How to Help the Employees You Gain in a Merger Succeed

Young companies are often acquired more for their talent than for their products, services, or ongoing operations—especially when the acquirer is a much larger, established organization.

The acquiring entity wants to produce impact and to do so faster than building the expertise internally – either by developing existing talent or by creating an entirely new team via an orchestrated, and often prolonged, recruiting process. However, to realize and sustain the impact, clarity and mutual understanding about the objectives and desired outcomes must be clear on both sides, or failure is assured.

The attached article from Michael Schrage, originally published in the Harvard Business Review, provides a few critical success criteria and warning signs with which we wholeheartedly agree.