European Compensation & Benefits Forum

The European Compensation & Benefits Forum, sponsored by GEB, brought together market leaders to discuss how to attract and retain talents in the EMEA region.

Compensation and benefits are key to improving the quality of life of employees, their motivation and engagement at work, thus strongly contributing to enhance companies performance. Unlocking their impact on your workforce is however a complex and challenging task, as companies are asked to design and deliver the right plans at a reasonable cost, properly communicated and understood by all partners involved.

During the 2-day event, experts from the region discussed in several panels the current market landscape, the need to align rewards with overall strategies to maximise return on investment (ROI), how to invest on new flexible approaches and improve communications with employees.

  • Data:

Debate opened on 5 March, with a panel on changes affecting reward plans and challenges to measure their effectiveness.

Discussions focused on the need to set in place the correct measurement system, by collecting meaningful data and designing an accurate monitoring and reporting process, in order to assess the effectiveness of your plans and demonstrate appropriate ROI.

  • Flexibility:

In today’s globally competitive environment, rewards provide a key opportunity to create value for your talents but they need to be flexible, meaningful and integrated in the overall employees value proposition. The one-size-fits-all benefits package for the baby boomer generation is not adequate anymore to link rewards with motivation for the different generations in today’s workplace. Among the tools employers can use, segmentation techniques to manage different expectations, and tailored programs for the new generations. Employers have to strike a balance between the need to adopt an individualised approach and the need for governance and cost control.

GEB discussed the impact of diversity management on benefits programs for expatriates, as a career without borders is not any longer a prerogative of a restricted group of employees but increasingly “normal” for a variety of generations and professions.

  • Wellness:

New solutions are emerging outside the perimeter of traditional benefits, such as the growing investment on promoting health at work with wellness programs. Having a healthy and balanced life is among the most valued reward and can be effectively implemented, as discussed in a dedicated best practice exchange session.

  • Engagement:

The impact and success of your benefits programs will ultimately rely on your ability to improve employees’ understanding on the benefits they are offered. HR professionals need support from benefits professionals to structure complicated financial contents in a clear and meaningful way. Social media, gamification and cloud services are increasingly common platform to deliver rewards in a more proactive way, in line with an overall trend, that the 2015 Forum contributed to highlight, in managing employee benefits: from compliance to competitiveness tools.

More information on the event website