Colin Ions, "The role of HR in acquisitions and mergers"

Colin Ions set up the consulting arm of DLA Piper, one of the world's largest law firms. Prior to moving into consulting, he had a 30-year career in the engineering and brewing industries and was group HR director for Courage, a major division of Scottish and Newcastle. Watch the video above in which Colin discusses the role of HR in mergers and acquisitions, arguing that HR managers can make a strong contribution to change so long as they are on the right agenda and 'get into the mind of the CEO'. People in the business have to have confidence that the HR function understands what the CEO and the top team are trying to do with the enterprise and that they have a strong business focus. He goes on to discuss four factors that can affect the value of the HR contribution.