Mergers, Acquisitions, and Spin-Offs

Organizational & Talent Assessment

• Review organizational structure, headcount, and key talent by function and geography.
• Identify critical roles and retention risks (especially among leadership or technical experts).
• Evaluate the leadership team and cultural alignment.

Compensation & Benefits Review

• Analyze base pay, incentive programs, and equity plans (including 409A valuations, vesting schedules, and change-of-control provisions).
• Assess benefit plan costs and liabilities (health, retirement, deferred comp, PTO accruals, severance).
• Identify parity or compliance issues (e.g., pay equity, FLSA classification, benefits eligibility).

Employment & Labor Law Risk

• Review employment agreements, contracts, and policies.
• Identify potential litigation or claims exposure (wrongful termination, harassment, wage/hour).
• Evaluate union contracts or collective bargaining agreements.

HR Operations & Systems

• Assess HRIS, payroll, and data management systems for integration feasibility.
• Review HR processes (recruiting, onboarding, performance management).
• Verify data accuracy, especially for headcount, turnover, and total rewards.

Culture & Change Readiness

• Conduct a culture and engagement assessment to understand alignment or friction points.
• Identify potential change management challenges (e.g., leadership style, communication norms).

Legal, Compliance & Governance

• Ensure compliance with employment laws, ERISA, OSHA, and data privacy.
• Review HR’s internal policies for ethical, governance, and risk implications.

Integration Strategy & Governance

• Define the People Integration Plan aligned with deal strategy and business goals.
• Appoint an HR Integration Leader and establish a cross-functional steering committee.
• Develop an integration timeline and communication cadence.

Organizational Design & Talent Retention

• Design and communicate the new org structure (titles, reporting, spans/layers).
• Identify and secure key talent with retention bonuses or stay agreements.
• Clarify role redundancies, eliminations, and redeployment plans.

Total Rewards & Benefits Harmonization

• Align compensation structures, bonus plans, and pay grades.
• Decide on benefits plan harmonization or grandfathering (timing, cost, communication).
• Manage equity conversion, assumption, or cash-out processes.

Culture & Change Management

• Define and communicate the combined organization’s values and cultural identity.
• Launch listening sessions or pulse surveys to gauge integration sentiment.
• Establish leadership alignment sessions to model desired culture behaviors.

HR Systems & Data Integration

• Integrate or migrate HRIS, payroll, timekeeping, and performance systems.
• Standardize employee records, IDs, and data governance.
• Ensure continuity of payroll and benefits during transition.

Communications & Employee Experience

• Craft clear, honest communications around “what’s changing and why.”
• Create FAQs, manager toolkits, and communication templates.
• Manage the employee onboarding/offboarding experience for smooth transition.

Compliance & Reporting

• Ensure proper employment law compliance post-close (WARN, benefits transition, I-9s, etc.).
• Update policies, handbooks, and codes of conduct to reflect new entity.
• Track and report integration KPIs (turnover, engagement, time-to-productivity).

Pre-Spin Evaluation (planning & due diligence)

• People & Organization Mapping
• Compensation & Benefits Carve-Out
• Legal & Compliance Review
• HR Systems & Data Separation
• Culture & Brand Definition

Transition & Day-1 Readiness

• Employment Transition
• Benefits & Compensation Launch
• HR Infrastructure Stand-Up
• Employee Communication & Engagement
• Leadership & Culture Activation

Post-Spin (Stabilization & Optimization)

• Operational Maturity
• Culture & Engagement Reinforcement
• Talent Strategy & Growth Planning
• Governance & Board Relations

Prepare for company sale

• Market company positively with potential buyers
• Provide organized, clean, data to prespective buyers' due dilegence phase in a timely manner. 

Regardless of the phase, maintain strict confidentiality; following all data review/data security protocols.