Teaming · Post-merger integration
Most mergers lose value on the human side, not the strategy.
Making Mergers Work is an experiential post-merger integration programme that builds trust, shared language and collaborative habits across newly merged teams. Most mergers lose value on the human side, not the strategy or the structure. The programme is grounded in Applied Improv and the EPIC Leadership framework, and is designed for integration leaders, M&A advisory firms and legal counsel.
The challenge
Most mergers look good on paper. The strategic rationale is sound, the financials are modelled, the legal structure is clean — and then people have to work together. That is where the majority of deals lose value. A study of 40,000 acquisitions over four decades, published by Fortune in 2024, found that 70–75% of acquisitions fail to deliver their intended value. The pattern is consistent: it is rarely the strategy that breaks down. It is the human side.
McKinsey finds that 74% of executives cite cultural integration as the hardest part of any deal, and that half of managers read their organisation's culture very differently from other employees during a merger. Deloitte found that 23% of companies failed at integration specifically because of poor employee retention. People hold back ideas because they don't know how new colleagues will respond. Teams form protective silos. Key talent leaves — not over compensation, but because they no longer feel they belong. Fear triggers the amygdala response, and people default to self-protection over openness.
What we offer
A structured programme that builds trust and collaborative habits quickly, across both legacy organisations. It runs in four phases — onboarding and discovery with stakeholders from both sides, experiential training days where people from both organisations practise the behaviours that matter most in a merger, a 30-day integration programme, and follow-up with impact measurement. Participants leave with a shared language, a felt experience of trust, and specific commitments about what they'll do differently.
Who it's for
Newly merged leadership teams aligning on culture and ways of working. Cross-functional teams brought together from different legacy organisations. Integration task forces responsible for making the merger work. And the M&A advisers and legal counsel who want a credible, value-added service to recommend during integration.
Format
Typical engagement: one to two training days and/or a six-session leadership programme, each followed by a 30-day programme and impact measurement. Group size 10–25 per facilitator. We regularly scale across multiple teams in the same merger, with up to ten facilitators in a single day.
In the middle of an integration? Let's protect the value of the deal.
FAQ
Questions, answered
- When in the integration timeline should this start?
- As early as possible. The first ninety days set the cultural tone of the merger. Starting before day one — with leadership alignment — and continuing through the integration is where we see the biggest impact.
- Can you work across both legacy organisations at the same time?
- Yes. The programme is specifically designed for mixed groups from both sides, so trust is built between them rather than reinforced within each silo.
- Is this suitable for M&A advisers or legal counsel to recommend?
- Yes. Many of our integration engagements come through advisers and counsel who want a credible, value-added partner to recommend alongside the legal and financial workstreams.