A merger on paper. A split in practice.

Two mid-sized professional services firms had completed a merger. The combined entity had approximately 350 employees across three locations. Integration had been proceeding for four months, with mixed signals.

Retention numbers looked acceptable, but informal feedback to management suggested significant cultural friction that wasn't showing up in standard HR metrics. The steering group was operating on the assumption that the merger was proceeding adequately.

Cicuno was deployed as a structured integration diagnostic. The question was focused on how employees were experiencing the merger and what they felt was working or not working — anonymous, unprompted, at scale.

A second wave was planned for six months later to measure shift — turning a one-off snapshot into a monitoring signal the board could rely on.

The results showed a sharp divergence between the two legacy organizations. Staff from the acquired firm scored significantly lower on consensus with leadership and showed a high concentration of responses in the low-influence, high-negativity quadrant — a pattern associated with resignation rather than active resistance.

Specific friction clusters emerged around client ownership protocols, IT systems, and perceived status differences between the two legacy cultures. Problems HR metrics couldn't see.

The Cicuno output reframed the situation as requiring active intervention, not monitoring. Three targeted workstreams were initiated — on client ownership, IT systems, and status reconciliation.

The six-month follow-up showed measurable shift in the influence and consensus scores for the previously at-risk group — providing the board with evidence that integration was on track. Not anecdote. Not assumption. A delta.