Driving the news: The report, titled "The Human Value Gap in M&A," argues that traditional M&A playbooks are outdated. It introduces the concept of a "Human Value Gap"—the space between recognizing the importance of people in a deal and the lack of a structured approach to manage it.

"For decades, M&A has been managed as a financial exercise, and the human capital aspects of M&A have been deprioritized," said Daniel Boyer, RGP's Head of M&A.
"What this research validates is that deal value is rarely lost in the spreadsheet; it's lost in the organization," Boyer added.

Zoom in: The findings suggest that while financial engineering gets a deal started, successful integration depends on effectively managing people and culture.

The report identifies leadership alignment, talent retention, and cultural integration as the primary drivers of sustained performance post-acquisition.
It notes that familiar challenges like overestimated synergies, cultural misalignment, and integration fatigue continue to plague deals.

Between the lines: The timeline for realizing value from different aspects of a deal can vary dramatically, creating a potential trap for leadership focused on short-term financial metrics.

"While financial and operational synergies are often captured within 18–36 months, true value realization... depends on cultural alignment, which may take 5–7 years to fully embed," said a CHRO from a multinational pharmaceutical company who was interviewed for the report.
The CHRO added that metrics like employee engagement, leadership retention, and trust in new leadership are better leading indicators of long-term success than financial reports alone.

By the numbers: The report's conclusions are based on a survey of 120 CFOs and in-depth interviews with 15 CHROs from companies with over $500 million in annual revenue.

Respondents came from industries including Technology, Consumer Products, Financial Services, Private Equity, and Healthcare.
The majority of executives surveyed (83%) were based in the United States.

See the full The Human Value Gap in M&A report here:

SURVEY: M&A Value is 'Lost in the Organization,' Not the Spreadsheet

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