Following a year of record deal activity the M&A marketplace faces a different set of challenges in 2008. Despite these challenges, deal-making continues and deals are becoming increasingly complex. With all that is at stake, leadership expects speed and excellence in the execution of critical transactional processes.

Yet many deals will continue to repeat the hard lessons of the past, failing to meet the strategic, operational and financial objectives underlying the deal rationale. Why? Market experts indicate the most common reason for this failure is lack of attention paid to the human capital aspects of due diligence, culture and integration.

Successful deals

Successful deals give equal attention to financial and human capital risks and opportunities. In too many cases, however, HR expertise is brought in only after the transaction has closed and the financial and human capital fundamentals of the deal are fixed. While HR increasingly has a “seat at the deal table,” the practice is not widespread, and too many deals fail to take advantage of the insight and perspective that HR can bring.

HR’s role

So how can HR contribute to deal success? We believe that HR’s best value is serving as the strategic and tactical adviser to the deal team on all people aspects of the deal. This is a complex role, requiring an understanding of legal, employee and financial issues, and the flow of information and decision making across deal phases. It requires managing the increased need for information that will come from employees as they try to understand how the deal impacts them. And finally, it requires being able to continue to deliver on HR’s “day job” while at the same time making and implementing decisions about the post-deal HR organization.

HR’s job is already a difficult one, and a deal makes it more so. But a deal is also the ideal setting for HR to prove its strategic value to the business and an exciting opportunity for growth and contribution for HR professionals.

Is HR ready?

But when HR is called, it needs to “be ready.” Does your HR team have the knowledge, perspective, tools and processes to add value when the opportunity comes? Can you make the business case that HR should be at the deal table?

Why attend?

Mercer M&A Ready™ is designed to prepare HR professionals for the challenges an M&A presents, by providing them with strategic focus, proven processes and valuable tools. By being better prepared, HR can make a critical contribution to helping the organization realize the full value of a merger, acquisition, joint venture, divestiture or other major business transaction. What are our workshop objectives? The aim is to strengthen HR’s contribution to deal success by creating an understanding of the following:

• M&A transactions in the context of an organization’s business strategy
  
  
• M&A phases, processes and vocabulary
  
  
• Deal and HR team structures, roles and relationships
  
  
• Key human capital issues and HR’s role in each deal phase
  
  
• How HR can help advance deal objectives and advise the deal team

Who should attend?

Our workshops are highly focused and practical. They are designed for HR and other professionals likely to be involved in M&A activities who want to:

• Understand M&A fundamentals
  
  
• Advise the deal team on how human capital policies, programs and practices affect deal success
  
  
• Help their organizations generate better short- and long-term results for employees, customers and shareholders alike

Mercer M&A Ready™ is highly interactive, engaging delegates with practical tools and real-life experiences rather than theoretical models.

What attendees will take away

As part of the workshop package, delegates will take away proprietary Mercer M&A reference materials, tools and sample templates.

Mercer M&A Ready™ two-day workshops

Our two-day workshops cover each deal phase from Strategy and Planning through to Extended Integration, describing the critical processes and HR program management approaches specific to complex transactions. Focusing on strategic approaches to M&A, these workshops blend facilitated discussions followed by interactive exercises built around a typical deal, to illustrate and simulate the M&A principles and processes involved.

Mercer M&A Ready™ one-day workshops

In addition to our two-day courses, we offer one day courses in some locations. The content is a condensed version of the two-day course but still takes delegates through an end-to-end framework for managing an M&A transaction.

Our workshops begin with an overview of M&A terminology and concepts and then provide an in-depth look at each phase of a deal:

• Pre-deal strategy and planning
  
  
• Culture in transactions
  
  
• HR program management office (PMO)
  
  
• HR due diligence issues and process
  
  
• Organizational and stakeholder engagement
  
  
• Do by close
  
  
• Integration planning
  
  
• Integration implementation

Issues addressed in our workshops:

• Ensuring that HR’s activities are strategically aligned with the business rationale for the deal
  
  
• Managing human capital risks created by the deal itself, such as retention and productivity risks
  
  
• Understanding the cultures of the parties to the deal and what model of cultural integration best serves the deal rationale
  
  
• HR liabilities in due diligence, such as pension plans, stock options, change in control risks and compliance
  
  
• Staffing of deal teams and the post-deal company
  
  
• Planning for and conducting HR integration activities, such as organization design, leadership selection, change communication, total rewards strategy for the post-deal company and the post-deal HR organization
  
  

Your consultant facilitators

All the consultant facilitators for Mercer M&A Ready™ workshops are seasoned Mercer professionals with hands-on deal experience as part of Mercer’s global M&A consulting business.

Customized workshops

We also deliver customized workshops for organizations that prefer an approach more tailored to their individual needs. These can be conducted in local languages, with country-specific or global material. These workshops can be customized to the client’s specific approach to deals, as a kickoff for the HR team on a specific deal or to address specific deal-related topics in depth.

Mercer M&A Ready™ Schedule

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