How HR should handle the 'people side' of M&As

Following the increase in companies announcing mergers in the past few months, it may be time for HR to address the issue of how best to handle employees during the complex process.

Recent examples include Verizon’s announcement of plans to acquire Yahoo for $4.8billion (£3.7billion) and SoftBank's acquisition of Arm Holdings for £24.3billion.

Mary Clarke, CEO of people analytics company Cognisco, believes that the most difficult part of any merger is bringing employees together.

“Merging organisations will often have dissimilar goals, cultures and products, which can present a major challenge for even the most experienced CEO,” she explained.