Global technology and professional services organisation Cognizant employs more than 336,000 people worldwide, with offices in around 50 countries including India, the US and the UK.
The size and global reach of the organisation means it has multiple multinational pools for its employee benefits, one of which is with provider Insurope. Kathleen O’Driscoll, VP, human resources, global benefits, wellbeing and HR policy at Cognizant, explains: “We evaluated the different networks to determine which were the best fit for our demographics, coverage needs, and strategic objectives. We also checked whether we already had any natural pools in place and what the providers could offer us.”
Working with multinational pool providers delivers several key benefits. “With employees in so many different countries, each with multiple benefit offerings, there’s a broad and diverse set of policies to manage,” says O’Driscoll. “A multinational pool is a key component of an overall governance model, enabling better control, optimising costs, and providing features that improve the employee experience.”
For example, as part of a project to assess the environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials of suppliers, O’Driscoll and Cognizant’s global broker asked the providers to find out what individual insurers were doing in this space. “Instead of having to contact each [insurer] individually, the providers supplied all the information in a consolidated form. It saved us so much time,” she says.
Using a multinational pool also gives Cognizant more synergies with the carriers. As well as benefits such as higher free cover limits on life assurance, it enables O’Driscoll to roll out the benefits strategy more effectively. “We meet with the providers at least once a year to discuss our objectives,” she explains. ”They will then share this insight with the [insurers] so they understand our expectations and how they can support us.”
A further key benefit is the opportunity to receive an annual dividend if the pool has a good year. “When we earn a dividend, that provides us with funding we otherwise wouldn’t have, allowing us to invest in programmes and initiatives such as wellbeing to support our people,” adds O’Driscoll.
