AfricaOur Thinking / Mergers and Acquisitions
The Art and Science of Talent Retention
13 October 2017
Retain Key Talent to Drive Value during M&A Transactions
Given the chronic talent shortage, people are a key asset for any business. In fact, few business leaders today view their people solely as an expense. It’s one reason to emphasize the importance of keeping key talent during a merger or acquisition.
In today’s competitive market, you want to drive value. With record multiples on almost every deal, it’s become more difficult to maximize the results of your M&A transaction—but not impossible. While creating cost savings and increased revenue with the purchase is important, the operational efficiency cannot be achieved without identifying, engaging and motivating key talent.
The Secret of Successful Buyers
Why are some buyers more successful than others? Successful buyers see retention as the #1 risk during mergers and acquisitions. If talent retention is a risk, you want to mitigate it—and you can by:
- Being people-focused
- Understanding the impact of mergers and acquisitions on employees
- Using employee engagement strategies
- Using retention programs to retain key talent across the board
- Aligning rewards with behaviour
The Best Insurance
Employee retention strategies are now key components of M&A risk management. You can think of them as an insurance policy on your purchase. All around the world, these programs are evolving as buyers like you put more emphasis on keeping key talent within the ranks during M&A transactions.
As this M&A trend continues to evolve, you’ll want to know about:
- Key trends affecting global mergers and acquisitions, including regional insights regarding the effectiveness of retention programs.
- Why you need to be concerned with talent retention at every level, not just in the C-suite.
- What people risks you might be exposed to during the M&A process, including flight risks.
- How to retain employees using the Best-in-Practice retention program framework, developed by Mercer professionals overseeing thousands of mergers and acquisitions every year.
In a world where talent is in short supply, flight risk can make buying a risky proposition. It doesn’t need to be when you have the best insurance policy possible. Download the Global M&A Retention Research Report summary and start designing your employee retention strategy today.
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