Our firm recently facilitated the successful merger of two credit unions. One of the fundamental issues that we focused on was the ability of the post-merger team to quickly establish and maintain productive working relationships with employees and members. From the outset, it was critical to identify people-related risk factors as well as integration challenges and their value.

A Bain & Co. survey of 250 global executives involved in mergers and acquisitions concluded that only three out of 10 transactions created meaningful value for shareholders. Poor integration was one of the major causes for these failed corporate unions. Harvard Business Review points out in its article, “Human Due Diligence” (April 2007), that if deal making ignores and underestimates the significance of people issues, the results can be a significant loss of talent after the merger, long-term attrition and lost market share.

In a post-merged company, whether for a public company or a credit union, the creation of mutual trust, a shared vision and clear roles take time to develop. Our goal throughout any merger process is to focus on these critical cultural issues to ensure that the proper foundation is set for future success as well as to ensure that the merger stays on track and doesn't fall apart based upon a lack of trust, fear of job losses, misunderstandings, poor planning or poor communication.