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Preparing for a Merger or Acquisition: An HR Primer

Author: XpertHR 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."

-- Financier Worldwide Magazine, December 2022

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.