The Secret to PMI Success: Communication
In a conversation with Capitil, Fiona Wallis, former Head of People at UK scale-up Oddbox Delivery, talks about the importance of PMI’s best kept secret: communication.
Without employee buy-in and alignment, even the best strategies can falter. Fiona’s take? M&A is not just about numbers - it’s about people, because winning their trust is key to unlocking the deal’s full potential.
FIONA’S KEY INSIGHTS SUMMARISED
Align culture and values early. Integration succeeds when the acquired team understands and accepts the new company's culture. Clear communication of the vision and benefits is key.
Prioritise communication. M&A is about people, not just numbers. Regular, open communication helps employees feel included and understand their new roles.
Address team diversity. Acquired teams are diverse, with different needs. A tailored approach ensures smoother transitions and better engagement across all levels.
Claire: I have followed your career with great interest since we graduated from Rhodes. From the Grahamstown lecture halls to the boardrooms at HSBC, you really have done it all. Can you tell us a bit about your more recent work experience?
Fiona: Sure! The majority of my career has been serving as a Chief of Staff in various settings, ranging from large multinational corporations to startups in the post-Series A and Series B stages, as well as NGOs. My role covers strategic planning, articulation of long-term strategies, and ensuring these strategies are executed. A significant part of my job involves internal communications across diverse audiences, from globally distributed teams to small project groups. More recently, in the last five years, I've incorporated a focused people and culture angle into my work. This includes developing people strategies and managing the entire employee lifecycle – from defining why someone would want to work for a company to ensuring individuals can thrive at work. Ultimately, the success of any strategy depends on the people executing it.
Claire: I couldn’t agree more with your point that strategic success is 100% dependent on the people carrying it out. What does the Human Side of M&A mean to you?
Fiona: When I think of the human side of M&A, I immediately think of the "team." It’s about recognising that an acquired team is not homogenous; it consists of individuals with different motivations, values, and needs. From the security guard to the top-performing salesperson, each person plays a role. As an acquirer, your goal is to get that team on your side – you need everyone pulling in the same direction. If you’re fighting your own team, it's impossible to deliver value to your customers or shareholders.
Claire: With that context, how important is it for the target’s team to align with the acquiring company’s culture and values?
Fiona: It's crucial. Alignment forms the foundation of successful integration. When an individual actively applies for a job at a company, they’ve likely researched the brand, considered the culture, and decided it’s a good fit for them. In an acquisition, however, employees don’t have that choice. They are suddenly part of a new organisation due to decisions made in a boardroom, often without their input. This is why efforts to explain the acquiring company's culture and values need to be even greater. It's about showing them the benefits of this change and why it could be a positive shift for them. People need to understand why the acquisition happened and how it impacts their role in the new environment. The challenge lies in ensuring that everyone understands the vision, feels included, and is excited to move forward together.
Claire: The history books are full of M&A gone wrong, with culture clashes and botched integration being a common contributor to deal failure. What are the risks if teams are not properly integrating?
Fiona: The risks are multifaceted. The most obvious one is attrition – losing valuable employees. But there’s also the risk of disengagement, where people become demotivated and lose their drive. This negativity can spread quickly, creating an environment where people are merely going through the motions. At worst, you might have individuals actively working against the business. When a team isn’t functioning well, you’re more likely to face interpersonal conflicts, complaints, and higher workloads for HR and managers. High-performing teams become frustrated when they spend their time putting out fires instead of working towards strategic goals, leading even your most engaged employees to eventually say, "this isn’t worth it."
Claire: On the flip side, what are the benefits of integrating acquired teams successfully?
Fiona: Successful integration minimises internal disruption, which has a direct positive impact on external outcomes – whether that’s for customers, clients, or shareholders. Smooth internal integration makes the entire business transition more manageable. It’s not about everyone immediately using the same systems but about establishing a cohesive internal environment. When your team is on board, it enhances your ability to meet your external commitments and deliver shareholder value.
Claire: Let’s get into the practicalities of communication as the cornerstone of PMI. Based on what you’ve seen of ‘big change’ in the workplace, how do you think M&A comms should be handled, especially during the announcement stage?
Fiona: The way you communicate the acquisition sets the tone for the entire integration process. Timing is critical. The team should hear the news as close to the public announcement as possible, preferably beforehand, to avoid uncertainty and rumours. The announcement itself should be transparent and address immediate concerns. Employees need to feel valued and included in the process right from the start. It’s not just a one-off communication; it’s a process that requires consistency and clarity over time. The sooner they understand their new role and the company’s vision, the quicker they can become advocates for the brand.
Claire: We often think exclusively of ‘brand’ as an external facing aspect of marketing, when in fact there is an internal employee experience of the brand too. What role does ‘brand’ play in the process of M&A?
Fiona: Whether it is internal or external, brand is the articulation of vision, mission, and values. It’s essential for the acquired team to understand and advocate for the acquiring brand. The brand forms the foundation of your internal communication strategy. If you can’t communicate your "why" to your team, how can you communicate it to anyone externally? Everyone who interacts with your brand, internally or externally, should understand your mission and vision.
Claire: In practice, what do you think buy-side teams should be doing to get the target team excited about their brand and all the impending change?
Fiona: It’s about buy-side knowing that integration starts the moment the deal is announced, and it’s a process, not a one-time event. Every interaction from that point on is an opportunity to demonstrate what your brand stands for. You need to manage that experience so that the acquired team gradually becomes brand advocates. Showing is more effective than telling. It's about aligning what you say with what they see and experience. For example, if you claim to be transparent and inclusive, you need to demonstrate those values in practice. The more people see these values in action, the more they will start to advocate for your brand.
Claire: Can you share some best practices for making the acquired team feel valued during the integration?
Fiona: One of the best ways to make the acquired team feel valued is to show empathy. It's essential to acknowledge that change is challenging and that this acquisition will impact them in various ways. The more you involve people in the process and show that you genuinely care about their experience, the more likely they are to come on board and even become advocates for the new brand. Another best practice is to identify key segments within the acquired team who can act as "super users" or brand ambassadors. These are the people who will naturally influence others within the organisation, so landing your messaging with them can significantly impact the broader team's attitude.
Claire: So it is Day One of PMI. As a Chief of Staff, what are the biggest challenges you’d be anticipating as buy-side?
Fiona: One of the biggest challenges is that you are not just about onboarding individual people. You’re integrating entire teams, often hundreds or thousands of people at once, each with their own expectations, culture, and ways of working. The effort required is massive, and it can feel overwhelming. It’s crucial to remember that integrating a new person into a team usually takes a lot of management effort and time. Now, imagine that multiplied by hundreds. This complexity is often why human elements get overlooked – it feels like an insurmountable goal. However, this is where a strong, well-thought-out communication and integration plan makes all the difference.
Claire: Why do you think the human side of M&A is so often overlooked? Because of the complexity of PMI?
Fiona: I think the process of getting to a deal is very different from implementing that deal. The team involved in making the deal happen – typically lawyers, commercial consultants and strategists – is not the same team that will deliver on the promises of that deal. Their incentives and focus differ, and this can lead to a disconnect. More than that, there's often a perception that "people stuff" is a softer side of business. In reality, it’s deeply strategic and directly impacts the success or failure of the integration. When the acquiring company doesn't prioritise the human side early on, it risks missing opportunities to build a cohesive and aligned workforce.
Claire: Our team tries to get involved in the M&A process as early as possible, although we have also come in once deals are done. Do you think there ever a point when it’s too late to fix things if PMI hasn’t gone well?
Fiona: It's rarely too late if there’s a willingness to make changes. The first step is to understand what’s going wrong. This requires deep root-cause analysis to identify the underlying issues. Once you have a clear picture, you can start to address them systematically. If you find yourself in a situation months into the integration with cracks starting to show, it’s essential to do a pulse check with the team. Regularly measuring employee sentiment will help you adapt your strategy before things spiral further. Ultimately, if there is an authentic desire from leadership to course-correct, there is always a chance to bring things back on track.
Claire: What metrics can be used to quantify the impact of efforts on the human side of M&A?
Fiona: This is a tricky one because traditional metrics don’t always capture the full picture of human and cultural dynamics. However, you can look at a combination of indicators, such as employee satisfaction scores, advocacy questions (like "How likely are you to recommend this company as a place to work?"), and values alignment questions. While these aren’t perfect, they give you a sense of how people feel about the company and their place in it. The key is consistent measurement, like using frequent pulse checks during transition periods to collect meaningful data. These allow you to adapt your strategy if needed and help maintain momentum in the integration process.
WRITTEN BY CLAIRE KEET