until both sides can agree the baseline for the new entity, the old ones will keep on scrambling for space in the dialogues and attempting to assert authority over the other. This sounds like your colleagues issue. This all comes down to the biggest challenge with change success, time and again, where is the sponsorship support from leadership - not project delivery sponsorship, but true change and business sponsorship - sounds like they've stepped aside.

Sorry I can't be more positive, but really without the foundation stones success will never happen until everyone has left the org from the one company. 

A colleague in HR was lamenting the challenges she faced in a merger recently. The two organizations were not integrating well, and her counterpart in the purchasing company was "ghosting" on a regular basis. While there were talks prior to the deal closing about how the people and policy side would work, those have not played out well. 

What have you all seen as effective remedies to facilitate this part of the merger?   Specifics welcome, in terms of leadership team coaching, up-front negotiation tactics/strategies, anything else. I have not specifically worked in the integration of the HR department in my work.