HR M&A Employee Retention Strategies | Deloitte US has been saved
Authored by Cliff Mansfield, Kenny MacDonald, Ian Dawson and Carrie Lace
When the Human Capital (HC) DealMakers community recently came together, we had an engaging discussion about the results of Deloitte’s 2022 Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Employee Retention Survey and how DealMakers approach retaining talent during a transaction. A summary of findings can be found below, but for further insights into the survey results and new strategies you could leverage to drive retention on your next deal, view the full report!
As we all know, employee retention is crucial to the success of any M&A deal. Ensuring that employees with critical skillsets do not leave as a result of a deal being announced is a key challenge facing companies today. Nearly one third of companies saw an increase in voluntary attrition following the announcement of a deal1. However, when granted a financial retention award less than 5% of recipients left before their awards were fully vested1, showing that the best people can be kept in place when the right retention strategy is deployed.
Many organizations are familiar with financial retention strategies. Still, a growing number are realizing the importance of non-financial retention strategies, especially in light of the changing workplace dynamics brought about by the pandemic. Financial retention levers are often quicker to execute, but HR and business leaders are considering non-financial levers when developing their long-term retention strategy.
The 2022 Deloitte M&A Employee Retention Survey offers trends and insights companies can learn from when developing their employee retention strategy.
Some questions answered in the survey include:
- What happens to attrition levels during a transaction?
- What levers do companies adjust to retain talent?
- Which groups of employees do companies prioritize for retention?
- How much do companies spend on financial retention?
- What non-financial retention strategies are companies using?
Check out the survey for these and many more insights into how companies are approaching talent retention during an M&A transaction.
Monthly our Human Capital Mergers, Acquisitions, and Restructuring (M&A/R) team connects with HR professionals focused on M&A/R work (aka Human Capital “DealMakers”) across every industry. During these sessions we discuss topics that are top of mind for them as they support their companies. This Capital H Series “Human Capital DealMakers” highlights Deloitte’s point of view on topics covered during those conversations.
If you, or someone on your team, is focused on HR M&A/R work and are interested in joining our monthly calls, please reach out to the Human Capital DealMakers Mailbox.
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1Source: Deloitte M&A Retention Survey May 2022
