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Case Study: Healthcare Software Merger

Building one company from two through structure, governance, and accountability

Following the merger of two competing behavioural health software companies, the Chief of Staff Association's Talent team deployed an Integration PMO Lead who established governance, coordinated cross-functional work, and maintained customer retention at 85% while guiding the organisation through a complex integration.

Challenges

Following the merger of two competing behavioural health software companies, leadership faced a significant integration challenge. The vision was ambitious: create a single company with one brand, one product and one team.Achieving that vision required aligning two organisations with different systems, processes and cultures. At the same time, the business had to keep serving customers and maintain business performance. Without a structured integration approach, the organisation risked operational disruption, employee uncertainty, customer dissatisfaction and delayed decision making.Leadership needed an experienced operator who could establish governance, drive accountability, and keep dozens of cross-functional initiatives moving forward, while allowing executives to remain focused on running the business.To support this effort, the company engaged Talent consultant Carolyn Mander to serve as Integration Project Management Office (PMO) Lead and guide the organisation through the merger journey.

Solution

Carolyn quickly embedded herself within the leadership team and established the operating structure required to manage a complex integration.The engagement began with a leadership integration workshop that brought together leaders from both organisations to align on priorities, decision making and ways of working. From there, Carolyn built the foundation for the integration effort, including:
  • PMO Design and Governance
    Carolyn established the Integration PMO, creating an integration charter, decision making framework, guiding principles, workstream ownership structure, and weekly operating cadence. This gave leadership clear visibility into priorities, issues and progress across the organisation.
  • Cross-functional Coordination and Accountability
    Carolyn led weekly integration meetings, managed status reporting and coordinated work across multiple integration workstreams. This allowed executives to stay focused on strategic priorities while maintaining visibility into the progress of key integration initiatives.
  • Communication and Change Management
    Carolyn developed and executed a communication strategy that kept stakeholders informed and engaged throughout the integration. This included bi-weekly company-wide all-hands meetings and leadership communications. It also covered weekly board updates, employee feedback mechanisms and ongoing change management designed to foster alignment, transparency and sustained momentum.

Results

The integration was executed with minimal disruption to employees, customers and business operations.Key outcomes included:
  • Successfully guided the merger of two competing organisations into a unified operating company and unified brand identity.
  • Completed all critical system integrations, including CRM and internal collaboration platforms.
  • Maintained customer retention at approximately 85% throughout the integration period.
  • Increased product Net Promoter Scores across both product lines, demonstrating continued customer satisfaction during a period of significant organisational change.
  • Maintained employee engagement and strong employee retention, with 84% of employees reporting they were happy working at the company.
  • Established a sustainable PMO structure and communication rhythm that created visibility and accountability across leadership, employees and key stakeholders.
  • Successfully coordinated integration efforts across multiple business functions while ensuring key milestones were completed on time.
Perhaps most importantly, Carolyn provided the structure, coordination and leadership to keep the organisation moving forward during a highly complex merger. By serving as a central point of coordination across workstreams, she helped leadership navigate a challenging integration while preserving operational stability, employee engagement and customer satisfaction.
The Chief of Staff Association's Talent team came in during a critical integration and gave us the PMO structure and focus we needed. Carolyn became part of the team from day one. She kept us in line, stayed in the trenches with us, and delivered exactly what we asked for.
Brent Michael, CEO Lighting Step

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