Following the increase in companies announcing mergers in the past few months, it may be time for HR to address the issue of how best to handle employees during the complex process.

Recent examples include Verizon’s announcement of plans to acquire Yahoo for $4.8billion (£3.7billion) and SoftBank's acquisition of Arm Holdings for £24.3billion.

Mary Clarke, CEO of people analytics company Cognisco, believes that the most difficult part of any merger is bringing employees together.

“Merging organisations will often have dissimilar goals, cultures and products, which can present a major challenge for even the most experienced CEO,” she explained.

“With the implications of Brexit and the effects this could potentially have on the global markets still unknown, this challenge is going to intensify further over the coming years.”

Law firm Allen & Overy recently found that, despite forward planning, just 20% of M&As achieve their expected outcome in terms of benefits that the buying company expected.

They said the main reason for this is the lack of awareness that goes into managing and planning the complex HR issues involved in bringing two firms together.

A further survey from KPMG found that corporate culture should be a consideration, with 54% of executives claiming that cultural issues are the most difficult faced during a merger.

Clarke went on to explain that companies should be investing in an initial diagnostic that “will provide a baseline of likely behaviours, confidence and understanding against each specific role or function.

“All companies going through an M&A transaction will have one thing in common in determining a successful outcome, whether they are being acquired or looking to be acquired, and that’s proving the value of their people.

“Only by having people-centred data can they accurately evidence this and hence make themselves a more appealing proposition.

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