Addressing Cultural Integration Challenges

When doing any M&A - are you purchasing the intellectual property or the business? Because if you're buying ANYTHING more than the intellectual property, trust is at the core of the integration. You can (maybe) integrate systems in 90 days. Integrating trust takes a whole lot longer. One of the most overlooked risks in M&A? The human one. I’ve been through multiple integrations, due diligence cycles, and post-close transitions. And I can tell you: spreadsheets may win the deal, but it's trust, communication, and culture that determine whether the value actually materializes. Circling back to one of my previous posts - it is also making sure the "say" and the "do" match - ALL the way back to the initial due diligence. Here's what often gets missed: 🔹 People interpret silence as threat - and in the absence of information will create their own story - which is often significantly worse than the truth! Communication isn't just a courtesy—it's risk mitigation. 🔹 Culture is an operating system. Every team has embedded ways of working. If you force alignment without understanding those patterns, you may inadvertently shut down what made them successful in the first place. 🔹 Integration is emotional. Titles shift. Power moves. Identities blur. Benefits change. The process isn’t just technical—it’s deeply personal. And without a strategy for that, and a proactive change plan (that is HEAVY on the communication) you’re leaving value on the table. The most successful integrations I’ve supported had three things in common: 🧩 A shared leadership narrative grounded in purpose and clarity. 🧩 Early identification of cultural hotspots—not just red flags, but areas of pride and strength. Coupled with the understanding that the acquired organization may often have things to teach the buying organization! 🧩 A deliberate, empathetic, and transparent approach to change management—because speed without humanity breeds resistance. M&A is an incredible opportunity to reset, refocus, and rebuild stronger. But only if the people inside the business believe they have a future in the new version. The real synergy? It’s not just in the balance sheet. It’s in the belief system. I'd love to hear from others—what’s something you’ve seen work (or not) when two organizations become one?

I've led 17 M&A integrations. Here are the 5 critical lessons I've learned: 1. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭 Traditional leadership development fails during integration. Why? Because uncertainty demands a different kind of leader. Through these integrations, I learned to identify leaders who: • Thrive in ambiguity • Adapt their style instantly • Read situations before they escalate • Drive change without losing people 2. 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 The true value isn't just in products and revenue. Some of the best discoveries can come from understanding what made the acquired company exceptional in their: • Human resource strategies • Cultural dynamics • Inclusion practices These are often the hidden gems that should reshape the acquiring company, not just the other way around. 3. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝 Success isn't just about systems integration. It's about: • Seeing the faces behind the spreadsheets • Understanding transferable skills • Creating meaningful roles that honor expertise • Walking in their shoes through the transition 4. 𝐁𝐞 𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 I've watched great managers crumble during integration. And seen unexpected leaders emerge from the chaos. Here’s what differentiates: • Challenge assumptions constructively with market intelligence • Balance short-term wins with long-term strategic goals • Support decision-making with clear risk/benefit analysis • Act as a bridge between acquired and acquiring leadership teams 5. 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 While integration is complex, maintaining business momentum is critical. Focus on: • Preserving customer relationships • Maintaining operational excellence • Protecting revenue streams • Keeping top talent engaged Through these integrations, I've learned that success isn't written in manuals. It's carved out in moments of uncertainty. The best strategies emerge when we dare to look beyond traditional playbooks. And see the full picture: products, people, and possibilities. 👉 To my fellow Corporate Development and M&A experts: What crucial lessons would you add from your integration experiences? Share them below so we can keep learning from each other.

Mergers are like marriages of convenience. Necessary but not necessarily desired. Are you helping people grieve their losses? Mergers and acquisitions are typically treated as financial deals. Legal, accounting, and operations teams take the lead. Spreadsheets are reviewed. Synergies are projected. But where is the space for grief? As an Organizational Ombuds, I’ve seen this play out time and time again: people aren’t just adjusting to a new org chart—they’re mourning the loss of the company they knew. Their familiar language, inside jokes, unspoken rules, even who gets the last word in meetings—all of that changes overnight. Each organization is like a sovereign nation with its own customs. A merger isn’t just a deal—it’s a cultural collision. If integration teams aren’t equipped to address that, resistance builds, trust erodes, and your top talent quietly disengages. What if we did it differently? 🔍 What if M&A teams included an Ombuds from day one? Unlike consultants focused on systems or advisors focused on valuation, Ombuds serve as confidential thought partners—listening to fears, spotting friction early, and helping leaders communicate in ways that feel human, not corporate. 🧠 We help people process change before it becomes conflict. 🗣 We teach leaders how to listen, not just announce. 🤝 And we translate between cultures—so that both legacy teams feel respected and heard. Because behind every stalled integration or culture clash is a simple truth: no one was tasked with helping people feel safe enough to adapt. So, I’ll ask: ➡️ Who on your integration team is responsible for emotional fluency? ➡️ How are you equipping leaders to communicate with empathy? ➡️ Who’s listening when people feel lost, angry, or overlooked? The numbers matter—but the human experience is what determines whether your integration thrives or fractures. Let’s not treat grief like a risk to be managed. Let’s treat it like a truth to be honored.

💡 HR is often the unsung hero of successful M&A transactions With over 10 years of experience leading human capital strategies for mergers and acquisitions, I’ve seen firsthand how seamless integration can make or break a deal. Here are my top three priorities for ensuring success: 1️⃣ Due Diligence Beyond Numbers: Understand the culture you’re inheriting. Talent audits, leadership assessments, survey results, and alignment workshops uncover potential friction before it happens. 2️⃣ Clear Communication: Employees crave transparency (I cannot state this enough!) during times of uncertainty. Partnering with leadership to create a detailed communication strategy is key to reducing anxiety and retaining talent. There is no such thing as too much communication 3️⃣ Culture as a KPI: Integration isn’t just about processes—it’s about people. I prioritize embedding shared values and building trust across teams to ensure long-term success. HR leaders: How do you approach M&A transitions? What have you seen to be most successful? Let’s learn from each other! #MergersAndAcquisitions #HRLeadership #CultureTransformation #ChangeManagement

A surprising insight from recent PE data: Firms focusing on human capital first Are seeing 2x better integration results — Than those leading with financial engineering. Here's what people-first PE transformation looks like: 1. Cultural Integration Priority When acquiring companies: - Map cultural DNA early - Identify integration barriers - Build trust foundations 2. Leadership Capability Building When developing talent: - Enhance strategic thinking - Build transformation skills - Create growth mindsets 3. Talent Retention Strategy When keeping key talent: - Create compelling futures - Offer growth opportunities - Enable quick wins 4. Employee Engagement When driving transformation: - Share the value story - Enable decision-making - Reward initiative 5. Knowledge Transfer When combining strengths: - Share best practices - Enable innovation - Build new capabilities Financial engineering creates value. But people deliver it and the multiple lies in the human engagement. Leading a transformation? DM me "TRANSFORM" to explore human-centered integration approaches.

PE-backed Company. HR Director. Zero Organizational Cohesion. I just spoke with an HR executive who successfully transformed two "mom and pop" type manufacturers into structured organizations. The challenge he faced: - Integrating 150 employees from different company cultures - Limited HR resources - PE firm demanding rapid operational efficiency - Employees feeling like "just another number" What Most HR Leaders Do: Send generic onboarding emails Create standardized processes Ignore human connection What John Did Differently: - Brought finance team member into HR dept, creating a "two-headed monster" approach to managing HR responsibilities. He leveraged her existing knowledge of the org and helped create a culture of flexible, multi-skilled team members. - Personally visited 8 new locations in 2 weeks - Built relationships, not just org charts - Translated "corporate speak" into human understanding. Explaining the "why" behind organizational changes in person was a key strategy The Results: - 33% company growth - Seamless acquisition integration - Reduced turnover and improved retention - Created internal talent development pipelines with a successor groomed for each executive in the company What his story and career journey taught me: - Strategic HR isn't about processes It's about connecting humans across organizational boundaries - Most see HR as a cost center - He proved it's a growth accelerator and communicated that value to the PE firm's leadership team - Organizational transformations can take a toll on the best HR leaders. Work on creating a sense of inclusion and kill the perception of "big brother/the big bad corporation" is taking over. Who else is out there rewriting their personal HR playbook?

Everyone loves to talk about the strategy behind M&A deals. But the thing I’ve learned watching FMCG leaders up close? Deals don’t fail because of bad strategy. They fail because of people. It’s never the financial model that breaks first — it’s leadership misalignment. I see it happen all the time in FMCG — especially in Private Equity backed environments. The model looks perfect on paper: → Acquire a few fast-growing brands → Roll them into a global portfolio → Drive efficiencies, cost synergies, market expansion But then the integration starts — and suddenly things look very different. Because what the spreadsheet doesn’t tell you is: → The founder isn’t used to quarterly board meetings with EBITDA pressure → The CMO is still running a startup playbook in a scaled organization → The CEO doesn’t align with the go-to-market model in a new geography → The commercial leaders can’t navigate two different company cultures merging overnight And this happens more than most will admit. In fact — Bain & Company data shows 70% of M&A deals underperform expectations. And culture is one of the top 3 reasons. In the FMCG space — where brands carry legacy pride and deeply embedded ways of working — leadership integration is no longer “important.” It’s non-negotiable. Great M&A outcomes today don’t just come from smart strategy. They come from: → Leadership teams that trust each other faster than the market moves → Leaders who can flex between entrepreneurial scrappiness and corporate discipline → People who know when to protect brand identity — and when to evolve it And here’s what I tell my clients: If leadership alignment is not your #1 risk mitigation strategy in M&A — you’re not just betting on growth. You’re betting on luck. The smartest investors I work with in FMCG? They’ve learned this the hard way. They’re doing culture diligence as seriously as financial diligence. They’re assessing leadership “integration readiness” before the deal closes. They’re hiring talent not just for operational excellence — but for the ability to navigate ambiguity, pressure, and transformation. Because the future of FMCG M&A won’t be won by the best strategy. It will be won by the best people. Drop me a message — I’m always up for a conversation on building high performing teams. #FMCG #ExecutiveSearch #PrivateEquity #MergersAndAcquisitions #Leadership #CultureIntegration #ConsumerGoods #HiringStrategy

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝟲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗦 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗥 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵. In that time, I’ve had dozens of conversations with CHROs and HR VPs across the region, and one theme keeps rising to the top: 𝙷̲𝚘̲𝚠̲ ̲𝚍̲𝚘̲ ̲𝚠̲𝚎̲ ̲𝚍̲𝚛̲𝚒̲𝚟̲𝚎̲ ̲𝚝̲𝚛̲𝚊̲𝚗̲𝚜̲𝚏̲𝚘̲𝚛̲𝚖̲𝚊̲𝚝̲𝚒̲𝚘̲𝚗̲ ̲𝚠̲𝚒̲𝚝̲𝚑̲𝚘̲𝚞̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚋̲𝚞̲𝚛̲𝚗̲𝚒̲𝚗̲𝚐̲ ̲𝚙̲𝚎̲𝚘̲𝚙̲𝚕̲𝚎̲ ̲𝚘̲𝚞̲𝚝̲?̲ One CHRO said it best: “We’re expected to scale like a tech company, integrate like a private equity firm, and retain like a family business—all at the same time.” That tension—between 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺—is fast becoming one of the defining leadership challenges of 2025. Here’s what I have heard how the most successful HR leaders are managing it:  • 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲: True scalability isn’t just headcount—it’s about building flexible org structures, automating low-impact processes, and hiring for potential. The leaders getting this right are focused on creating “scale-ready” talent frameworks that evolve with the business—modular, efficient, and future-proof  • 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲: As M&A and diversification continue, integration is no longer a finance exercise—it’s a people strategy. The shift we’re seeing? Leaders are investing early in cultural due diligence, joint leadership planning, and talent mapping across the portfolio. Instead of rushing to uniformity, they’re allowing space for hybrid processes to coexist post-acquisition—while aligning around shared values and top talent early on  • 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻: In an era of transformation, trust becomes the retention strategy. This means treating internal mobility as seriously as external hiring, empowering local leaders to hold meaningful stay interviews, and cultivating a sense of belonging that scales with growth. Organizations that win loyalty aren’t always the highest-paying—they’re the ones where people feel seen, stretched, and supported. To support these conversations, we’ve pulled together the latest Talent Trends Report from Page Executive. My favorite part in this report is the study concerning trust in leadership.  👉 Download it here https://lnkd.in/g-s8VcZq If you’re navigating similar challenges—or just want to compare notes—I’d love to hear what you’re seeing on the ground. #executivesearch #CHRO #HRLeadership #talenttrends #HR2025 #peopleandculture #PageExecutive #transformation