Where Are You in the M and A Discussion?

There has been a lot of talk lately that HR is always in on the final stage of acquisitions. Why is that? If you are plugged into the CEO & the M&A team you should been at the lead end rather than the tail end of such activities. So why is that?

Well, for one thing and mainly primary is that HR can read the culture of an organization better than financial types and for that matter senior level managers. Remember, HR is our business. One of the main reasons why things don't go well after an acquisition is that the cultures do not fit and never will creating disparate and unconnected strategy issues. In addition, financial types do not always know the buzz words for hidden costs in the balance sheet or the intricate payer issues for medical plans.

So my issue is make sure your HR lead is in the lead end of acquisition and not the tail or you will be holding the tail in the long run.

To read more on mergers and acquisitions you should read my prior posts in 2008 on this very important subject.