Co-creating culture: Your guide to M&A integration

When an M&A integration brings two organizations together, the potential for increased revenue, business growth, and market expansion is clear. But the most crucial merger isn’t of balance sheets or product lines—it’s the deliberate union of two distinct cultural identities writing a new story together. The way organizations navigate this cultural transformation can make or break the entire M&A journey.

In “Mergers and Acquisitions: An in-depth playbook for M&A rebrand success,” we dive deep into navigating the complexities of a merger and/or acquisition. Here we’ve compiled some of our tips for shaping your employees’ experience during the launch of your new entity.

Make empathy your foundation

Mergers and acquisitions can open doors to exciting professional growth, creating pathways for employees to advance their careers, develop new skills, and gain exposure to new clients or markets.

But even with these opportunities on the horizon, change inevitably brings uncertainty. Leaders may grapple with concerns about departmental redundancies, their protective instincts kicking into overdrive as they consider the fate of their team. Individual employees might lie awake at night worrying about potential layoffs or the erosion of a culture they cherish.

Your people are your brand’s greatest asset, with the potential to become your strongest advocates and ambassadors. Ensuring teams feel invested in the merger may help you retain top talent in the future. Acknowledging your employees’ complex and nuanced feelings can guide how you shape your M&A and influence its overall success.

Mapping your cultural DNA

Before you can shape where you’re going, you need to deeply understand where you’re coming from. Understanding both organizations’ cultural DNA—the shared values, working styles, and unwritten rules—is essential to driving lasting change. Start by systematically mapping the cultural landscapes through a mix of research methods. Surveys and interviews provide foundational data, while dynamic tools like online discussion boards and focus groups can capture real-time feedback and foster open dialogue.

Culture mapping helps identify what aspects drive success in each organization and where potential friction points might emerge. Look beyond formal structures to understand the informal networks and processes that employees have developed to be successful. What motivates your people? What do they value most about their current workplace? What are their hopes and fears about the merger? This understanding helps you:

• Identify cultural complementarities that can be leveraged
• Spot potential friction points before they become problems
• Find authentic common ground to build upon
• Control the narrative around cultural evolution

Make data collection an ongoing process, not a one-time event. Regular pulse checks help you track evolving employee sentiments, measure the effectiveness of integration efforts, and adjust your approach as needed. These insights will shape both strategic decisions about organizational structure and tactical choices about change management and communication strategies.

Remember: culture can’t be dictated from above. The most successful M&As recognize that the new organizational culture must be co-created, drawing on the best elements of both legacy organizations while creating space for something new to emerge.

Co-creating a new cultural identity

Employees from both organizations need to see their teams and disciplines represented as co-creators among the key decision-makers who are steering the M&A. Inclusivity in the decision-making process builds trust and ensures that different viewpoints and concerns are considered. Like a championship sports team, success depends on having the right players in the right positions, all working together toward a common goal. Here’s how to build your M&A dream team:

• Executive Sponsor (Head Coach): Ultimate decision-maker who champions the integration and removes roadblocks.
• Core Integration Team (Assistant Coaches): 3-5 members managing daily integration efforts and coordination between organizations.
• Steering Committee (Team Captains): Cross-functional leaders providing strategic oversight and departmental alignment.
• Working Groups (Special Teams): Specialized teams handling specific integration aspects like brand, culture, communications, and experience.

The key to success is to define clear roles and responsibilities for every team member, then ensuring these groups don’t operate in silos. Regular cross-team meetings and clear communication channels help maintain alignment and ensure decisions are made with a full understanding of their implications across the organization. This interconnected structure allows for both specialized focus and holistic integration, creating a framework that can support the complex demands of merging two organizations into a cohesive whole.

Building the blueprint for M&A integration

The integration phase demands strategic intention and clear leadership to bring your cultural vision to life. While employees navigate the complexities of organizational change, this period offers a powerful opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to co-creating a stronger, unified culture. By activating the foundational principles of empathy, inclusion, and shared decision-making, you can transform natural uncertainty into meaningful engagement.

Building on these foundational principles, leaders can activate a four-phase approach that transforms strategic vision into tangible cultural alignment:

1. Understand: Your M&A integration begins with culture mapping. Conduct employee experience immersions or ethnographies to uncover the underlying truths, beliefs, values, and habits that make up each legacy organization’s innate “secret sauce.”
2. Engage: Solicit feedback about the M&A during the integration process through surveys, roundtables, and open forums. This not only provides helpful input but ensures employees feel involved and included in the process. Don’t forget to look beyond the brand and marketing team—include a diverse range of voices and perspectives.
3. Train: Design interactive, tangible, and relatable training to educate and immerse your employees in your new brand. Use games, quizzes, and hands-on activities to keep it engaging. Utilize brand ambassadors to help deliver key messages. Consider strategies for encouraging collaboration, such as grouping employees from different organizations to work together on tasks.
4. Empower: Create avenues for employees to live and reinforce the new culture in their day-to-day roles. Consider employee award programs or contests that drive desired behaviors. Evaluate each legacy organization’s existing incentive structures to ensure they don’t conflict with your new organization’s goals.

Learn more: Convergence is the key to cultural effectiveness

Leading a cultural transformation during an M&A

Investing in employee experience is an investment in your new entity’s success. The relationship between employee satisfaction and customer experience is symbiotic. Creating a positive employee experience during your M&A not only eases the transition, it lays the groundwork for client satisfaction, revenue growth and market expansion.

As you navigate the complexities of your M&A integration, keep in mind that your new brand isn’t just about logos and taglines—it’s about the lived experience of your employees and clients. You’re not just combining companies, you’re writing a new, shared story. Done right, you’ll create an organization your team is excited to be part of and empowered to bring to life.

Download our playbook, “Mergers and Acquisitions: An in-depth playbook for M&A success,” and discover the keys to unlocking a successful M&A.