Just 25% of global HR leaders, surveyed by Mercer in workshops, said their company had any type of process in place for dealing with culture issues to ensure better business integration results. Despite this, most companies appear to have strong awareness of culture and talent issues in M&A situations.
When asked about the risk of top talent leaving their organisation following an M&A transaction, virtually all respondents said they were concerned about it, and nearly half (46%) said they were "very concerned".
"People issues" in M&A situations also appear to be growing in importance in the minds of attendees: nearly two-thirds (64%) said that people issues are more prominent today than they were one or more years ago. The responses confirm anecdotal evidence from Mercer's M&A consultants. Peter Baynham, UK Head of M&A Consulting at Mercer, commented: "Many organisations recognise that a clash of organisational culture can be a barrier to successful integration. The problem is, they often don't know what to do about it. They often don't have the tools or techniques to know where to start."
