Opinion
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OpinionNorman Dreger: Creating a globally consistent employee experience
Employee benefits are a critical part of any HR strategy, empowering businesses to attract and retain top talent while supporting their people during the moments that matter. Although the global workforce has been forced to cope with unprecedented change in the past few years, this can be a unifying experience ...
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OpinionKate Bishop: How technology improves benefits delivery
If you turned the clock back two decades, the employee benefits technology portfolio would have been much more limited than it is today, with employees informed of offers via notice-boards or generic emails. There was little flexibility, personalisation or two-way engagement.Today, that has all changing. A survey carried out by ...
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OpinionConstantina Tribou: Global reward strategies during Covid-19
To maintain resilience in this shifting landscape, many employers are starting with their global reward strategies as a way to adapt to the current Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.Employee demographics in the workforce are changing and situations are moving quicker than organisations can adapt. As a result, there is a pressing need ...
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OpinionShabnam Ramzan: Snowflake supports the overall wellbeing of staff during a crisis
At Snowflake, our people are our greatest asset and we want to make sure that Snowflake is a great and safe place to work. One way that we can do this is by offering a comprehensive range of employee benefits that are designed to help look after health, wellbeing and ...
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OpinionTim Reay: A global benefits strategy can complement state provisions
What is taken for granted in one country may not be provided by the state in another, and one important role employers play is to support staff by filling in the gaps in the local state employee benefit provisions.The most well-known example, and one of the most costly ones for ...
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OpinionTony Pugh: Global challenges and solutions for DC pensions and financial wellbeing
A global financial wellbeing programme that takes into account localised pensions legislation, different taxation regimes and myriad different savings products might sound more like solving a Rubik’s Cube than building a benefits strategy.However, the DC pension and financial wellbeing global employee survey, published by Aon in June 2019, shows that, ...
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OpinionAnnelise Tracy Phillips: Implementing a global wellbeing strategy
A good wellbeing strategy reflects organisational values and culture. It has consistent messaging and is a coherent whole, rather being than a series of one-off interventions. However, a global wellbeing strategy also needs to be flexible enough to account for local attitudes to the employment relationship, different views of the ...
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OpinionAlice Hallsworth: Global benefits strategies should align to local markets
When considering a global benefits strategy, employers should first consider their overall values, the industry landscape that the organisation works within, the needs of its workforce and, most importantly, what it is looking to achieve by aligning international benefits practices with its brand identity.The best benefit strategies identify clear objectives, ...
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OpinionDavid Enser: Flexibility is key to expat motivation and recognition schemes
Expatriate motivation and recognition schemes should not be rigid, but should instead offer flexibility within a controlled framework. Managers must have a toolkit of buttons to push to ensure engagement and motivation on the one hand, while also being able to respond to the unique needs of both the individual ...
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OpinionTim Reay: Multinational employers need to adopt key global benefits
More and more people are being sent by their employers to work in other countries; some estimates show that there are up to 50 million expatriates within multinational employers, which represents a 25% increase in the last decade.The old way of keeping an expatriate on home country terms, with all ...
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OpinionSally Hart: How should global employers tailor their benefits to compliment state provisions?
Even in stronger economies, the days when employees could rely on state provisions are over. Across the world, state pensions are under pressure with retirement ages increasing, or proposed to increase, in many countries. The situation for healthcare is no better; funding is tight and services are under pressure. Most ...
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OpinionNick Hobson: How can employers ensure a smooth transition into a post-Brexit world?
On 23 June 2016 the UK voted to leave the European Union (EU) and the political and economic landscape changed irrevocably.Approximately 2.8 million European economic area (EEA) nationals live and work in the UK, according to a Home Office white paper published in January 2017, and the UK government has ...
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OpinionClare Gregory and Kate Hodgkiss: Global reward strategies - supporting diversity and inclusion legitimately
From an employment law perspective, there are two primary issues to consider when creating a global reward strategy. The first is ensuring that the strategy does not breach discrimination laws in any country where it is implemented. The second is ensuring that the rewards provided comply with legally mandated minimums, ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Global lessons on work-life balance
At the end of July, 900 Japanese organisations, including The Japan Times and Tokyo Metropolitan Government, took part in the country’s first Telework Day. The day was the first in a series planned by the Japanese government in the run up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, aimed at encouraging ...
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OpinionStephen Ravenscroft: Gender pay gap reporting considerations for multinational employers
The landscape for gender pay gap reporting is shifting fast, and multinational organisations face a maze of obligations in the different countries in which they operate. This poses practical and operational challenges.Approaches to pay gap reporting vary vastly between countries; thresholds for employee numbers required to trigger reporting requirements differ, ...
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OpinionSarah Henchoz and Paul McCarthy: Local jurisdiction must be considered in a global benefits strategy
It is legally possible for an employer to provide a global benefits package, and many employers decide to do so because it is administratively more efficient than offering localvariations and, crucially for a global workforce, ensures parity of treatment across the organisation.A global package is attractive for employers with a ...
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OpinionDan Sharman: Taking employee share plans to a global workforce needs careful consideration
As part of a global benefits strategy, international organisations often want to expand their share plans to cover employees who are based overseas. Often, this is crucial to attract and retain key talent internationally and to achieve parity in remuneration packages across the global workforce.However, granting employees equity is a ...
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OpinionSally Wilson: Employers should take steps to ensure re-entry to work is sustainable after absences
Given the range of health reasons an employee may take time off for, and the variable fitness requirements for different professions, there is no one-size-fits-all role that an employer should take in workplace rehabilitation. But broadly the employer’s role is to take appropriate steps to support the individual back to ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: What will Brexit mean for effective global reward strategies?
Over the past few months, one topic has dominated numerous conversations: the result of the EU referendum. Whichever way you voted and whatever you think of the Brexit result, there can be no denying that the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) will have widespread ramifications.The true reach ...
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OpinionSally Hart: What are the key factors in creating a global benefits strategy?
Consider, first of all, the desired outcome: an effective global benefits strategy provides a framework for benefit plan design in all countries of operation. It will help align practices with shared objectives, and centralising structures may bring about significant efficiencies, reducing administration and cost. The global benefits strategy should be ...