Organisational Design3 min read21 October 2026

The People Side of Mergers and Acquisitions

How to manage the people side of a merger or acquisition in the GCC: due diligence, structure, harmonising pay and policies, and holding on to key people.

Deals are usually judged on financial and strategic grounds. Whether they deliver often depends on people. Key individuals leave, two cultures collide, employees in similar roles discover they are paid differently, and the expected benefits slip while everyone waits to find out where they stand.

Most of these problems are predictable, which means most of them can be planned for.

Before the deal: people due diligence

People risks belong in due diligence alongside financial and legal checks. The questions worth asking include:

Area	Questions to answer
Key people	Who is critical to the value of the deal, and how likely are they to stay?
Pay and benefits	How do packages, grades and incentives compare with the acquirer's?
Liabilities	What end-of-service, bonus and incentive obligations are accrued?
Contracts	Are there change-of-control clauses, retention promises or unusual terms?
Culture	How are decisions made, and how different is that from the acquirer?
Compliance	Are visas, permits and nationalisation obligations in order?

The first hundred days

The period immediately after the announcement shapes how people feel about the whole integration. Three things matter most.

Speed of answers. Employees want to know whether their job is safe, who they report to and whether their pay will change. Even "we will confirm by this date" is better than silence.

Key person retention. Talk to critical individuals early. Retention arrangements can help, but a clear role and a credible future in the combined business usually matter more.

Leadership visibility. Leaders from both organisations should appear together and say the same thing.

Designing the combined organisation

Decide early whether the combined business will adopt one organisation's structure, blend the two, or design something new. Each choice sends a signal. Adopting the acquirer's structure is quicker but can feel like a takeover to the acquired team. Designing afresh takes longer but gives both sides a stake in the result.

Appointments to the new structure should follow clear, published criteria. Selection seen as favouring one side damages trust quickly.

Harmonising pay and policies

Differences in grades, pay, allowances and benefits between the two organisations will surface sooner or later. A planned approach is better than piecemeal fixes.

Map both workforces into a single grading structure.
Compare pay and benefits for equivalent roles.
Decide on the target policies for the combined business.
Plan the transition, usually over more than one review cycle, protecting existing pay where it sits above the new structure.
Communicate the approach before individual outcomes.

Changes to employment terms usually need employee agreement, and moving employees between legal entities can involve new contracts and visa changes. Plan these steps carefully.

Culture is not optional

Culture is often treated as the soft part of integration. In practice, differences in how decisions are made, how performance is judged and how people are expected to communicate cause much of the friction. Name the differences openly, agree which behaviours the combined business needs, and build them into leadership expectations and performance reviews.

How Humatix can help

Humatix supports organisations through the people side of mergers and acquisitions, including people due diligence, organisation design for the combined business, grading and pay harmonisation, and change communication.

Note: legal or tax advice should be sought on the legal and tax matters referred to in this article, as requirements vary by jurisdiction and change over time.

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