M&a Forum Executive Summary

7/27/2019 M&a Forum Executive Summary

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H

M&A FORUMEXECUTIVE

SUMMARY


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This article contains excerpts from Insight

Information Co.s two-day event, The Role of

Human Resources in Mergers, Acquisitions, and

Reorganizations. Senior executives from around

the world gathered in Chicago, Illinois, to share

their experiences related to successfully integrating

merged organizations. The conference was chaired

by Hewitt Associates LLC.

For further information, contact Hewitt Associates

at www.hewitt.com.


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ver the past decade, literally hundreds of mergers and acquisitions have flooded the

global business scene. While many have proven extremely successful, others have been nothing

short of disastrous; expectations were not reached, shareholder value was destroyed, and, in

some cases, the fumbled deal resulted in significant financial damage to the organization.

This point is well illustrated by a KPMG survey of 150deals over $500million, which took

place during the 1990s. Just 17 percent of those deals created substantial returns, while

another 33 percent achieved only marginal results. Most startling, 20 percent resulted in

decreased returns, and a whopping 30 percent, nearly one-third of all deals, were deemed to

have substantially eroded returns.As experts delve deeper into what factors contributed to the success or failure of these deals,

increasingly, they discover that those organizations that pay early attention to people issues are

far more likely to achieve shareholder value than those that focus solely on financial drivers.

Unfortunately, because many business developers dont fully appreciate the key role that

human resources can play in mergers and acquisitions, people issues can often end up on the

back burner. However, ignoring these softer people issues is particularly risky in todays

knowledge-based business environment in which the majority of mergers and acquisitions

are predicated on the talent and know-how of the workforce.

Especially in this Information Age, the real value for a lot of firms lies in the intellect or

creativity of its workforce, says Munish Vasisht, a consultant with the global CorporateRestructuring and Change Team of Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire, Illinois. The unfortunate

thing is that despite these findings, many architects of large deals go out and strike a deal,

while completely ignoring HR issues or paying very little attention to them.

People issues and culture issues are very significant in any change event, and that, in itself,

should place HR in a more active role. However, we still see a lot of organizations struggling

with this issue.

Crashing the PartyEven senior managers who understand the role of HR can easily become so engrossed in the

financial aspects of a deal that they fail to consult with human resources, particularly in the

critical early stages.

When we as CFOs and COOs start getting into the numbers, we sometimes forget that

there is a very important person out there called the HR person, says Alan Schoen, Chief

Operating Officer/Financial Officer for Chicago-based American Labelmark Company. HR

people need to make sure they are involved in the process. Involvement can be difficult,

though, because sometimes it means HRs having to crash a party that they may not have been

invited to.

O

Driving Success, One Deal at a Time

Making the case for early HR involvement in mergers,acquisitions, and other restructuring efforts.

Ignoring these softer

people issues is partic-

ularly risky in todays

knowledge-based

business environment

in which the

majority of mergers

and acquisitions are

predicated on the

talent and know-how

of the workforce.

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ndeed, many human resources professionals, even those in highly acquisitive companies,

can boast of little, if any, practical experience with mergers or acquisitions. After nearly 40

deals in a mere four and a half years, the HR staff of Lucent Technologies, in Murray Hill,

New Jersey, admit they have a long way to go when it comes to true M&A proficiency.

Even though Lucent has been an extremely acquisitive company, there are probably still

very few HR folks who have the kind of skills and competencies it takes to really work in an

M&A environment doing deals, says Susan Millard, director, corporate human resources,

mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.

Making, Breaking and ShapingWhen HR professionals are brought into discussions before the due-diligence phase, they are

given the opportunity to learn about the business objectives of the deal, enabling them toalign their human resource efforts accordingly. In addition, having a place at the table early

on allows HR to play a truly strategic role that may affect the pricing or parameters of a merger

or acquisition or, quite possibly, decide whether the deal is ultimately struck at all.

HR needs to be there as theyre contemplating the deal to discover if there are specific

people issues that financially will affect the dealthe deal shapers, breakers, or makers, if you

will, says Millard.

According to Dawn Weber, corporate counsel, employee services, for Chicago-based Baxter

International Inc., HR bears responsibility for uncovering a variety of potential financial and

nonfinancial liabilities. Fortunately, HR often has many key documents at its disposal that can

be used to uncover these land mines.For example, Weber recommends reviewing the target companys employee handbook and

policies to study organizational philosophy and cultural differences. Do they have a stripped-

down, four-page policy manual that provides very little information or a large document that

gets into every possible detail of the employees work-life experience? According to Weber,

the answer to that question can reveal the degree of HR involvement in a particular company,

as well as potential synergies or disparities.

In order to learn about the target companys compensation structure, Weber suggests review-

ing its payroll records. In addition, employment contracts, offer letters, and orientation

materials can reveal a wealth of insight into the employee/employer working relationship.

If the target company promises a lot to its employees, and your companys promises aremore scaled down, then each company will need to manage expectations as well as cultural

changes, says Weber.

I

HR needs to be

there as theyre

contemplating the

deal to discover if

there are specific

people issues that

financially will affect

the dealthe deal

shapers, breakers, or

makers, if you will.

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D

You need to think out

five years from now:

Do you want these

employees to have

clear paths in your

company, or do you

see them spending

their whole career in

a separate division

or subsidiary?

3

espite the fact that HR takes the initiative to uncover possible liabilities, senior

management sometimes has its heart set on making a deal, regardless of potential stumbling

blocks. Should such a deal subsequently fail to deliver on expectations, Weber says that

presents an excellent opportunity for HR to step in and help to analyze what kind of problems

might have been averted. Those who are regularly involved in the deals can learn a lot from

a failed experience. Plus, they are more likely to get you in on the front end next time.

Articulating the VisionWhether or not HR participates in the due-diligence phase, there remains little doubt that its role

in the integration process is absolutely critical if an organization is to achieve its ultimate goals.

The people integration issues have a dramatic impact, not only on the finances of the deal,

but on the success of the deal as a whole, says Weber.Recently, Hewitt surveyed 250 global HR directors who had gone through a merger or

acquisition to understand the challenges they faced in merging two organizations. In all

regions of the world, integrating organizational cultures was cited as the top challenge, even

among those with prior M&A experience.

That comes as no surprise to Olga Zorc, vice president, compensation, for Allegiance

Healthcare Corp., in McGaw Park, Illinois. The company had a history of corporate change;

11 years before Allegiance was spun off by Baxter International, American Hospital Supply

(AHS) had merged with Baxter. According to Zorc, the integration of Baxter and AHS went

on for more than a decade and never reached completion.

It gets back to the organization as a whole not understanding what its purpose was, saysZorc. There was no clear articulation of strategy and vision for the organization. Not that there

werent strategy and vision statements, mind you, but the actions never matched the words.

In some instances, business objectives may justify leaving an acquired organization as a

totally separate entity, thus eliminating the need to even attempt a true integration. However,

Steve Hill, senior vice president, human resources, for Weyerhaeuser Company in Federal Way,

Washington, advises HR managers to carefully consider what kind of long-term relationship is

desired between the two organizations before making such a critical decision.

You need to think out five years from now: Do you want these employees to have clear

paths in your company, or do you see them spending their whole career in a separate division

or subsidiary? Hill explains.


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Achieving ClarityWhile HR considers matters on a grander scale, employees are likely to be absorbed with

issues that hit very close to home. Any large-scale change is bound to result in fear and

uncertainty, as workers start questioning how the reorganization will affect their department,

their duties, and their livelihood. Before long, rumors will inevitably begin to fly about the

possibility of layoffs, relocations, or changes in management. That leaves HR to perform

damage control, soothing exposed nerves by sharing information and dispelling rumors

through a comprehensive communication effort.

Weve always taken the approach of sharing information sooner rather than later, says

Zorc. You share what you know, and you share what you dont know because if you dont

tell them what you dont know, theyll make it up.

Whenever Weyerhaeuser Company makes an acquisition, it employs a strategy called

onboarding. Every affected employee is given the opportunity to have a face-to-face meeting

with a Weyerhaeuser manager in order to discuss his or her career. According to Hill, this

process has proven invaluable for the company and employees at all levels.

Face-to-face meetings help you a lot because theyre a rich data source about peoples inter-

ests and concerns, says Hill. They bring a lot of clarity and help you get through the deci-

sions you have to make.

While its certainly important to gauge the reaction of the workforce, Schoen warns against

a practice he calls floating trial balloonsfor example, taking an employee out to lunch

and hypothetically asking him or her what would happen if a certain department were elim-

inated. By the end of the day, Schoen predicts, the entire workforce would be buzzing about

the news of the soon-to-be-eliminated department.

Putting People FirstSuch rampant rumors could be highly detrimental to an organizations retention efforts. And

with more and more companies recognizing that people are truly what make or break a

successful merger or acquisition, hanging on to key employees becomes paramount.

We are really buying the hearts and minds of the people who are behind the technology

that we are acquiring, says Millard. So the deal is really all about how we artfully manage

the integration process and keep people on board.

According to Millard, the greatest challenge lies in keeping employees engaged from theday the deal is announced until its closing date. Although traditional incentives like salary,

benefits, and stock options may keep workers from turning in their two weeks notice, they

often do little when it comes to maintaining the kind of commitment necessary to achieve

true success.

Face-to-face meetings

help you a lot because

theyre a rich data

source about peoples

interests and concerns.

They bring a lot of

clarity and help you

get through the

decisions you have

to make.

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There are a lot of things that can keep people in the organization, but you need to ask

yourself if they are really engaged in terms of being challenged, continuing to contribute, and

driving the development process forward, says Millard.

In order to answer that question, Lucent utilizes a thorough employee engagement

survey process. The resulting data serves to reveal employees personal experience with the

integration, as well as their big ticket concerns. This enables management, as well as the

integration team, to develop action plans to address the issues that will have a direct

impact on the retention of key employees.

According to Hewitts Vasisht, this is a very smart approach. Once youve identified your

key talent, you need to start addressing their issues right from the word go, he says. Youve

got to make sure you have mechanisms in place to retain these people because if they walk

out on you, you fail to achieve the true value of the deal.

Once youve identified

your key talent,

you need to start

addressing their issues

right from the

word go.

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hroughout the 1990s, mergers and acquisitions became standard fare for Weyerhaeuser

Company, the century-old forest products giant based in Federal Way, Washington. The

company spent the decade filling its coffer with dozens of complementary entities. In 1993,

for example, Weyerhaeuser entered into a half-million dollar deal with Procter & Gamble that

involved the purchase of timberland and sawmills. In recent years, the company also bought

corrugated packaging plants, lumber and timber assets, and paper mills.

Traditionally, Weyerhaeuser has operated in a highly decentralized manner, allowing its

many business units to maintain their own compensation and benefits structures. Seven years

after the Procter & Gamble deal, for example, employees of a pulp mill in Grand Prairie,Alberta, Canada, still had the same benefits they did before the acquisition. Because the mill

was deemed to have a unique culture, Weyerhaeuser decided to make no changes.

Banking on FairnessIn the late 1990s, however, a new CEO took the reins at Weyerhaeuser, laying down the law:

All components of Weyerhaeuser must operate under a one-company concept. For Steve Hill,

vice president of human resources, that necessitated the monumental task of integrating all

compensation and benefits packages.

If youre a large commodity producer, you have to produce a high-quality and competitively

priced product, says Hill. The customer doesnt pay you for having 35 payroll systems andall these different compensation and benefits systems, so theres a pretty strong business

imperative for simplification and standardization.

This strong business case didnt eliminate the many challenges Hill would face in rolling all

Weyerhaeuser business units into one plan. For example, one acquired entity allowed

employees to accrue unlimited vacation time, which resulted in some people holding up to

50weeks of banked vacation. Weyerhaeuser, on the other hand, limited banked vacation to a

maximum of 12weeks. Rather than taking away any of that vacation time, Hill let employees

keep their existing vacation banks, but wouldnt allow them to add to them if they had already

surpassed Weyerhaeusers 12-week limit.

To me, thats an example of living with what you bought, going forward, and transitioning

to a new environment, he says.

T

Never Too Late to Integrate

After years of decentralization, Weyerhaeuser plays catch-up in bringingits business units into a one-company benefits structure.

The customer doesnt

pay you for having

35 payroll systems

and all these different

compensation and

benefits systems,

so theres a pretty

strong business

imperative for

simplification and

standardization.

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Taking the Sting out of Take-AwaysFairness lies at the heart of Hills solutions. As Weyerhaeuser prepared to acquire Trus Joist ,

it was discovered that employees were accustomed to a health plan with much lower

deductibles. Management was particularly concerned about the reaction from operating

employees. To remedy the situation, Weyerhaeuser made a lump-sum payment to each

employee in order to avoid the perception of take-aways.

Recently, Hill took on the challenge of integrating 10,000 employees of Canada-based

MacMillan Bloedel into the Weyerhaeuser structure. The $3.5 billion deal closed in November

1999, after one-company direction from the new CEO. In the months that followed,

Weyerhaeuser focused on renegotiating union agreements and moving employees

into Weyerhaeusers 401(k) and health plans. Among executive staff, HR had to address the

issue of country club memberships and company cars, common perks in Canada. In order to

keep all executives in the same plan, Weyerhaeuser issued one-time, lump-sum payments to

compensate for the loss of these perks.

Five years from now, we dont want somebody to say, Thats a former MB person. This

is a Weyerhaeuser person. Weve got to treat them differently, explains Hill. Its about

fairness and administrative simplicity, and getting to the end state of everybody on the

same team.

Its about fairness

and administrative

simplicity, and getting

to the end state of

everybody on the

same team.

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n May of 2000, a sense of doubt and fear gripped the 6,000 employees of Ontario,

Canada-based Newbridge Networks, as it was acquired by Alcatel, the mammoth Paris-

based telecommunications company. In recent years, Newbridge had been struggling,

failing to hit projections in six of the eight previous quarters. As a result, its workforce

had been reduced by 10 percent, and attrition quadrupled from an average of 5 percent

to 20 percent. Employees were already feeling uncertain about their futures with

Newbridge when the acquisition was announced.

Change means fear of the unknown, so the stress level was high, says Gisele Samson-

Verreault, vice president, management development. It was a very challenging acquisition.Indeed, Samson-Verreault faced the formidable task of convincing somewhat leery workers to

stay on board at a time when jumping ship may have sounded tempting. Employees were

concerned about cultural differences between Newbridge and its new parent company.

French-based Alcatel was mature, highly structured, and bureaucratic, while Newbridge

possessed a young, hip, energetic environment. Even language differences came into play, as

employees began to question their place in the new organization.

Given the fact that Alcatel was a French company, there was the perception that you had

to speak French or there would be no career opportunities, says Samson-Verreault. That

wasnt true at all.

Setting the Record StraightNewbridge management set out to educate employees about available opportunities and

motivate them to stay on through the transition. To accomplish that, the company devised an

ambitious strategy centering on compensation, leadership, and communication. Employees

were granted retention bonuses, ranging from 10 percent to 100 percent of their salaries, based

on their contributions to the company and how key they were deemed to be throughout the

transition. Newbridge also accelerated salary increases to demonstrate to employees that they

were a valued component of the companys future.

In an effort to keep the lid on the rumor bin, the president of Newbridge committed

himself to a no B.S. communication strategy. At the centerpiece of his plan was an initiative

called Voice From the Bridge. Every Friday, employees picked up their phones to hear him

talking about customer wins or rewards and recognition programs. In addition, he fiercely,

but humorously, tackled rumors, announcing, Hey, I heard a good one this week and then

going on to explain the truth behind the story.

I

Fighting Fear With Facts...and Fun

Faced with a challenging transition, Newbridge Networks encouragesemployees to anticipate the future, while embracing the past.

Change means fear

of the unknown,

so the stress level

was high. It was

a very challenging

acquisition.

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Looking Back, Looking ForwardRecognizing that employees were mourning a loss, the company threw a party to celebrate

the 14 absolutely gorgeous years we had with Newbridge, says Samson-Verreault, adding,

but now its time to move on. The next day, employees arrived to find that all remnants of

Newbridge had disappeared. Every sign had been switched over to Alcatel, and employees

were given new business cards, badges, and T-shirts, along with a welcome letter from

Chairman Serge Tchuruk.

So far, this ambitious approach seems to have paid off. In the first six months following the

acquisition, stock prices soared while attrition rates fell. Samson-Verreault speaks proudly of

the organizations efforts, stressing the importance of addressing employees concerns so that

they wont be tempted to seek out calmer waters.

In the high-tech sector, you have to take care of your employees, says Samson-Verreault.

If you dont, Lucent is out there, Cisco is out there, and Nortel is just across the street. The

competition for talent is so great that retention plans are absolutely critical.

This ambitious

approach seems to

have paid off. In the

first six months

following the

acquisition, stock

prices soared while

attrition rates fell.

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hoever coined the phrase, The only constant in business is change could very well

have been talking about Allegiance Healthcare Corporation. Over the past 15years, Allegiance

and its many components have been through just about every kind of reorganization possible.

From acquisitions and mergers to spin-offs and divestitures, Allegiance has run the gamut.

It all dates back to 1985, when American Hospital Supply merged with Baxter International.

Eleven years later, Baxter spun off Allegiance Healthcare. Then, in 1999, Allegiance was

acquired by Cardinal Health. Today, Illinois-based Allegiance stands at $5 billion in sales with

24,000 employees worldwide, and has recently begun acquiring several smaller, privately

owned companies, including Bergun Brunswick Medical.Not surprisingly, this nearly constant state of flux has led to many challenges for Allegiances

human resources professionals. During several of the reorganizations, they found themselves

having to deliver difficult news, often regarding employee compensation and benefits.

Special DeliveryWhen Allegiance spun off from Baxter, for example, the company realized early on that it

would not have enough earnings to be considered a viable company unless some serious

belt-tightening took place. With this in mind, Allegiance froze salaries, revised its disability

programs, and changed retirement provisions. As a result, employees had to pay twice as

much for medical insurance, and health and welfare initiatives as they had previously.In such instances, how the message was delivered was as important as the message itself.

Therefore, Allegiance conducted a series of focus groups, asking employees how they

preferred to receive information.

You wouldnt take a new product to market without doing focus groups or market

research, so why would you take something new to your employees without doing the

research? says Olga Zorc, vice president, compensation. Why wouldnt you strive to

understand what it is they want, how they want it, and what you can do to most effectively

market it to them?

Overwhelmingly, employees replied that they placed their trust in their immediate

supervisors and preferred to hear any important news from them. In response, Allegiance

brought its 300 top managers together, so that the CEO and COO could explain why the

organization was making such tough choices. They were then entrusted to share that

message with their employees.

W

Communication Challenges

Allegiance delivers tough news the way employees want to hear it.

You wouldnt take a

new product to market

without doing focus

groups or market

research, so why

would you take

something new

to your employees

without doing

the research?

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nytime we have any changes in the organization, that information is funneled down

through our senior management team to our top 300 managers, and they are the ones who

send the messages, says Zorc.

Package DealRecently, Allegiance adopted an employer branding approach to sharing information about its

benefits program. Every printed communication features a distinctive blue stripe and the

umbrella phrase Total Rewards. In addition, each employee receives a personalized Total

Rewards statement. The company has also established a Total Rewards page on its intranet,

where workers can find compensation and benefits information, online training calendars,

and other useful tidbits.

As Allegiance moves forward, chances are that the company will occasionally have

difficult messages to convey. However, Zorc remains confident that she and her staff have

the processes in place to help employees understand and accept the reasons behind any

tough decisions.

You create the foundation for communication in your organization, and it will get you

through any of these events, says Zorc. We firmly believe that.

Zorc remains confident

that she and her staff

have the processes in

place to help employees

understand and accept

the reasons behind any

tough decisions.

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s Chief Operating Officer/Financial Officer for Chicago-based American Labelmark

Company, Alan Schoen has been through more than his fair share of reorganizations. Schoens

responsibilities include integration of acquired businesses, restructuring, reorganization of

subsidiaries, and divestitures. As a result, he possesses a wealth of invaluable experience and

knowledge, from which he offers the following words of wisdom on maintaining credibility,

productivity, and performance during a reorganization.

DO have well-defined goals. Most people fail in a reorganization or restructuring because

they went in not knowing what they wanted to accomplish. HR managers have a veryimportant responsibility to remind people like myself what the goals are and what we are

trying to accomplish. If you dont have that planned out up front, you are doomed before

you even start.

DONT rely on revisions.The minute you present your plan, you are off to the races. Dont

fall into the trap of thinking, I dont know this information; Ill fill it in as we go. You wont

have time to do the research, and the things that you present are written in stone. I dont care

how many times you stamp draft on it. I dont care how many times you say, Things are

subject to change. The minute that plan is presented to the board of directors, the minute

employees see it, its a done deal.

DO focus on key personnel. If you cant retain your key personnel, you cant continue to

run your operations. Lets face it: These are the people you wake up thinking about at

night, praying that they dont leave. These are the employees who are critical to running

your business. These are the people who can choose to be either positive or negative in

the face of the problems that can and most likely will occur with the restructuring.

DONT sugarcoat difficult messages. You dont want to go into your presentation, saying, We

are eliminating the computer software department in division ABC. Even though you guys

tried to do this, it didnt work. It wasnt your fault that it didnt work. Trying to justify thingstoo much to the people who are leaving will not help things. In fact, it may hurt by sending

mixed messages to the ones who will be staying, who may think, Wait a minute. If it really

wasnt their fault, then next year, it might really not be our fault.

A

From the COOs Point of View

Proving that experience is the best teacher, an M&A-savvyexecutive offers invaluable advice to HR professionals.

HR managers have

a very important

responsibility to

remind people like

myself what the goals

are and what we are

trying to accomplish.

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DO give employees time to mourn. If you just let 100 people go, you dont then want to walk

through the building and say to the rest, Get back to work. Theyre human beings. These

are people they sat next to for months or years. These are their friends. You need to give

them time to digest it. However, you dont want to go through a therapy session with these

employees. Dont fall into the mistake of thinking you are going to make it all better by

explaining everything to them.

DONT make promises you cant keep. Never go before your employees and say, Once we

do this restructuring, we are never going to have another layoff in our history again. You are

just setting yourself up for disaster because eventually, its going to happen. In fact, its unfair

to make them think that they are safe, when in reality, they may have to find another job in

just a few months.

DO practice patience. Sometimes companies panic. They say, This isnt working, even

though I have done everything. They dont give it enough time to take effect, and they go

back and change things. If you are tweaking your current plan, call it that, but dont fall into

the trap of the annual restructuring. Rolling out a new restructuring every year is just going

to get you in trouble.

Dont fall into the

trap of the annual

restructuring.

Rolling out a new

restructuring every

year is just going to

get you in trouble.

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n the context of human existence, the Internet evolved from a niche techie invention to

an all-encompassing worldwide communication and business tool in an incredibly short

period of time. The transformation has been truly remarkable. Perhaps even more remarkable

has been the evolution of e-HR. Just two or three years ago, organizations couldnt have

imagined the extent to which their human resources functions would soon be Web-enabled.

Today, however, those companies that have not yet begun developing extensive e-HR systems

and processes are increasingly branded dinosaurs, and their ability to attract and retain

employees is seriously diminished.

It should come as no surprise that e-HR has been embraced with a vengeance at VerizonCommunications Inc., the New York-based telecommunications company that resulted from

the high-profile merger of GTE and Bell Atlantic in June 2000. Although both organizations

had already begun putting e-HR structures in place at the time of the merger, it was the

integration of the two companies that fueled the development of a world-class, Web-enabled

HR system.

As Verizon Communications is moving to become an e-commerce, e-business kind of

company, it is using different strategies to deliver services to its external customer base, says

Jill Kastler, executive director, HR technology and data integration. We need to mirror those

strategies and use Web-based solutions to deliver our products and services to our internal

customers as well.

Building ConsensusVerizon leveraged technology before, during, and after the merger. In order to test the waters,

Kastlers staff first surveyed its HR technology users and then undertook several trial Web-

based applications. The organizations staffing/requisition process was put online, and

employees were given the opportunity to update some of their personal data via the company

intranet. These initiatives were generally well received, but there remained a sense of

hesitation, particularly among senior management.

There were different philosophies about what level of content we should offer to the

employee, says Kastler. There wasnt a good feeling on how all of these solutions would look

on an integrated basis.

To overcome these reservations, Verizon devised an 18-month plan that concentrated on

rapid executionthree- to nine-month deliverablesso that Kastlers department could

demonstrate some quick wins and therefore, earn crucial credibility.

I

HR Solutions at the Speed of E

A high-profile merger sets the stage for Verizonstransformation into an e-HR powerhouse.

Verizon leveraged

technology before,

during, and after

the merger.

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o far, Verizons e-HR efforts have netted the following striking returns:

Online staffing cut 16 to 24 days out of the job requisition process.

Online benefits enrollment saved $100,000 in mailing costs in 2000. Year 2001 savings are

expected to top $500,000.

Online change of home address drove costs down from $10 to $2 per transaction.

Although the savings, both in time and money, have been substantial, Kastler stresses that

for Verizon, e-HR is not exclusively a budgetary issue. Its not all about cost, says Kastler.

Its about delivering more targeted information at the right time, and letting HR transform

itself from an administrative role to a strategic business partner in the organization.

SIts not all about cost.

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ith the growing recognition that people issues play a huge part in determining the

success or failure of any business transaction, its become critical that organizations seek out

a strategic partner, one who possesses expertise in addressing the issues that stand to make or

break a deal.

With a client list reading like a Whos Who of international business, Hewitt Associates has

become the choice of forward-thinking companies looking to link their people resources to

the business objectives behind a merger, acquisition, spin-off, joint venture, or other

restructuring effort.

Why Hewitt? The reasons are simple: Hewitts Global Corporate Restructuring and Change Team. This group of seasoned

professionals boasts world-class experience in more than 300engagements, including 12 of

the 15 largest deals ever.

Hundreds of consultants in 75 offices literally spanning the globe. Hewitt has the

global expertise and shared learning resources to help its clients achieve success in todays

culture of cross-continental business deals.

A holistic view that helps ensure end-to-end consistency. Hewitts unified approach

provides a strategic framework that facilitates alignment to business objectives and unifica-

tion across programs. An arsenal of proprietary, Web-enabled e-solutions. Breakthrough online tools

utilize the latest technology to accelerate the path to achieving business goals with consis-

tency across organizations, time zones, and continents.

Ongoing benchmarking and study. Hewitts consultants continually examine the

successes and failures of corporate restructuring efforts, uncovering innovative initiatives

and devastating defeats. This enables them to help their clients avoid serious pitfalls and take

advantage of proven strategies.

Simply put, Hewitts results-oriented approach delivers on its promises, helping clients

retain key talent, minimize liabilities, communicate key messages, and ultimately drive

measurable, sustainable results.

W

Strategic Partnership with Hewitt Associates

Delivering Results Through Experience

Hewitts results-

oriented approach

delivers on its

promises.

16


19/20


20/20

H

Documents

M&a Forum Executive Summary