Is HR Prepared for the Coming Wave of M&A?

Sep 18

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are on the rise again. But if history is any guide, most organizations aren’t ready.

Two-thirds of HR leaders admit they are unprepared for the surge in M&A activity expected in 2025 (WTW).
70–90% of M&A deals fail to deliver promised value (AIHR, HBR).
And the #1 stumbling block? Data completeness and integration.

Why So Many Deals Fail

The track record of M&A is sobering. According to Deloitte and Harvard Business Review, the majority of deals underperform because of:

Cultural clashes, which account for up to 30% of integration failures.
Talent loss and low employee buy-in.
Integration challenges, with 60% of failed deals citing this as a primary reason.
Unclear strategy, overpricing, or underestimating the complexity of integration.

For more than 15 years, research has shown that people and culture, not just financial modeling, make or break the outcome.

Yet organizations still walk into deals underestimating this risk.

Where HR Can Change the Equation

This is where HR leaders have a chance to shift from reactive to strategic. With the right tools, HR can de-risk transactions, accelerate integration, and bring tangible ROI:

Reduce time to value: Get visibility across both companies and HR systems in 2–4 weeks.
Create a single source of truth: Integrate historical data and systems for immediate clarity.
Deliver insights on day one: From high-performer turnover risk to compensation ratios and potential synergies.
Enable predictive context: With clean, connected data, HR can provide benchmarks and predictive insights to guide leadership decisions.

Instead of scrambling to reconcile spreadsheets post-deal, HR teams equipped with a people analytics strategy can provide ready, customizable insights that unlock productivity and trust.

What This Looks Like in Practice

At Illoominus, we help HR teams get data in order fast so they can focus on the people side of integration. That means:

Reports and dashboards available immediately so leaders have clarity on Day 1.
Automated, comprehensive reporting to free HR from manual, error-prone tasks.
Data health assessments included at implementation, ensuring readiness for predictive modeling.
Industry benchmarks and best practices layered in to guide smarter decisions.

Here’s how we do it.