Walk-Around Observations Reveal What Surveys Don’t
By M&A Leadership Council

Carefully curated responses, polished presentations, and scripted employee interviews often paint a misleading picture of company culture. 

Beneath the surface, the real culture reveals itself in everyday interactions, workspace habits, and unspoken norms. 

The most effective way to uncover these truths? The walk-around observation. 

This simple yet powerful technique offers real, unfiltered insights into how a company actually operates, cutting through the sanitized facade often presented during formal assessments.

Why Walk-Around Observations Work

Unlike surveys or structured cultural assessments, a walk-around observation allows an acquirer’s Due Diligence team to witness firsthand how work actually gets done. Employees may say they value efficiency and organization in a survey, but what does the workplace reveal? Here’s what to look for:

Workplace Cleanliness & Organization

• Is the workspace well-maintained, or is it cluttered and chaotic?
• Are supplies neatly stored and labeled, or are they piled in corners?
• Is there a sense of pride in the physical environment, or does neglect suggest disengagement?

Meeting Culture & Respect for Time

• Do meetings start and end on time, or do they routinely run late?
• Are participants engaged and contributing, or are they distracted and disengaged?
• How do leaders interact with employees—collaboratively or hierarchically?

Communication & Transparency

• Are company values visibly displayed and actively reinforced, or are they outdated posters on a bulletin board?
• Are policies and procedures clear, or do employees seem to operate on unspoken rules?
• Are break rooms and communal spaces vibrant with discussion, or are they silent and tense?

Employee Engagement & Productivity

• Do employees appear motivated and focused, or are they disengaged and lethargic?
• Is there a sense of teamwork, or do people seem isolated and reluctant to collaborate?
• Are employees taking proactive ownership of tasks, or are they waiting for direction?

How to Conduct a Walk-Around Without Arousing Suspicion

A key challenge in walk-around observations is ensuring that employees do not alter their behavior due to the presence of an outsider. Here are some strategies Due Diligence representatives can use to blend in:

• Present as a Vendor or Partner: 
  Acquirers can position representatives as consultants, suppliers, or potential business partners to engage with employees in a more natural setting.
   
• Use Multiple Observers Over Time: 
  Rather than a single, noticeable visit, staggered visits by different representatives can help piece together a fuller picture without drawing too much attention.
   
• Engage in Casual Conversations: 
  Striking up informal chats with employees in break areas or near workstations can provide key insights into cultural norms and morale.
   
• Observe Key Touchpoints: Focus on high-traffic areas like break rooms, meeting spaces, and common work areas where interactions happen naturally.

Adapting Walk-Around Observations for Remote and Hybrid Workplaces

While traditional walk-around observations are ideal for in-office settings, they need adjustment for remote-first or hybrid companies. Due Diligence representatives must find ways to effectively “enter the digital workplace” without disrupting normal operations or raising suspicion. Here’s how they can gain access and observe effectively:

• Pose as a Consultant or External Advisor: 
  The acquirer’s team can be introduced as advisors evaluating operational efficiencies, allowing them to join virtual meetings and access internal systems without raising alarms.
   
• Gain Access Through Leadership Invitations: 
  By working through the target company’s leadership, observers can be included in town halls, all-hands meetings, and other virtual gatherings under the pretense of strategic assessment.
   
• Join Virtual Meetings as a Silent Observer: 
  Sit in on video calls to assess participation, meeting efficiency, and engagement levels.
   
• Monitor Internal Communication Tools: 
  With proper permissions from leadership, Due Diligence representatives can review unclassified discussions in platforms like Slack, Teams, or email to assess the company’s communication style, responsiveness, and collaboration practices in their natural state.
   
• Analyze Digital Workplace Organization: 
  Are files well-structured, or is there digital chaos? Are dashboards and project management tools up-to-date?
   
• Look at Response Times and Work Patterns: 
  Are people responsive during core hours? Do employees seem overwhelmed or disengaged based on their digital presence?
   
• Review How Decisions Are Made in a Remote Setting: 
  Observe whether leadership engages in transparent decision-making processes and whether employees feel included in strategic conversations.
   
• Assess the Use of Collaboration Tools: 
  Determine whether employees actively use tools like shared documents, project management platforms, or video calls to work efficiently as a team.
   
• Track Participation in Virtual Social and Team-Building Activities: 
  Evaluate whether the company fosters engagement through remote team-building efforts, or if employees appear disconnected.

Why Traditional Cultural Assessments Fall Short

Employee Surveys

• Employees know their responses can be traced back to them, making honest answers unlikely.
• Surveys capture stated values, not real behavior.
• People tend to answer with what they think leadership wants to hear, rather than revealing underlying cultural norms.

Third-Party Cultural Assessments

• External consultants rely on interviews and standardized metrics that miss the nuances of day-to-day operations.
• They can be expensive and time-consuming with little actionable insight.
• They often compare culture to generic benchmarks, rather than the acquirer’s specific expectations.

Leadership Interviews

• Executives may present an idealized version of their culture rather than the reality on the ground.
• Leadership’s perspective is often disconnected from frontline employees' actual experiences.

What Happens If Cultures Are Too Different?

Observing a cultural mismatch doesn’t necessarily mean an acquisition should be abandoned, but it does signal what level of integration difficulty to expect.

• A messy, inefficient workplace being acquired by a highly structured company → Integration will be tough. Employees accustomed to informality and improvisation may resist structured workflows, viewing them as bureaucratic and stifling.
   
• A high-accountability, performance-driven company acquiring a laid-back, low-accountability culture → Expect resistance. Employees may struggle with increased expectations and may even seek employment elsewhere.
   
• A strong leadership-driven culture acquiring a decentralized, consensus-based organization → Decision-making structures will clash. Employees accustomed to collective input may resist top-down directives.
   
• A disciplined, well-run company acquiring a disorganized but well-intentioned company → Integration may go well if employees see the changes as positive improvements rather than forced impositions.

Final Thoughts

A walk-around observation exposes the unfiltered reality of an organization’s culture—something no survey or consultant report can achieve. 

The key is not just identifying differences but understanding how employees will respond to change. Will they embrace new structures, or will they push back? 

The answers are often hiding in plain sight, waiting for an observer willing to look beyond the conference room and into the heart of daily operations.

We invite you to attend "The Art of M&A® HR: Aligning People, Change and Culture to Optimize M&A Outcomes" - a highly interactive virtual course where you can ask questions, come to conclusions, and find out how other M&A professionals make decisions. March 18-20, 2025 for three half-days, via MS Teams.  

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