Agenda: Thursday, 23 November 2023
The REBA Future Forum will help HR and reward and benefit leaders navigate this complex and challenging environment. The agenda will be chock full of opportunities to review, reflect and react to the trends that are shaping the workplace right now.
Download the printable agenda to help you when selecting your sessions.
8.35am – 9.15am
Option 1: Pre-conference breakfast workshop - 'The evolution of benefits tech - getting ahead of what's coming next'
Option 1: Pre-conference breakfast workshop - 'The evolution of benefits tech - getting ahead of what's coming next'
Invitation-only workshop, Bishopsgate 1
Technology, software and AI are going to shift the benefits experience and delivery for both employers and employees. In this workshop we explore the current state of the market and what is and isn’t working; as well as what employers would like to see next.
Discussion points:
- What are the current shortfalls, friction points and frustrations with benefits tech?
- What do employers really need, as opposed to what providers try to sell them?
- How far is your tech delivering value for employees and value for spend? Is it relevant and meeting the needs of all employees? How could you improve those returns?
With strategic partner: Mercer Marsh Benefits
Any invitation enquiries or questions contact [email protected] - The workshop is for Head of Reward and Benefits only.
Option 2: Pre-conference breakfast workshop - 'Managing the emerging workplace health landscape: How can you prepare for what comes next?'
Option 2: Pre-conference breakfast workshop - 'Managing the emerging workplace health landscape: How can you prepare for what comes next?'
Invitation-only workshop, Bishopsgate 2
The mounting public health crisis along with economic factors is intensifying pressure on private sector healthcare and the demand for employers to step up and plug gaps in employee healthcare provision. However, employers themselves are coming under budget constraints and are facing up to 30% insurance inflation. Join peers in this strategic workshop to discuss how far this responsibility is shifting to employers, what plans are being put in place to manage costs and how accessing healthcare will change for workforces.
Discussion points for the table discussions:
- How are employee expectations around workplace health changing and how is this impacting employer-funded health and wellbeing benefits and services?
- Identifying solutions and tactics to manage the projected huge cost increases
- Managing brokers and vendor overlap to streamline your employee healthcare offering
- How pathways to access healthcare are shifting and what this means for evolutions and innovations in wellbeing benefits and insurances
- Explore how the role of reward and benefits directors is evolving to reflect the increased reliance on employers to maintain a healthy productive workforce
With strategic partner: Peppy
Any invitation enquiries or questions contact [email protected] - The workshop is for Head of Reward and Benefits only.
9.30am – 10am
Chair’s welcome and REBA Insights
10am – 10.40am
Opening keynote: How will generative AI impact jobs and change the future of work
Opening keynote: How will generative AI impact jobs and change the future of work
Keynote, Broadgate (main theatre)
Join global AI/tech innovator and expert, Simon Greenman for this thought-provoking, plain-speaking and forward-looking keynote talk delving into the progress of generative AI and it’s potential to transform jobs, business and society.
Drawing on practical, real-world examples and putting tech into a language that can be understood, Simon will demystify the world of generative AI. He’ll explore how AI is redefining jobs and the future workplace and will provide some much-needed clarity and insight into what reward and benefits directors need to be thinking about today so they can manage the risks and prepare for the opportunities coming down the line tomorrow.
- What is generative AI and why reward and benefits directors need to know about it now?
- Understand how to get the best from AI – what new skills and learning is needed so we can interact and maximise outputs from AI?
- What is the impact of AI on jobs, business and society?
- What are the HR and workforce-related risks of generative AI and how do I manage them?
- How do I get going with generative AI in my role as an HR, reward or benefits director?
- What will the next 5-10 years look like?
In association with Peppy
Speakers
Option 1: 'Rising trend: building a financial wellbeing strategy around lifestage events'
Option 1: 'Rising trend: building a financial wellbeing strategy around lifestage events'
Speaker session, Broadgate 1
- The workforce and societal shifts causing employers to focus on lifestages not just age
- What does personalisation look like in practice and how can you make it work for your organisation?
- Increasing the value of total rewards package by connecting benefits to employees' life events
- How to integrate financial wellbeing with HR policies for best impact: from flexible working through to career development and performance
Speakers
Option 2: 'What do you need in place now as a reward and benefit leader to take advantage of the future technological advances?'
Option 2: 'What do you need in place now as a reward and benefit leader to take advantage of the future technological advances?'
Speaker session, London Wall
- Exploring foundations and underlying infrastructure
- Demystifying data
- Is Generative AI ready to be leveraged?
- What skills do you need within your team to not just implement but more importantly make better decisions?
Speakers
Option 3: 'The evolving role of technology in delivering a truly valued employee experience'
Option 3: 'The evolving role of technology in delivering a truly valued employee experience'
Speaker session, Bishopsgate
- Drawing on their latest research and market trends, MMB explore the non-negotiables for employers to deliver to their employees in the moments that matter. Explore the multi-layered elements that create a truly great employee experience
- Find out which aspects of benefits tech are really needed to deliver both style and substance
- Discover how to use your tech to support and achieve your top HR and reward priorities
- Why it is vital to look beyond the employee experience aesthetic
Speakers
11.15am – 12pm
Option 4: 'Panel 1: The future of employer-funded healthcare: how medical inflation is a game changer'
Option 4: 'Panel 1: The future of employer-funded healthcare: how medical inflation is a game changer'
Panel session, Broadgate 2
- The major forces causing employers and insurers to rethink employee health benefits
- Ways in which high medical inflation will change up the UK health and risk insurance products
- Getting ahead of your budgets and future planning to mitigate and manage costs
- Re-thinking your insurances and linked employee benefits to future-proof your employer-funded healthcare
With strategic partner: Peppy
Option 1: 'How to use financial education to drive awareness, understanding and action on your benefits'
Option 1: 'How to use financial education to drive awareness, understanding and action on your benefits'
Speaker session, Broadgate 1
- 76% of employees struggle to understand and make the most of their benefits.
- Learn how financial education can fix the problem.
- See real-life examples of benefit communication and action from the world’s most innovative employers.
Speakers
Option 2: 'From benefits to personalisation to personalisation 2.0: how AI is driving change'
Option 2: 'From benefits to personalisation to personalisation 2.0: how AI is driving change'
Speaker session, London Wall
Drawing on their latest research, Zest explores how tech and data analytics will enable true personalisation and elevate the employee experience.
- What the data’s telling us and what new and emerging trends are coming in benefits design
- The importance of good data as a foundation to unlock AI
- The democratisation of data in an AI driven world
- The impact of generative AI to shape the future of benefits and drive employee engagement
- Understanding your people better
- What is personalisation 2.0?
- The dangers of AI
Speakers
Option 3: 'Ways to align and implement your benefits strategy to meet business sustainability and ESG goals'
Option 3: 'Ways to align and implement your benefits strategy to meet business sustainability and ESG goals'
Speaker session, Bishopsgate
- Understanding your suppliers green credentials: asking the right questions to ensure they align with your corporate ESG goals and targets
- Taking employees on the sustainability journey: using incentives and rewards to encourage behaviours and actions that help employees to make sustainable choices (and in turn supports employers to meet corporate sustainability objectives)
- Working with providers to push for policy change and tax incentives on green and climate-friendly benefits
Speakers
Option 1: 'What are the future key ingredients that will emerge to support financial resilience and literacy in the next two years?'
Option 1: 'What are the future key ingredients that will emerge to support financial resilience and literacy in the next two years?'
Speaker session, Broadgate 1
Drawing on data from REBA’s Financial Wellbeing Research 2023 in partnership with WEALTH at work, this session will provide valuable insight on:
- The key drivers for change and how near and long-term workplace issues are shifting financial wellbeing strategies
- How employers can develop their financial wellbeing strategy to prepare for what’s coming next
- What will financial resilience and literacy support look like in 2024
- Practical examples to help employers understand what they need to do now to build strong financial habits among the employees of the future
Speakers
Option 2: 'The future of benefits: More things change, the more they remain the same'
Option 2: 'The future of benefits: More things change, the more they remain the same'
Speaker session, London Wall
The human need for the safety and protection, and the access and pricing advantages benefits offer aren’t going away anytime soon. And yet, in a changing world fraught with uncertainties, as the what, the who, the where and the when of work evolve, so will the needs and expectations of tomorrow’s workforce. We have new solutions, rapid advances in technology and artificial intelligence, better access to data and information, and more transparency. These make it possible for employers to improve the health outcomes (physical, mental, financial and social) and build workforce resilience without simply throwing money at the problem. How benefits are designed and delivered must change for this new paradigm of work and the future workforce. Join Amol to explore:
- How the labour markets and tomorrow’s workforce will evolve and what they are looking for?
- How to create a portfolio of benefits that meet current and evolving needs of a diverse workforce, that is inclusive, supports new ways of working, and is geared towards building workforce resilience?
- How benefits spend can be optimised by spending money on what matters, using data and targeted analytics, leveraging scale and investing in risk mitigation
- How employees can become better consumers of information, make optimal decisions and use what’s on the offer to ensure their safety and build resilience
Speakers
Option 3: 'Defusing the ticking demographic timebomb with better support for workplace carers'
Option 3: 'Defusing the ticking demographic timebomb with better support for workplace carers'
Speaker session, Bishopsgate
- The ageing population crisis: the latest global stats and facts and how this will impact the future of work
- Getting ahead of the latest legislation, regulations and enhanced leave for working carers
- How to take steps today to support the mental, physical and emotional health of workplace carers without breaking the bank
- Effective HR policies on ways of working that improve productivity and engagement among carers
- Helping employees to prioritise self-care through company-organised activities and access to digital services to support a sustainable workforce
Speakers
Option 4: 'Rethinking performance and pay: 3 keys to creating a culture of performance'
Option 4: 'Rethinking performance and pay: 3 keys to creating a culture of performance'
Speaker session, Broadgate 2
- Corporate culture is the #1 driver of individual behaviour, so how can you create and support a culture of high performance?
- Compensation and performance management play key roles in shaping culture and driving performance
- A new approach to pay and performance – strategy, process, and technology – is needed to deliver culture change and tangible performance outcomes
- The right technology can help you build a human capital strategy around people-centric core principles to achieve high performance
Speakers
Option 1: 'Managing sustainable employee benefits in volatile economic times'
Option 1: 'Managing sustainable employee benefits in volatile economic times'
Speaker session, Broadgate 1
The post-pandemic landscape represents a paradigm shift in the need and demand for employee benefits - from increased financial insecurity and reduced financial wellbeing, to a public health crisis driving a reduction in the health of UK workforce, a mental health epidemic and increased competition for talent and rising recruitment costs. As the landscape has shifted, so have the demands and needs of employers and employees. Join this session to explore:
- Rising employee financial insecurity and the increasing expectation for more employer support/contributions
- Why employer-funded healthcare is an increasingly essential people asset risk management tool for businesses
- Why GIP cover and the growing range of wellbeing and early intervention services contained within it is an increasingly important tool for reducing sickness absence and keeping employees in the workplace
- How do these sit against increasing pressures on affordability and sustainability?
- Effective strategies for improving financial security and retirement outcomes while managing medium term healthcare and risk claims (leading to increased premium costs) to support sustainable benefit programmes in this ‘new normal’
Option 2: 'Benefits for 2030: the challenges that lie ahead'
Option 2: 'Benefits for 2030: the challenges that lie ahead'
Speaker session, London Wall
- What are the major social and workplace themes shaping future benefits?
- Which government interventions do we think are going to have impact?
- What are the competitive forces and what will this do for benefits design?
- How will expectations and tools change around how benefits are delivered?
Speakers
Option 3: 'Permacrisis: What an unstable world means for the future of employee personal safety'
Option 3: 'Permacrisis: What an unstable world means for the future of employee personal safety'
Speaker session, Bishopsgate
From frontline workers to professional services, mobile workers to lone workers, increasing global uncertainty combined with rising cost of living and other societal challenges is driving an increase in customer aggression, street crime and general safety-related anxiety.
This is fuelling a change in workforce expectations, with 84% of employees expecting their employer to support their personal safety. Join this session to understand more about:
- How an increasingly unstable world is changing employee expectations around personal safety
- Why we must go back to basics: supporting employee safety and physical wellbeing as a core pillar of wellbeing, productivity and risk management
- What Sonder has learnt from 3,000,000 safety engagements
- Practical examples of leading organisations using technology to support the personal safety of their people
Speakers
Option 4: 'The journey toward reward transparency – opening Pandora’s box or true panacea?'
Option 4: 'The journey toward reward transparency – opening Pandora’s box or true panacea?'
Speaker session, Broadgate 2
- What are the implications of global pay transparency regulations (EU Pay transparency directive / US legislation)
- Understanding the generational divide and what it means for your future reward strategy
- Practical steps towards greater reward transparency – how ready are you? What you need to think about and what you need to start to do now to get ahead of the game
Speakers
Option 1: 'Employee benefits: Is everyone benefitting? What the Great British public has to tell us about what’s working (and what isn’t)'
Option 1: 'Employee benefits: Is everyone benefitting? What the Great British public has to tell us about what’s working (and what isn’t)'
Speaker session, Broadgate 1
- Why it’s time to radically rethink employee benefits - and what it really means to review benefits through a DEI lens
- What is the data telling us - where are we now and where do we want to get?
- How to ask and address the tough questions – key considerations in designs a benefits package that is genuinely inclusive, equitable and fair and better supports a diverse workforce
- Linking inclusive benefits to wider HR objectives to attract, engage and support a diverse workforce
Speakers
Option 2: 'Redefining ‘flexible’ benefits for a mobile, global workforce'
Option 2: 'Redefining ‘flexible’ benefits for a mobile, global workforce'
Speaker session, London Wall
Despite spending a whopping 30% of payroll on employee benefits*, organisations are left questioning if they are getting the returns they expect in attracting, retaining and engaging their people. Is it time to redefine what ‘flexibility’ means in benefits? Join Matt Macri-Waller, Benefex Founder and CEO, as he shares his view on where personalisation and choice are going in employee benefits and how you can drive that return.
Discover how you can deliver to the ultimate ‘audience of one’, empowering employees to choose the benefits that completely fit their needs. We’ll look at how to:
- Give employees freedom to select what matters to them, wherever they are and however they work
- Offer the ultimate in ‘flexibility’ whilst still matching your reward objectives and EVP
- Create a consistent global benefits experience across the whole organisation
- Reduce HR costs and admin, while increasing the value and choice available within your employee benefits programme
Whether you are just getting started on your employee benefits journey or already have a global benefits platform but would like it to work harder, this session will help you see how to drive more value.
* Josh Bersin
Speakers
Option 3: 'Building connections and resilience across generations for a productive future workforce'
Option 3: 'Building connections and resilience across generations for a productive future workforce'
Speaker session, Bishopsgate
Drawing on their latest research, Reward Gateway explores how to combat increasing levels of workplace loneliness and build more connected teams across your organisation. In this session, you’ll be hearing about:
- Why new ways of working, living and communicating are making us lonelier and more disconnected than ever
- Balancing the negative and positive impact of technology to help build and boost meaningful connections
- Building future workforce resilience and key considerations for a multi-generational workplace
- Taking steps to combat workplace loneliness and create strong and lasting connections in your organisation through progressive policies, benefits, culture and engagement
2.15pm – 3pm
Option 4: 'Panel 2: Reimagining pay and reward strategies for the future workforce'
Option 4: 'Panel 2: Reimagining pay and reward strategies for the future workforce'
Panel session, Broadgate 2
- Rethinking compensation, pay reviews and variable pay strategies to align with the need to reskill employees for changing job roles
- Using different career pathways to create and retain current talent into the future: understanding the reward drivers and what levers you can pull
- How pay inflation is shifting thinking about bonuses, commissions and allowances
- Focusing on agile structure and processes, analytics and reporting
Option 1: 'How the health risk timebomb is disrupting the insurance buying ecosystem'
Option 1: 'How the health risk timebomb is disrupting the insurance buying ecosystem'
Speaker session, Broadgate 1
- The impact of increases in chronic diseases and lifestyle-related health risks on premiums and future affordability of employee healthcare
- How the insurance ecosystem is adapting to the evolving health risk landscape with preventative, targeted and tech-enabled support to address specific health challenges
- Identifying the support services and insurances you need now to build a sustainable workforce
- The direction of travel: potential medium and longer-term impacts of this health risk disruption for employers and future employees
Speakers
Option 2: 'Why the status of reward and benefits professionals is about to get a whole lot bigger'
Option 2: 'Why the status of reward and benefits professionals is about to get a whole lot bigger'
Speaker session, London Wall
The current public health crisis and crippling pressure on the NHS means the employee healthcare landscape must change radically. Increasingly complex and rapidly changing for employers, what’s coming next and are we nudging towards a US model of employer-funded healthcare?
- Taking a hard look at where we are now in the UK and what this means for future employer-funded health care.
- As employers increasingly fund healthcare to support their employees, we are predicted to see eye-watering premiums – what can we learn from experience of the US employer funded healthcare system and what that means for your organisations strategic planning?
- What steps can employers take now to manage their healthcare budgets while delivering the highest levels of support to their employees?
Speakers
Option 3: 'Unlocking Inspiration: why and how recognition strategies and insights are driving performance, inclusion and connection'
Option 3: 'Unlocking Inspiration: why and how recognition strategies and insights are driving performance, inclusion and connection'
Speaker session, Bishopsgate
Amid a workplace revolution, people still fundamentally value recognition and meaningful work. They want to be heard. They want a clear direction. But there are also clear shifts in what today’s workers value; diversity, equity and inclusion have become central to both culture and business results.So, in a new age for reward and recognition, how can HR leaders open up the opportunities that engagement strategies offer to enlighten and inspire? Using real employer stories and our global 2023 Rules of Engagement research, we’ll share:
- Key people insights that recognition data can provide for our HR leaders around subjects such as Inclusion & Belonging, Hybrid and Remote Working, and Burnout and Healthy Working Cultures
- How organisations are driving change in areas such as ESG, Equity & Inclusion and Employee Reskilling by aligning and evolving their recognition strategies and tools
Speakers
1. Addressing health insurance inflation and access to services
2. Aligning your reward and benefits strategy with ESG goals and the journey to net zero
2. Aligning your reward and benefits strategy with ESG goals and the journey to net zero
Curated Roundtable Discussions, Broadgate (main theatre)
Roundtable topics are developed closer to the conference and will be based on REBA’s in-depth knowledge and insight of what keeps reward and benefits directors up at night.
3. Building financial resilience and literacy for a sustainable workforce
3. Building financial resilience and literacy for a sustainable workforce
Curated Roundtable Discussions, Broadgate (main theatre)
Roundtable topics are developed closer to the conference and will be based on REBA’s in-depth knowledge and insight of what keeps reward and benefits directors up at night.
4. Evolving your global benefits design to support fairness and equity
4. Evolving your global benefits design to support fairness and equity
Curated Roundtable Discussions, Broadgate (main theatre)
Roundtable topics are developed closer to the conference and will be based on REBA’s in-depth knowledge and insight of what keeps reward and benefits directors up at night.
5. Rethinking pay and reward: how pay inflation is shifting thinking about bonuses, commissions and allowances
5. Rethinking pay and reward: how pay inflation is shifting thinking about bonuses, commissions and allowances
Curated Roundtable Discussions, Broadgate (main theatre)
Roundtable topics are developed closer to the conference and will be based on REBA’s in-depth knowledge and insight of what keeps reward and benefits directors up at night.
6. Reviewing benefits – building effective supplier relationships to drive value and ROI
6. Reviewing benefits – building effective supplier relationships to drive value and ROI
Curated Roundtable Discussions, Broadgate (main theatre)
Roundtable topics are developed closer to the conference and will be based on REBA’s in-depth knowledge and insight of what keeps reward and benefits directors up at night.
7. Using data to transform decision-making and personalise benefits
4.15pm – 5pm
Closing keynote
Closing keynote
Keynote, Broadgate (main theatre)
REBA Director, Debi O’Donovan will talk to Naga about her life, work and the future of communications. They’ll explore a range of themes including:
- In the age of fake news how can we trust what we see and read?
- Changing attitudes and behaviours in the workplace
- Staying relevant and in touch in a constantly evolving world
- How to survive life’s peaks and troughs.
