Post-merger integration consultant to bring two sets of people together and shorten their time to value
For CEOs and PE operating partners. The deal is done, and the value case depends on people. We help them know where they stand, feel safe and valued, and get productive faster, so the value case is on track sooner and the people you paid for stay.
Matt RobertsCo-founder of ZOKRI
Collette EastonExecutive coach and former CEO
Meet Matt before you book
The person you'd be talking to, and how we think.
You're probably here because
Sound familiar?
- The two teams still talk about "us" and "them".
- Their best people are already taking recruiters' calls.
- Nobody's sure what their job is now, so they wait to be told.
- New joiners are sitting in meetings they don't understand.
- We've changed the org chart, but people are still working the old way.
- The value case assumed people would be productive in weeks, not quarters.
What you leave with
What do you want to leave with?
Every team wants something slightly different, and we agree it with you first. These are the things leadership teams most often ask for.
- The value case on track soonerEach team agrees its first contribution to the combined plan, so people add value in weeks rather than quarters, and the synergy case stops slipping.
- The people you paid for, still hereHonest conversations early, so people say what worries them and the ones the deal depends on choose to stay.
- One leadership team, not twoA combined top team that agrees, decides and tells one story, so the board is not refereeing.
- Clear roles and goalsEveryone knows what their role is now, what is changing, and what they are measured on.
- Onboarding into the new ways of workingHow decisions get made, which meetings matter, and who to go to, taught by doing the work, not by reading a handbook.
- What not to breakThe habits and people that made the business worth buying, named and protected.
- Reviews the board can seeProgress at 30, 60 and 90 days, with early warning of people risks and slipping goals, reported by someone independent.
Who runs it
The people in your room.
"I've had my company acquired, and I've been the acquirer. I know how both sides feel. Deals rarely fail in the spreadsheet. They fail in the weeks after, when good people don't know where they stand, stop taking risks and start taking recruiters' calls. The fastest way to the value you paid for is people who feel safe, know their role and can see how they add value."
Proof
Run by people who do this every week.
When we're the wrong choice. Legal, tax, transitional service agreements and systems migration need specialists. We work alongside them.
After Day 1
The deal is done. Now the people have to make it work.
Most integration plans assume people will be productive in weeks.
- Uncertainty about roles, goals and reporting lines slows everyone down.
- Good people wait to be told, stop taking risks, or start taking recruiters' calls.
- Every month of confusion is value the deal case was counting on.
- With youCoachingReviews
So we stay, then step back.
- At first we work alongside the combined leadership team: roles, goals, first contributions and the conversations people are avoiding.
- Then your leaders run the next cycle while we coach from the side.
- Then we step back to the 30, 60 and 90-day reviews.
- People
- Operations
- Sales and marketing
- AI enablement
Fractional, until the role is hired or grown
Sometimes the gap is a missing person, not a missing skill.
- Integration often needs someone to lead the people side, run operations, align sales and marketing, or get AI working across both businesses.
- Hiring takes months the value case doesn't have.
- One of us joins part-time, works from inside with both teams, and hands over when the role is filled.
Weekly integration check-in
Goal 3Your owner + oursProgressPeople risk2 to watchWe're your accountability partners.
- Every integration goal has a named owner on your side and one on ours.
- Weekly check-ins on progress, confidence and people risks, so a problem shows up in week three rather than month six.
- What we learn, including what didn't work, is written down and shared with both teams.
- We're measured on one thing, and it's results.
- Day 130 daysCarry on
Every engagement ends with a 30-day review and an option to carry on.
- Reviews at 30, 60 and 90 days give the board a clear, independent view of progress.
- The option is priced before we start, so nobody has to negotiate when energy is low.
Questions people ask first
Are you a post-merger integration facilitator or consultant?
Both. We advise on integration like a PMI consultant, and we facilitate the sessions where the combined leadership team agrees roles, goals and ways of working, so they own the result.
What does a post-merger integration consultant do?
A post-merger integration consultant helps the combined company bring its people together: clear roles and goals, honest early conversations so people feel safe and valued, onboarding into the new ways of working, and a shorter time to value. We work alongside your legal, finance and systems advisers.
We already have deal advisers.
They get the deal done. Integration starts the week they leave.
Is it too late? We closed months ago.
No. A reset mid-integration is common, and often the moment it matters most.
Is it confidential?
Yes. We sign an NDA before any data, and the session can run under project code names.
What does it cost?
A fixed fee, agreed after a 30-minute call once we know the size of the group, how long you have and what has to be decided by the end.
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Last updated
Bring two teams together, and get to value sooner.
Thirty minutes with Matt. Tell us what has to be decided, and afterwards we'll send you a short summary of the call: what we heard, and how we'd approach it.