Engagement — Demo
Cross-border · integration · symbiosis archetype
Canvas
The engagement's central surface. Every human-side domain across every phase from pre-LOI scoping to year-3 stewardship. Each cell carries a status, a plan, and — where relevant — the research-grounded risk pattern that warns what tends to happen if the cell is neglected.
| Workstream | Scope Before LOI signed | DD LOI signed → Closing | Sign LOI to closing | 1–30 First month post-close | 30–90 Month 2–3 | 90–180 Month 4–6 | 180–1y Month 7–12 | 1–3 yr Long-term stewardship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
People People & Leadership | Not started Leadership Voice Scan | On track Target leadership map | Attention Retention plans for top 5 | Not started Talent map maintenance + 1:1s | Not started Retention check-in #1 | Not started 100-day retrospective | Not started Year-end leadership review | Not started Talent stewardship 3-yr arc |
Culture Culture & Values | Not started Archetype Snapshot & Buyer Baseline | On track Pillar A + B assessment in flight | On track Friction map publish | Not started Pulse #1 (target staff) | Not started Friction-map refresh | Not started Cultural NPS baseline | Not started Comparative pillar assessment | Not started Quarterly culture pulse |
HR ops HR Processes | Not started Public HR-Signal Read | Attention HR-DD: comp model + performance system | Not started — | Not started Compensation alignment kickoff | Not started Performance system harmonisation | Not started Hiring + exit policy unification | Not started Annual cycle: comp + reviews | Not started HR ops fully unified |
Comms Communications & Engagement | Not started Pre-LOI Conversation Prep | Not started — | Attention Day-1 announcement narrative | Not started Day-1 town-halls + anonymous Q&A | Not started Pulse #2 + leadership narrative | Not started Internal comms cadence steady-state | Not started Annual all-hands narrative | Not started Steady-state internal comms |
Design Integration Design | Not started Geography Baseline & Thesis | On track Archetype: symbiosis (provisional) | On track Decision-rights matrix v1 | Not started Org-design phase 1 (top 2 layers) | Not started Org-design phase 2 | Not started Operating model committed | Not started Org refinements | Not started Operating model maturity |
Numbers Financial & Operational Tie-in | Not started Seller Context Note | Complete DD financial pack signed | On track Synergy budget locked | Not started Synergy tracker live | Not started Synergy realisation review | Not started EBITDA tracking against model | Not started Y1 synergy actuals vs model | Not started Long-run synergy + ROI |
Going into closing without a target-side talent map means the buyer can't tell which two leaders to send post-close. Boards typically realise this 6–12 months in, when the operational picture has already deteriorated.
Teerikangas / Angwin — talent retention as integration determinant
Compensation alignment delayed past Day 30 produces a near-deterministic spike in voluntary turnover among target staff in months 4–6 — the exact window when integration plans depend on continuity.
Durand — sociocultural friction in M&A
Target staff will fill an information vacuum with rumour. If the announcement plan isn't ready before sign, narrative ownership goes to whoever speaks loudest internally — usually the most negative voice.
Kroon — emotional residue and narrative control
Friction register
Discovered friction points across the engagement. Each one carries severity, a workstream, the current status, and the research pattern it maps to. The register is the working list the lead advisor triages weekly.
Assessment
A Day-30 cultural pulse across Helios Tech. Four research pillars scored on a 0–100 band; free-text feedback grouped for the lead advisor.
Deliverable
A short written argument the lead advisor takes into the steering group. Executive summary, ranked risks, leading indicators, and immediate asks — the shape any board audience already reads.
Sixty days into the Helios integration, three of the four cultural pillars are inside their planning band. The exception — change confidence at 59 — is a leading indicator we should treat as prescriptive rather than descriptive: it correlates historically with the voluntary-turnover spike that Durand's work locates in months four to six.
The single highest-leverage intervention available in the next four weeks is a written commercial-ops decision-rights matrix. It closes the compensation-banding friction from above (because the discount authority feeds directly into commission), and it removes the ambiguity Helios middle management is currently escalating around.
1. Compensation banding gap — high severity, in review. Left un-addressed past Day 30, comp asymmetry produces a near-deterministic spike in voluntary turnover in months 4–6 (Durand). Owner: HR lead. Target: written band alignment memo by Day 45.
2. Decision-rights ambiguity — high severity, open. Two Q4 deals already delayed. Owner: Integration Design lead. Target: RACI + escalation ladder signed off by Day 40.
3. Change confidence at 59 — medium severity, monitored. Not a risk on its own; a signal that the two risks above have room to widen further before Day 60. Re-pulse at Day 60 + 90 with the same instrument to hold the trend visible.
Discount-authority escalations closed within five business days (target: 90%+).
Voluntary attrition in Helios engineering & sales, rolling 30-day (baseline: 4.2% annualised; alert threshold: 6%).
All-hands attendance and unanswered-question count from the weekly session (weekly rhythm; unanswered questions should trend towards zero).
Cross-site collaboration score in the next pulse (baseline 81 — a fall below 75 rescopes the plan).
Approve the compensation-banding memo in principle before its Day-45 delivery date so the HR lead can start commitments with unit heads today.
Nominate the two Aurora leaders to attend Helios's next commercial-ops session in person — the RACI needs both sides in the room, not a document circulated for comment.
Confirm the Day-60 and Day-90 pulse dates so the survey window is protected against calendar drift.
Fourteen days on Professional, no card. Bring your own engagement and the canvas starts from your workstreams, your phases, your team.