Due diligence as we know, is the basis of M&A decisions. During due diligence most companies do not assess the workforce of an acquisition target. Instead they simply rely on financial success as an indicator of the talent’s caliber. Without talent-focused due diligence, companies tend to be at greater risk for deal failure. These result from unforeseen talent problems. The case examples presented below, show some ways that unforeseen problems in M&A and dealing with them.

Organizations access a variety of secondary sources to identify talent-related issues at potential targets. Issues that might jeopardize the strategic goals of the M&A deal. We have found that collecting information regarding a target’s talent is done everywhere. How companies analyze that data with an eye to assessing potential risks to M&A success is the differentiator.

Companies scan for the presence of key talent during due diligence. But what we see them missing is determining the risk of that talent’s departure. By making comparisons among the target, market standards, and themselves, companies can diagnose departure drivers.

Due diligence investigations provide the necessary insights to these kinds of challenges. With these we can then strategize talent management.