The Art of M&A® / Postmerger Integration and Divestitures
An excerpt from The Art of M&A, Sixth Edition: A Merger, Acquisition, and Buyout Guide by Alexandra Reed Lajoux

What are some general guidelines for managing human resources after a merger?

Following a merger, acquirers need to integrate specific groups of people, such as sales teams, senior management teams, and even the board of directors. Remote work and outsourcing add complexity It is beyond the scope of this chapter to give templates for each kind of integration, but resources are available.²⁵

When do human resources personnel typically get involved in a merger?

Most companies involve HR at the integration stage, but some companies involve HR earlier—even at the planning stage, as well as in due diligence. This is a recommended practice for important financial reasons, as mentioned in those earlier chapters.

This said, HR will do its most intensive work leading up to and during the integration phase. When two companies merge their human resources, they also merge their HR policies, such as approaches to recruitment, retention, compensation, training and development, and (sometimes immediately) outplacement. For a checklist of HR policies and processes, see Exhibit 9-4.

How can an acquirer integrate target company employment policies and data?

A target company may capture its employment policies and employee data in an HR system with a payroll component. The acquirer may want to migrate these data into its own system immediately. But first it must ensure that the data are clean—complete, relevant, and accurate. Meanwhile, people must continue to be paid. So during the initial postmerger phase it may be necessary to maintain two systems—at least for payroll. Eventually, the acquirer’s system may be used—and possibly upgraded. This may be a good time to implement “best practice” HR systems with secure employee data in a private or hybrid (not public) cloud.