Published: 24 June 2026
CHROs sit at the crossroads of key factors that determine whether an acquisition achieves its intended value; culture, leadership alignment, organizational design, and talent risk. However, in many organizations, the CHRO is brought in reactively, tasked with supporting integration after strategic and financial decisions have already been made and assumptions set. The risk here is missing assumptions that the CHRO’s insight might have challenged or refined. This is not a matter of resources or simply a question of having a “seat at the table.” Rather, it reflects a structural failure in how and when organizations engage CHROs, often at the very moment when human capital considerations are most critical. M&A should not be viewed as a transaction with a people component; instead, it is fundamentally a people challenge that involves a transaction.
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