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theHRDIRECTOR Issue 69
This issue we speak to
James Dalgleish
Head of HR - London Fire Brigade

FEATURES

Special Report
Interim Management
Retention
Reward & Recognition
Leadership

FEATURING

Hays Human Resources
Northgate Arinso
Mind
QVC
New Balance

Mergers & Acquisitions

Split decision
At start-up, a company develops its personality by identifying the products and services it wants to offer, which will, hopefully, result in sales. Once the company’s identity is in place, it can begin to assert itself by focusing on creating a large customer base, selling to that customer base and making lots of money in the meantime. But problems often occur when a business decides to merge with or acquire a business which is not a good cultural fit.
Leading people through mergers and acquisitions
When two organisations, employing hundreds or thousands of people, merge, a great deal of effort is given over to due diligence. Much time is devoted to poring over finances, integrating IT systems, telling the stock market about synergies and drawing up new structure charts. However, it may take some time to dawn on leaders that people change more slowly and in more complex ways than systems and processes.