Building a Global Benefits Identity in an Era of Cost Containment

July 29, 2024 7 mins

Companies Need a Global Benefits Identity in an Era of Cost Containment

Building a Global Benefits Identity in an Era of Cost Containment

More global benefits professionals are aligning benefit strategy to an employer’s identity and values.

Key Takeaways

The job of a global benefits professional is changing rapidly, evolving to include more strategic responsibilities around corporate identity and driving cost efficiencies.
Designing an effective global benefits strategy that helps retain and attract talent requires connection to an organization’s values.
Compliance and local implementation are crucial to a successful global benefits program.

Multinational companies face a number of challenges inherent in the size and scope of their organizations when it comes to managing a global workforce. Compliance with differing employment regulations, different healthcare and social security systems and varying workplace standards can be challenging, and nowhere is that challenge more apparent than in benefits.

As more employers globalize their employee benefits, clear trends have emerged. Aon’s 2024 Global Benefits Trends Study shows that many companies are embracing the opportunities presented by the strategic shifts toward global standards. Employers want to compete for talent by offering benefits that are competitive globally and aligned with the company’s mission. Those who have a global benefits strategy that relates back to the company’s identity and values will have an advantage for attracting talent.

The Evolving Role of Global Benefits Professionals

The scope of a global benefits professional’s role is rapidly expanding to one that is more strategic, involving the design of engaging and meaningful programs. This shift aligns with the fact that ensuring compliance and competitiveness is a top priority for global benefits professionals, with nearly nine in 10 companies listing it as a priority.¹

Benefits professionals’ role in driving strategic business initiatives like wellbeing, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B), as well as environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, gives them an opportunity to relate benefits back to company values and create an identity that authentically reflects those values. This can then underpin the strategic design of the benefits program and, perhaps surprisingly, help drive cost efficiencies within an organization.

Three Steps to Achieving a Global Benefits Identity

33%

One in three companies is actively either drafting or revising their global benefits strategy.

Source: Aon’s 2024 Global Benefits Trends Study

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1. Prioritize relevance when creating a global benefits strategy.

A benefits strategy not only needs to reflect the company’s values; it also needs to be a selling point for talent. How does the strategy help the company stand out from competitors? By focusing on strategic items that have long-term resonance, companies can more easily communicate a cohesive vision. Does the plan provide equitable benefits? How does it meet diversity commitments? These types of questions can go a long way toward refining the organization’s benefits identity. Ensuring that stakeholders, who are also involved with strategic priorities like DEI&B and wellbeing, are a part of the collaborative process will further increase buy-in and the chances for successful implementation.

Establishing a holistic benefits strategy is key and something that many companies lack. Our research finds that 96 percent of companies focus their strategies on health and risk benefits, but less than three-quarters emphasize pension benefits or leave policies. This leaves an opportunity for organizations to create differentiated benefits that meet the emerging demands of their people and ultimately stand out from the crowd of other employers.
2. Leverage available data to identify what is valued.

Crafting a global benefits identity starts with gathering data. Knowing what is being spent and what is driving costs gives companies a solid initial foundation. Data can also help to capture the voice of employees. Understanding what their people value will drive strategic planning and confidence that employee voices are being heard. Put simply, employers will be able to use this information to respond directly to their workers’ needs.
3. Develop a communications plan to drive employee engagement.

Having a focused communication and engagement strategy can help ensure that the benefits strategy remains front and center for both leadership and employees. Well-crafted communications can even be used externally to broadcast the company’s commitment to its benefits identity to the market and potential talent.

60%

of companies say they are using employee feedback to guide strategic priorities, while less than half are conducting consistent surveys to measure employee satisfaction.

Source: Aon’s 2024 Global Benefits Trends Study

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While a clearly articulated global benefits identity is key to helping a company transform into one that offers world-class benefits programs, it’s important to balance this perspective with local compliance.

From Global Strategy to Local Implementation and Compliance

A well-articulated benefits strategy should be used as a “north star” to prioritize benefit spend on the programs and policies that drive value to both the business and employees. While this doesn’t make tough choices any easier, it does make them easier to communicate. It should also give stakeholders confidence that they’ve made the right choice.

However, many companies still struggle with meaningful implementation. Only one in five global benefits professionals formally align their local markets to the global strategy. This can be counterproductive. To have a true impact on employees and ensure an authentic employee experience, the global benefits strategy needs to be interpretated and implemented locally.

Leveraging employee benefits captives is one way to accelerate and incentivize local implementation. Our global study finds that companies with captives are 50 percent more likely to have enforced local alignment to a global benefits strategy.

Regardless of its growing importance, compliance remains a low priority for global benefits professionals. In fact, just over one third see it as a key objective. But compliance is not going away. It will be increasingly critical to address as implementation starts for legislation required by the EU Pay Transparency Directive. Countries will likely need to set up different reporting requirements, and account for the impact of benefits within this framework. Ensuring a robust compliance component when designing benefits plans will ensure that the organization is prepared for any future legislation.

The ideal benefits plan design relates back to a company’s authentic benefits identity, furthers the company's strategic goals, fulfills unmet needs in the marketplace and incorporates solutions to meet the needs employees articulate along the way.

Céline Ng Tong

Global Business Development Director, Global Benefits, UK

Keeping Global Benefits at the Forefront

To ensure a successful rollout, companies should embed change management into their global benefits programs. Doing so requires:

A disciplined and thorough change management philosophy
Ensuring global and regional benefit leaders are equipped with the right skillsets
Getting buy-in from executives
Building stakeholder engagement

Employee benefits have never been more important to a company’s talent strategy. Forty-two percent of U.S. respondents in a recent survey cited better benefits as their main reason for changing jobs. Relating identity to company values and employee sentiment, and then refining based on data, will help organizations create a stand-out benefits program — one that allows employers to connect with current and future employees who share their values, ultimately benefitting both the company and its people.

Aon’s Thought Leaders

Céline Ng Tong

Global Business Development Director, Global Benefits, UK
Carl Redondo

Leader, Global Benefits, UK

¹ All statistics, unless otherwise cited, come from Aon’s 2024 Global Benefits Trends Study

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