The exit of top performers, including leaders from banks, is a problem leaders of banks experience after mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The goal of M&A is to make the merged banks strategically stronger, but the exit of valuable employees from the merged banks makes the realization of this goal difficult.

The exit of valuable bank employees after an M&A disrupts the social identity formed by the employees from working together. The disruption of the social identity could become a de-motivator and create job dissatisfaction. Seventy percent of top executives leave within years of the M&A. Good employees leave the merged banks because of dissatisfaction and anxiety over the merger.

Bank executives and other business managers could use the information from the current book to manage future mergers in manners that will minimize or eliminate employee anxieties, turnover, and job losses; thereby increasing the chances of accomplishing the stated goals of the M&A.