KPIs for post M&A Integration team

As an engineering firm, our KPIs focus on maintaining revenue, staff retention and client satisfaction. Each KPI or goal is set with an associated timeline for achieving the goal. Some timelines are specific to the M&A, some are tied to our regular business cycle. All our KPIs influence compensation and bonus. We don’t use ‘enforcements’ but do use the monetary and career advancement impacts of not achieving the KPIs to motivate the integration team to succeed.

I see KPI tied to the planned synergy assumptions, i.e. the break down of what is needed to achieve the planned synergies, and further breakdown on the ways to achieve them and its timeline. While there likely are various general KPI that could be used in PMI context (such as the retention rate, revenue capture rate, cost cut targets, etc.), the core KPI should focus on the items that directly affect achieving the planned synergy for the acquisition, which differs based on the purpose of the deal. for enforcement, it’s usually the transparency in what is achieved and what is not achieved, so the peer eyes are always reviewing the progress. As most PMI do not progress as planned, I do not think it is advisable to rely too much on the enforcement methods, but rather, to constantly review and revise the direction and its KPI, so that the ultimate purpose of the deal is realized to its max extent.