M&A and major transitions.
Protecting deal value on the people side.

The question that determines whether the deal delivers.

Financial and legal due diligence is designed to verify: are the numbers real, and are the legal obligations manageable? It cannot answer the questions that determine whether the deal actually delivers its return:

• Who are the three people whose departure would materially change what you're buying?
• Are they planning to stay - and under what conditions?
• Is the management team capable of absorbing integration alongside delivering the day job?
• Do the two leadership cultures have the compatibility to work together under pressure?
• Is the founder psychologically ready for what post-close actually feels like?

These are not soft questions. They are questions with direct financial answers - and can directly affect the value the acquirer actually captures from the deal.

Three engagement types, one focus.

• Pre-deal HR due diligenceStructured diagnostic conversations with the target's leadership team - designed to surface leadership philosophy, decision-making style, management maturity, and change readiness. A written risk briefing that tells the integration team exactly where to focus in the first 30, 60, and 90 days. Not a cultural description - a risk assessment with actionable recommendations.
• Integration planningWorking with the acquiring leadership team on the specific integration risks the DD surfaced. Retention risk on named individuals. Culture integration approach. Org design under pressure. What day one signals need to be - and what promises made at the town hall you actually have to keep.
• Post-close people integrationEmbedded advisory through the first 90 days and beyond, when the acquired leadership team is under the most pressure and the risk of key-person departures is highest. Available as a discrete engagement or as part of an ongoing fractional arrangement.

Not a spectator.

I've led people strategy through large-scale mergers, integrations, and workforce change - including multiple M&A integrations at Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland, where acquisitions were part of the regular operating rhythm and the people side determined whether the deal thesis actually delivered.

In the public sector, structural change on a much larger scale - mergers of departments, TUPE transfers, redesigns spanning tens of thousands of employees. Including a 5,000-person merger of two organizations with fundamentally different cultures, governance structures, and trust climates.

Different context, same principle: deal value protects itself when the people side is handled with judgment.