Engagement despite M&A - the impact on employer brand

Rebecca Clake examines the issues with a merger or acquisition and what HR can do to maintain engagement and keep key staff using recent research from CIPD.

CIPD’s new report on mergers and acquisitions defines the employer brand as a ‘two way deal between an organisation and its people – the reason they choose to join, and the reason they choose to stay’. For employees finding themselves in a merger or acquisition scenario (where free choice about the employer brand is removed) change shakes this deal. And -as demonstrated by recent publicity about BA’s planned merger with Iberian Airways and speculation about the future of Cadburys- this is a situation many employees find themselves in.