Agenda: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Reward and Benefits leaders want to understand the influential factors that will shape their future strategies. This year's programme will help you make strategic and tactical decisions not just for now, or for 2025, but also for longer-term sustainability. Take a look at what's in store in the comprehensive and diverse programme to see why you should be joining your peers next month!
Here's a printer friendly version of the whole agenda to make it easy to review.
Thursday 20 November
Key takeaways
Are today’s wellbeing initiatives tomorrow’s organisational risks? This session challenges employers not to follow trends but to focus on what truly matters for their people, exploring how they can use data, culture and strategic insight to uncover hidden risks, personalise wellbeing and future-proof workforce health.
Key takeaways
8.25am – 8.50am
Option 4 - Innovation Demo: How is AI transforming global benefits delivery today?
Option 4 - Innovation Demo: How is AI transforming global benefits delivery today?
Innovation Demo
Global benefits management is evolving rapidly, compelling employers to adopt innovative technologies that modernise benefits delivery and respond to changing workforce expectations. Join this session to explore how Mercer Marsh Benefits is transforming global benefits management through innovation, personalisation and the strategic embedding of AI with their global benefits platform Darwin and its cutting-edge AI-powered tools.
In this session you will discover:
- How Darwin is leveraging AI to deliver tangible value for both employees and benefits teams through enhanced benefits personalisation and engagement
- How Darwin is becoming an AI first platform with agentic capabilities that will transform the user experience and deliver new data insights and efficiency gains for businesses and their HR teams
- How trust and transparency can be built into the systems to ensure responsible AI implementation
Speakers
8.25am – 9.10am
Option 1 - Insight Workshop: Bridging the benefits divide: Engaging deskless workers to futureproof your business
Option 1 - Insight Workshop: Bridging the benefits divide: Engaging deskless workers to futureproof your business
This workshop is exclusively designed for senior reward and benefit professionals in organisations primarily based in the UK with a large proportion of deskless workers.
Frontline and deskless employees make up the backbone of many organisations, yet they’re often the hardest to reach, the least engaged and the most underserved when it comes to benefits and communications. As technology reshapes how we connect and deliver value, reward and benefits leaders face a pivotal challenge: how do you engage face-to-face and through tech? How do you design equitable, accessible and meaningful benefits tailored to meet the specific needs of a deskless workforce? This interactive workshop will explore practical strategies to close the engagement gap and build a benefits strategy that truly resonates with these harder-to-reach employees. Expect candid discussion, knowledge sharing and ideas you can put into practice straight away.
Key discussion points:
- What unique needs and challenges do deskless workers face, and how can benefits and communications be designed and tailored to meet them effectively?
- How can we make face-to-face engagement a cost-effective reality - truly reaching and engaging deskless workers who don’t have easy access to tech at work?
- What does an inclusive, intuitive digital platform look like: cutting through complexity, supporting multi-generational frontline and deskless workforces and meeting people at their comfort level with technology?
With strategic partner: Personal Group
Option 2 - Insight Workshop: Why AI is crucial in employee benefits to reduce cost and improve the employee experience
Option 2 - Insight Workshop: Why AI is crucial in employee benefits to reduce cost and improve the employee experience
This workshop is exclusively designed for senior reward and benefit professionals in UK and multinational organisations with a headcount of 10k+ employees.
AI is transforming how organisations identify, predict and manage employee health and wellbeing risks. But what do we mean by people risks and how in practical terms, can AI help? In this hands-on interactive workshop, you’ll explore practical, data-driven ways to reduce costs, identify future people risks and understand how AI can be used to anticipate emerging health risks in specific employee groups in order to deliver targeted support to employees who need it most.
Key discussion points:
- Understanding of the market conditions, such as rising healthcare costs, changing employee expectations and economic pressures
- What does people risk mean for organisations and how to integrate and interrogate health, demographic and benefits data to build a clearer risk picture
- How to move from insight to intervention to prevention (how to start small analysing a single data stream to develop strategies that target health risks)
- Predicting the future with AI and what that really looks like in practice
With strategic partner: Aon
Option 3 - Insight Workshop: Think global: Building benefits strategies that scale
Option 3 - Insight Workshop: Think global: Building benefits strategies that scale
This workshop is exclusively designed for senior reward and benefit professionals with international responsibility.
Reward leaders today are shouldering a broader remit than ever.With 72% of reward leaders now responsible for benefits across more than one country, the question is clear: how do you design an insights and intelligence-led strategy that lets you successfully scale worldwide. Expect practical insights, real-world examples, and peer discussion as we explore what People leaders should be asking of their global benefits tech in 2026.In this interactive session, we’ll explore:
- What our latest global research says about where AI should turn up in the benefits experience – and where it should stay out
- Balancing global consistency with flexibility through scalable rollout models, while staying ahead of evolving regulatory requirements, from the EU Pay Transparency Directive to new pension mandates
- The 5 fundamental questions you need to be able to ask of your international benefits strategy in 2026
With strategic partner: Benifex
9.10am – 10.15am
Opening keynote with Paul Dolan, Professor of Behavioural Economics, LSE
Opening keynote with Paul Dolan, Professor of Behavioural Economics, LSE
Keynote
The UK presents a challenging productivity puzzle, while we have flatlined, other OECD countries are back on trend. Join this thought-provoking session with Paul Dolan to explore why this is happening, the impact on shifting workplace culture and what employers can do about it. Paul will delve into the radical uncertainties that businesses face around AI and the future of work more broadly. Hell consider the impact of political influences and will draw on his latest research into what he terms ‘Beliefism’ and how it impacts decision-making in organisations and wider policy thinking.
Chair: Debi O’Donovan, Co-founder and Director, REBA
Option 1 - Getting ready for the EU Pay Transparency Directive: From compliance to best practice to confidence
Option 1 - Getting ready for the EU Pay Transparency Directive: From compliance to best practice to confidence
Topical breakout sessions
With the EU Pay Transparency Directive taking effect next June, time is running out for organisations operating within the EU to implement fair pay practices, report on gender pay gaps and explain how compensation is set. While UK companies will not be legally bound by the Directive, global standards and employee expectations could drive the need for a consistent approach across borders. This session will explore how organisations can align with the principles of the Directive without needing a belt-and-braces approach, by putting in place core elements that enable equitable, transparent and consistent pay practices.
Key takeaways
- Uncover five key questions every employee will ask you and walk away with practical, actionable tips to get your organisation ready for what’s to come
- Map the frameworks, systems and tools needed to explain, communicate and justify pay decisions to ensure compliance with the directive
- Ensure robust pay structures meet employee expectations, strengthen your EVP and reinforce your employer brand
- Learn how leading organisations are putting pay transparency into practice to reduce risk, improve engagement and support long-term retention
Speakers
Option 2 - Future-proofing benefits to support life’s toughest moments: Navigating the realities of the working age we routinely ignore
Option 2 - Future-proofing benefits to support life’s toughest moments: Navigating the realities of the working age we routinely ignore
Topical breakout sessions
As workforces age and the sandwich generation juggling childcare, eldercare, bereavement, and financial strain, employers can no longer afford to ignore these realities. This session unpacks the hidden costs to productivity and retention, shares data-driven insights into today’s workforce realities, and equips you with practical tools to design benefits that support carers, address bereavement, advance DEI, and mitigate future people risks.
Key takeaways
- Uncover mounting pressures on the sandwich generation: data reveals how financial and caregiving challenges leave employees vulnerable, with knock-on effects for wellbeing and organisational risk
- Explore how supporting employees through life’s toughest moments, including bereavement, strengthens resilience and mitigates people risks
- Practical tools to design benefits schemes that address real-life challenges, from bereavement to carer support
- Navigate global mobility challenges: key considerations for bereavement policies that support the needs of a multi-ethnic workforce
Option 3 - Benefits that find you: How AI enables personalised discovery
Option 3 - Benefits that find you: How AI enables personalised discovery
Topical breakout sessions
Employees don’t need more benefits. They need better ways to find the ones that matter.
Too often, the benefits experience is a maze, scattered across systems, buried in portals and hard to navigate. The result? People miss out on support that could genuinely improve their lives. Join this session to explore how leading employers are flipping the script using smart technology to make benefits discoverable, relevant, and easy to act on.
- Why discoverability is the new benchmark for benefits success
- How AI is helping employees surface the right support at the right time
- What the latest research says about personalisation, choice, and behavioural nudges
- How the most progressive organisations are helping people not just access benefits – but choose them with confidence
Speakers
Option 4 - The parenthood penalty: What reward and benefits leaders can do to close hidden pensions and pay gaps for working parents
Option 4 - The parenthood penalty: What reward and benefits leaders can do to close hidden pensions and pay gaps for working parents
Topical breakout sessions
Having children is one of life’s biggest milestones, but for many employees, it also carries a hidden financial cost. Missed earnings, stalled promotions and paused pension contributions can snowball into a ‘parenthood penalty’ that deepens gender pay and pension gaps for decades. With new pension reforms and a new Pay Transparency Directive rolling out in the EU, now is the time for employers to take action.
Key takeaways:
- Understand the impact: gain data-led insights into how parenthood affects financial wellbeing, long-term resilience, and gender pay and pension gaps
- Shape fair policies: explore how reward and benefits strategies including pensions, pay progression and parental leave can close hidden gaps and align with the 2025 Pension Schemes Bill
- Turn insight into action: learn practical tools and approaches for supporting financial conversations during parental leave and return, driving equity, retention and wellbeing
Speakers
Option 5 - Smarter workplace mental health solutions: blending human and AI for better outcomes and ROI
Option 5 - Smarter workplace mental health solutions: blending human and AI for better outcomes and ROI
Topical breakout sessions
The Get Britain Working Review, currently underway, states that mental health conditions have quadrupled in a decade for younger workers and is the leading work-limiting condition for those under 44. Yet employees struggle to access support when they need it most. This session will explore how workplace mental health solutions are evolving to use technology and data to enhance support, while also ensuring organisational ROI.
Key takeaways
- Identifying mental health risk factors early using data patterns to strengthen prevention strategies and optimise mental health strategies
- Cutting-edge insights into where and how technology can be applied (and where to apply caution) into effective mental health solutions for employees and businesses
- Leveraging data to make informed business decisions from initial assessments to personalise early interventions, deliver tailored clinical approaches and maximise ROI
Speakers
***10:50-11:35*** Option 6 - Insight Workshop: Future-proofing EVP: Closing the gap between expectation and experience
***10:50-11:35*** Option 6 - Insight Workshop: Future-proofing EVP: Closing the gap between expectation and experience
This workshop is exclusively designed for senior reward and benefit professionals in UK and multinational organisations with a headcount of 500+ employees.
Employee expectations are evolving faster than ever, demanding that organisations deliver experiences that truly live up to their EVP promise. This interactive workshop explores how leading employers are embedding EVP across culture, leadership, and reward and how they are using data, technology and personalisation to turn intent into everyday experience.
Whether you’re refreshing your EVP or starting from scratch, this workshop will challenge you to think bigger, act bolder and will set the stage for the fireside chat global law firm, White & Case later in the day.
Key discussion points:
- Why EVP is now a business-critical strategy, not a standalone HR initiative
- How to align EVP with organisational purpose, future workforce trends, and digital enablement
- The importance of closing the gap between employee expectations and lived experience
- How technology can help measure, personalise, and activate EVP at scale
- Real-world examples of organisations driving fundamental change
With strategic partner: Gallagher
11.15am – 11.35am
Option 6 - Insight Workshop (cont'd): Future-proofing EVP: Closing the gap between expectation and experience
Option 6 - Insight Workshop (cont'd): Future-proofing EVP: Closing the gap between expectation and experience
This workshop is exclusively designed for senior reward and benefit professionals in UK and multinational organisations with a headcount of 500+ employees.
Session details and hosts to be confirmed
With strategic partner: Gallagher
11.25am – 11.50am
Option 1 - Designing a wellbeing culture that speaks to the next generation workforce
Option 1 - Designing a wellbeing culture that speaks to the next generation workforce
Topical breakout sessions
From fitness apps and personalised nutrition to mindfulness and wearable health tech, consumer wellness trends are reshaping how people think about their health and Gen Z is bringing these priorities and expectations into the workplace. Join this practical, insight-rich session to explore how leading employers are reimagining wellbeing strategies to create meaningful, accessible and digitally integrated experiences that attract, engage, and retain the workforce of the future.- The wellness shift: how Gen Z’s intentional focus on wellbeing and lifestyle reorientation is influencing workplace expectations and driving a shift towards holistic health prioritisation
- Designing for purpose: aligning wellbeing initiatives with employee priorities around health, balance and personal growth
- Focus on flexibility and personalisation: using tech-enabled benefits and user-friendly digital platforms to meet diverse wellbeing needs and extend support beyond traditional workplace boundaries
- Practical strategies: real-word examples of how organisations are successfully using wellbeing champions, third spaces and social channels like TikTok to embed wellbeing into culture and boost engagement
Option 2 - Fireside chat - Future-ready family support at Goldman Sachs: strategic approaches to stay ahead of the curve
Option 2 - Fireside chat - Future-ready family support at Goldman Sachs: strategic approaches to stay ahead of the curve
Topical breakout sessions
Join this session to explore the latest Bright Horizons research revealing how employers are adapting their approach to parental leave, and family support within their organisations. Hear from forward-thinking employer, Goldman Sachs on how they are developing market-leading family support benefits to deliver business impact by engaging, motivating and retaining key talent in the organisation.Key takeaways
- Explore key emerging trends from the Bright Horizons 2025 UK Parental Leave and Family Support Benchmark report, uncovering shifting practices and the future direction of family support
- Creating future-focused family friendly strategies designed to attract, support and retain talented working parents
- Understand what enhanced family support looks like in action - from parental transitions to ongoing family and care needs with practical examples of benefits and resources that make a tangible difference
- Measure impact: understand how strategic family support drives performance, retention and stronger business outcomes
Option 3 - From quiet cracking to quiet thriving: How to build a workforce that works happy, lives happy and is valued
Option 3 - From quiet cracking to quiet thriving: How to build a workforce that works happy, lives happy and is valued
Topical breakout sessions
The rise of quiet quitting has dominated headlines – but the truth is, many employees aren't quitting quietly, they are quietly cracking. They're exhausted, disengaged and feeling undervalued in a world of constant change. This session explores how you can reverse that trend by reimagining wellbeing, personalisation and recognition as the foundations of high performance.
Key takeaways
- Gain actionable insights from the latest research into the UK employee wellbeing landscape
- Identify wellbeing risks and engagement gaps within your workforce demographics
- Discover how to move from burnout to balance, from disconnect to engagement, and from surviving to truly thriving
- Explore wellbeing strategies and targeted interventions that transform disengaged employees into high-performing, valued team members
Speakers
Option 4 - Case study: How financial wellbeing strategies at Centrica are shifting to meet workforce demands
Option 4 - Case study: How financial wellbeing strategies at Centrica are shifting to meet workforce demands
Topical breakout sessions
The session will reveal key employer insights from REBA’s Financial Wellbeing Research 2025, in partnership with WEALTH at work, including the future of financial wellbeing provision. It will also provide practical guidance on engaging a diverse workforce to embrace workplace savings. Topics to be explored:
- Understanding the varying financial wellbeing needs and financial pressures faced by different workforce cohorts
- What is the future of financial wellbeing support?
- Exploring initiatives that maximise financial benefits use and reach and how to make workplace savings meaningful for all
Speakers
Option 5 - How digital benefits are transforming global family health support in the workplace
Option 5 - How digital benefits are transforming global family health support in the workplace
Topical breakout sessions
Employees continue to face barriers in accessing quality reproductive and maternal healthcare - challenges that directly affect workforce wellbeing, productivity and retention. This session will take a deep dive into the women’s and family benefits that employers can offer in the UK and globally. It will show how innovative digital benefits are enabling employers to bridge care gaps, reduce future health risks, and deliver tangible business impact.
Key takeaways
- Uncover the most pressing challenges employees around the world face along their reproductive health journeys
- Discover how digital health benefits can address healthcare access barriers and improve outcomes for women and families
- Explore the business case for digital women’s and family health benefits: from reducing future health risks to enhancing productivity and improving retention
Option 1 - Panel: How AI is transforming reward and benefits strategy, teams and global benefits management
Option 1 - Panel: How AI is transforming reward and benefits strategy, teams and global benefits management
Panel
AI is reshaping every aspect of the reward and benefits landscape from how organisations design, deliver, and communicate benefits to how reward teams themselves operate. This panel brings together leading experts to explore how AI can unlock engagement, reduce costs, and deliver organisational ROI, while also transforming the way reward and benefits teams think, work and make decisions. Join this thought-provoking panel to discuss how to build AI responsibly, avoid common pitfalls and prepare you and your team for what’s next.
- Why many AI efforts fail and how tackling root causes, not just layering tech on top, is key to unlocking real value
- Why we must focus on designing and implementing AI to address specific challenges to improve outcomes across health, pensions and core benefits
- How AI-driven insights are reshaping the structure, workflows and priorities of reward and benefits teams
- Practical strategies for navigating internal conversations, overcoming resistance and building trust around AI adoption
With strategic partner: Origin
Moderator: Jo Gallacher, Content Director, REBA
Panel speakers include:
Pete Craghill, CTO, Origin
Elaine O’Donnell, Director of Benefits and Reward Projects, Flutter Entertainment
Peter Frampton, Global Head of Performance and Total Rewards, Freshfields
Option 2 - Masterclass: Turning pension reform into a strategic advantage – Unlocking value across benefits and reward
Option 2 - Masterclass: Turning pension reform into a strategic advantage – Unlocking value across benefits and reward
Masterclass
With major pensions reform on the horizon, new legislation, regulatory shifts, and the Pensions Commission’s evolving agenda, employers have a unique opportunity to rethink and reshape their entire benefits ecosystem. This masterclass will explore how forward-thinking organisations can harness pension reform to unlock value across their entire reward offering.
Key takeaways:
- What “value for money” means in the new pensions landscape—and how to demonstrate it across your full benefits offering
- The role of pensions dashboards in boosting transparency and financial wellbeing
- Targeted support for underserved employee groups—across pensions, health, and lifestyle benefits
- Integrating pensions with wider wellbeing strategies, including mental health, financial resilience, and flexible benefits
- The role of workplace/sidecar savings and visibility of State Benefits
- Strategic foresight: mapping future opportunities across pensions, benefits, and total reward
Whether you're shaping your EVP, designing inclusive benefits, or preparing for regulatory change, this session will help you anticipate disruption and build a future-ready strategy that puts employees at the heart.
Option 3 - Panel: Managing the impact of pay and employment legislation on reward strategies, benefits spend and salary sacrifice
Option 3 - Panel: Managing the impact of pay and employment legislation on reward strategies, benefits spend and salary sacrifice
Panel
With rising employment costs driven by increases to the National Minimum Wage, National Insurance contributions and potential changes to taxes and threat to salary sacrifice in the Autumn Statement, employers face growing pressure to manage benefits while controlling spend. The panel will explore how legislation and tax reform are putting the focus on salary sacrifice. Employers need to focus strategically on their total reward and take practical actions to stay compliant while sustaining or improving the value of their reward offerings. Key discussion points and takeaways
- Keep up to date with the incoming changes to pay-related regulations, and understand the financial impact of both compliance and non-compliance
- Preparing for the transition to payrolling benefits required from April 2027, as well as how to manage reward for high earners hitting key tax thresholds
- EV salary sacrifice schemes: lessons learnt and practical tips for implementing it effectively and generating savings in employment costs
- Childcare provision and workplace nursery schemes: exploring cost-benefit considerations and how to ensure the sustainable delivery of childcare support
Moderator: Debi O’Donovan, Co-Founder and Director, REBA
Panel speakers include:
Caroline Harwood, Partner – National Head of Employment Tax Global Employer Services, BDO
Alex Murray, Head of Compensation and Benefits, Havas
Zohra Chagani, Senior Policy Advisor, BVRLA
Option 4 - Masterclass: From Complexity to Clarity: Making Global Benefits Work
Option 4 - Masterclass: From Complexity to Clarity: Making Global Benefits Work
Masterclass
Expanding into new markets should be exciting - not overwhelming. But for global reward and benefits leaders, the reality is messy: different laws, vendors, employee expectations, and mounting pressure to prove ROI.
Join this masterclass to discuss how multi-national organisations can take control of global benefits - replacing fragmented systems and manual work with a scalable, intelligent framework. Joined onstage by industry experts with lived experience building global benefits strategies for enterprise businesses, the masterclass will explore:
- Practical frameworks for entering new markets - from benchmarking to cost control.
- The challenges on the horizon for reward leaders managing benefits across countries in 2026.
- Where technology and automation can reduce complexity, from closed-loop payroll to multi-country communications.
Option 5 - Masterclass: Closing the UK Health Gap: using Behavioural Science and AI to augment benefit choices and improve employee outcomes
Option 5 - Masterclass: Closing the UK Health Gap: using Behavioural Science and AI to augment benefit choices and improve employee outcomes
Masterclass
Drawing on the REBA UK Health Gap series of reports developed this year in partnership with Mercer Marsh Benefits, the session will explore the impact of the widening UK health gap and the growing pressure on reward and benefits leaders to take action — not just as benefit administrators, but as architects of workforce health. Yet much of the current approach still centres on raising awareness rather than driving meaningful action. This session explores how reward and benefits leaders can reimagine the digital benefits experience to empower employees, build healthier cultures and create measurable impact on wellbeing, cost and productivity.
Drawing on behavioural science and human-centred design, the talk offers practical ways to turn awareness into activation and explores how AI could help tailor benefit choices to individual needs, priorities and life stages.
- The growing UK health gap and the expanding role of employers in addressing it
- Why awareness campaigns alone don’t change behaviour and how to move toward activating employees to make meaningful benefit selections.
- How evidence-based behavioural science can inform choice architecture design
- Future role of AI-driven personalisation in improving engagement and outcomes
- Aligning the potential of AI with a human-centric approach
Option 6 - Insight Workshop: Data-led wellbeing: designing benefits strategies that drive better business outcomes
Option 6 - Insight Workshop: Data-led wellbeing: designing benefits strategies that drive better business outcomes
This workshop is exclusively designed for senior reward and benefit professionals in small and medium sized organisations primarily based in the UK.
Wellbeing has been on the corporate agenda for some time yet many organisations still struggle to link it to meaningful business outcomes. Lack of clarity over ownership, fragmented data and a lack of strategic alignment means wellbeing investments often under-deliver. Join this workshop for a deep delve into what we really mean by a data-led strategy, exploring how to turn scatted workforce data into actionable insight that pinpoints risks, shapes strategy and drives smarter, business-aligned investment.
Key discussion points:
- How can organisations better demonstrate the ROI of wellbeing today and use data to link future investment directly to business goals?
- What data do you have, what do you need and how can AI and technology help connect, visualise, and interpret it to uncover hidden workforce risks and opportunities?
- What major people challenges - from absence and retention to performance and recruitment - should wellbeing strategies be designed to address over the next 12–24 months?
- If you could redesign your wellbeing proposition from scratch, what would be different? And what would success look like for you in 2-3 years' time
Live Case Study 1-2-1: Managing health to control healthcare costs
Live Case Study 1-2-1: Managing health to control healthcare costs
Enjoy an exclusive 1-2-1 conversation with a successful employer case study
Don’t miss this opportunity to have a brief private chat to exchange knowledge, discuss challenges and explore solutions with fellow reward professionals. The 10 minute Meet the Case Study sessions will take place at the REBA Acumen stand. The case study hosts will be ready to greet you at the stand. Each 10 minute session starts and ends quickly so grab some food and make this part of your lunchtime.
Dana will discuss how proactively managing workforce health can reduce healthcare and insurance costs. She’ll share a structured approach that reframes health and wellbeing to better manage risk and expenses.
Speakers
Live Case Study 1-2-1: Flexible benefits: Choosing the right technology for your business
Live Case Study 1-2-1: Flexible benefits: Choosing the right technology for your business
Enjoy an exclusive 1-2-1 conversation with a successful employer case study
Don’t miss this opportunity to have a brief private chat to exchange knowledge, discuss challenges and explore solutions with fellow reward professionals. The 10 minute Meet the Case Study sessions will take place at the REBA Acumen stand. The case study hosts will be ready to greet you at the stand. Each 10 minute session starts and ends quickly so grab some food and make this part of your lunchtime.
Sarah will discuss how Osborne Clarke has leveraged flexible benefits in recent years, and is on hand to discuss successes, challenges, and offer guidance for businesses considering a move to flexible benefits platforms.
Speakers
Live Case Study 1-2-1: Global benefits design: How to harmonise, optimise and humanise your strategy
Live Case Study 1-2-1: Global benefits design: How to harmonise, optimise and humanise your strategy
Enjoy an exclusive 1-2-1 conversation with a successful employer case study
Don’t miss this opportunity to have a brief private chat to exchange knowledge, discuss challenges and explore solutions with fellow reward professionals. The 10 minute Meet the Case Study sessions will take place at the REBA Acumen stand. The case study hosts will be ready to greet you at the stand. Each 10 minute session starts and ends quickly so grab some food and make this part of your lunchtime.
Tim will talk about how to build a global benchmarking philosophy, align benefits with governance and data privacy requirements and choose the right partners to match your footprint to ensure harmonisation delivers real value, efficiency and employee experience worldwide.
Speakers
Option 1 - Building data capabilities for tomorrow: what will the future of data-driven decision-making in reward and benefits look like?
Option 1 - Building data capabilities for tomorrow: what will the future of data-driven decision-making in reward and benefits look like?
Topical breakout sessions
In a world where data shapes the future, organisations that can harness it effectively will lead, innovate and gain a competitive edge. This session will inspire you to envision a future where AI and data drive smarter decisions, while offering practical steps to advance data maturity, break through AI adoption barriers and deliver greater impact on productivity, cost management and business outcomes.
Key takeaways:
- How emerging AI tools and technologies can unlock data-driven insights to strengthen reward and benefits decisions
- Identifying what holds back effective data use and taking first steps towards data maturity
- Measuring success: how to gain clarity on assessing programme impact, benchmarking benefits and using data to support future budgets and forecasting
Speakers
Option 2 - Living the EVP: White & Case’s journey to a future-focused colleague experience
Option 2 - Living the EVP: White & Case’s journey to a future-focused colleague experience
Topical breakout sessions
How do you harness your EVP into a strategic lever that strengthens culture, accelerates business decisions, and delivers measurable impact? In this fireside chat, Gallagher and global law firm White & Case share how they are reimagining and evolving their already industry-leading Talent Value Proposition across the entire employee lifecycle.
In a world of shifting employee expectations, global complexity, and change, EVP must evolve from a statement into a scalable, data-driven framework with colleague experience at the very heart. Expect proven strategies and innovative approaches to future-proof your EVP and embed it into every moment that matters.
- The strategic drivers behind the refresh and how EVP acts as a lens for business and people decisions
- Tips for aligning your EVP with HR, leadership, and marketing for greater impact
- Practical ways to integrate EVP into reward, career development, leadership touchpoints and beyond
- How technology and analytics enable personalisation and transparency in a digital workplace
Option 3 - Beyond pay rises: Leveraging career pathways to retain talent and maximise reward ROI
Option 3 - Beyond pay rises: Leveraging career pathways to retain talent and maximise reward ROI
Topical breakout sessions
Economic pressures, from higher Employer National Insurance to increased National Minimum Wage, have squeezed pay budgets. Simultaneously, AI and technological disruption are reshaping the talent marketplace and redefining the skills and roles that will be most valuable in the future. How can organisations retain the right people longer despite constrained pay budgets and constant change? This session will explore how reward leaders can use career pathways within reward policies to encourage employees to stay and grow alongside an ever-evolving organisation.
Key challenges to be explored
- Why visible career paths can be so elusive and the need for more transparency
- Balancing agility with the need for rigour in underpinning job architectures
- The ROI of illustrating career pathways and keeping your productive talent for longer
- The benefits of non-linear progression and creating new talent mobility options
Speakers
Option 4 - Empowering employees to take control of their financial futures
Option 4 - Empowering employees to take control of their financial futures
Topical breakout sessions
With employees facing ever greater financial pressures, this session will explore the practical ways in which employers can support and empower people to secure their financial futures. Join to gain insights into the current economic trends and upcoming legislation impacting financial challenges, explore effective approaches to long-term financial planning support and uncover how greater employee financial awareness leads to better retention and organisational resilience.
Key takeaways
- Decoding the evolving financial pressures and wellbeing needs across workforce groups and employee life stages, and how today’s economy will be shaping tomorrow’s financial challenges
- Exploring how upcoming legislation and regulations could affect employers and employees, from the risks and opportunities of the Pension Schemes Bill to the potential changes in the forthcoming Autumn Budget
- Why promoting financial wellbeing benefits awareness and education is key to drive talent recruitment and retention
Speakers
Option 5 - Innovation Demo: Can proactive healthcare really prove its ROI, or is prevention overrated?
Option 5 - Innovation Demo: Can proactive healthcare really prove its ROI, or is prevention overrated?
Innovation Demo
When healthcare comes too late, the costs to people and business are high. Join this demo to explore how Peppy’s proactive approach engages employees early, prevents small issues becoming big problems, and delivers measurable returns for employers. You will see Peppy in action and discover how prevention boosts resilience, reduces absence and creates healthier, more productive workforces. In this session, you will:
- Discover how early intervention reduces absence and boosts resilience
- Understand the measurable ROI of a proactive healthcare strategy
- Experience how Peppy’s human-centric model gives employees unlimited access to real clinical experts (over 1,500 years of combined expertise) through one-to-one chats and consultations
- Get a first look at Peppy’s new men’s health features including personalised plans and new testing services
- Leave with practical insights to shape your own benefits approach
***14:15-15:00*** Option 6 - Insight Workshop: Health benefits for tomorrow's workforce: preparing for employer-led provision under reduced state support
***14:15-15:00*** Option 6 - Insight Workshop: Health benefits for tomorrow's workforce: preparing for employer-led provision under reduced state support
This workshop is exclusively designed for senior reward and benefit professionals.
Amid growing pressures on public healthcare services, widening gaps in long-term incapacity support and new statutory sick pay rules, we're seeing a shifting burden of health from the state to the workplace. Rising employee expectations, and the need to mitigate increasing costs and health risks mean reward and benefits leaders must redesign wellbeing programmes and private healthcare provision that's relevant for and able to meet future workforce needs.
This strategic workshop will delve deeper into the issues, with exclusive insights from WTW’s absence management survey findings. Attendees will explore macroeconomic and socio-political trends across the UK and Europe and provide senior reward and benefits leaders with a space to share challenges, debate strategies and explore innovative approaches with peers.
Key discussion points
- The shifting health burden: What do policy changes, socio-economic trends and reduced state funding mean for employers? How can reward and benefits leaders prepare for the rising costs and responsibilities of workforce health?
- Global and UK insights: What can we learn from international benefits trends, early findings from WTW’s absence management data and emerging models of employer-led healthcare?
- The role of technology: how can AI and digital platforms be used to integrate wellbeing, occupational health and insured benefits into seamless strategies that improve employee health and outcomes?
2.40pm – 3pm
Option 6 - Insight Workshop (cont'd): Health benefits for tomorrow's workforce: preparing for employer-led provision under reduced state support
Option 6 - Insight Workshop (cont'd): Health benefits for tomorrow's workforce: preparing for employer-led provision under reduced state support
This workshop is exclusively designed for senior reward and benefit professionals.
Amid growing pressures on public healthcare services, widening gaps in long-term incapacity support and new statutory sick pay rules, we're seeing a shifting burden of health from the state to the workplace. Rising employee expectations, and the need to mitigate increasing costs and health risks mean reward and benefits leaders must redesign wellbeing programmes and private healthcare provision that's relevant for and able to meet future workforce needs.
This strategic workshop will delve deeper into the issues, with exclusive insights from WTW’s absence management survey findings. Attendees will explore macroeconomic and socio-political trends across the UK and Europe and provide senior reward and benefits leaders with a space to share challenges, debate strategies and explore innovative approaches with peers.
Key discussion points :
- The shifting health burden: What do policy changes, socio-economic trends and reduced state funding mean for employers? How can reward and benefits leaders prepare for the rising costs and responsibilities of workforce health?
- Global and UK insights: What can we learn from international benefits trends, early findings from WTW’s absence management data and emerging models of employer-led healthcare?
- The role of technology: how can AI and digital platforms be used to integrate wellbeing, occupational health and insured benefits into seamless strategies that improve employee health and outcomes?
2.50pm – 3.15pm
Option 1 - Wellbeing trends or timebombs? Building future-ready benefits strategies that work for your workforce
Option 1 - Wellbeing trends or timebombs? Building future-ready benefits strategies that work for your workforce
Topical breakout sessions
Wellbeing trends or timebombs? Building future-ready benefits strategies that work for your workforceAre today’s wellbeing initiatives tomorrow’s organisational risks? This session challenges employers not to follow trends but to focus on what truly matters for their people, exploring how they can use data, culture and strategic insight to uncover hidden risks, personalise wellbeing and future-proof workforce health.
Key takeaways
- Understand how popular wellbeing trends can mask future risks: from shifting health patterns like rising cancer rates in younger workers to the unintended consequences of AI and hybrid work
- Practical insights and approaches: How to design a wellbeing strategy that align with your unique workforce profile and evolving demographics
- Embedding wellbeing into the fabric of work: and how to secure board level sponsorship to make it stick
Speakers
Option 2 - Improving pensions adequacy: Leveraging emotional engagement to drive meaningful change
Option 2 - Improving pensions adequacy: Leveraging emotional engagement to drive meaningful change
Topical breakout sessions
The newly relaunched Pensions Commission is expected to call for higher minimum contributions, but boosting contributions alone won't solve the deeper issue of low employee engagement. This eye-opening session will expose the barriers holding people back, and reveal how emotional connection and pride in pension schemes through investment transparency can drive engagement and meaningful change beyond traditional communications.
Key takeaways
- Gain exclusive insights from the REBA/NatWest Cushon Future of Pensions Research 2025 on how employers are preparing for the pension pressure ahead
- Discover what the Pensions Commission report is likely to recommend when it reports in 2027, and why it matters now
- Uncover the hidden cost risks of disengaged employees and rising contributions
- Explore why emotional connection, not just education, is key to behaviour change and employees taking ownership of their financial wellbeing
- Learn from proven strategies to spark pride, ownership and long-term pension engagement
Speakers
Option 4 - Navigating EU Pay Transparency - Requirements, action steps and how to be ready
Option 4 - Navigating EU Pay Transparency - Requirements, action steps and how to be ready
Topical breakout sessions
The EU Pay Transparency Directive is coming into force next year, bringing significant implications for organisations across Europe. Although UK companies may not have a legal obligation, many are feeling the ripple effects through heightened employee expectations and competitive pressures. Join this session to understand how organisations are responding to the increased requirements and to gain practical, actionable insights into how to address the key issues of transparency and equity.
Key takeaways:
- Overview of the EU requirements and implementation progress, based on employer experiences and key insights from Aon's 2025 Global Pay Transparency Study
- Deep dive into the most pressing pay transparency concerns and priorities for reward and benefits leaders today - and how to avoid common pitfalls
- Concrete next steps to build confidence and stay ahead of regulatory requirements
Speakers
Option 1 - Are we designing benefits for a workforce that no longer exists?
Option 1 - Are we designing benefits for a workforce that no longer exists?
Topical breakout sessions
As the workforce evolves with new expectations around wellbeing, flexibility and purpose, has benefits strategy and design kept pace or are we still designing benefits for yesterday’s employee? Join this thought-provoking session which will challenge your thinking and examine whether today's employee benefits are truly fit-for-purpose.- Reframe the conversation: beyond tick-box compliance to benefits as a strategic level for helping people live well and work better
- Challenge outdated practices to identify benefits that truly meet today’s workforce needs and prepare for the future of work
- Question the fundamentals: has mindset kept pace with the new reality and culture of work?
- Transform your benefits: innovative thinking and benefits design that elevates the employee experience
Speakers
Option 2 - Reimagining financial wellbeing: How AI is defining a new era of benefits engagement
Option 2 - Reimagining financial wellbeing: How AI is defining a new era of benefits engagement
Topical breakout sessions
AI is disrupting not only how we work but how employees manage money and connect with their benefits. Traditional, fragmented approaches are giving way to integrated, data-driven models that better reflect how employees want to use and experience their benefits. But as technology takes on more of the journey, and every benefit has a financial dimension, financial education remains the anchor, ensuring employees understand the ‘why’ and stay empowered to make meaningful choices. This session explores how AI and data will reshape benefits engagement, why integration is the future and how financial education keeps the human element at the centre of an increasingly automated world.
Key takeaways
- How AI will transform employee engagement with benefits through data and personalisation
- Why financial education gives people the clarity to make informed decisions on their benefits
- What reward leaders can do now to prepare for an integrated, AI-enabled benefits future
Speakers
Option 3 - REBA Acumen’s emerging benefits trends for 2026
Option 3 - REBA Acumen’s emerging benefits trends for 2026
Topical breakout sessions
While change in benefits is usually gradual, knowing what is around the corner is invaluable for today’s planning. Drawing on REBA Acumen data and REBA research, this session pulls out the key shifts that are expected in 2026, as well as what might be driving these.
- Top drivers of change and shifting business drivers
- Areas of benefits that are hotting up for review
- Benefits predicted to see the most growth or redesign
- Deep dive data on parental benefits, PMI and EU Pay Transparency
Speakers
Option 4 - The hidden superpower: Dynamic job architecture - How reward leaders are unlocking the DNA for work
Option 4 - The hidden superpower: Dynamic job architecture - How reward leaders are unlocking the DNA for work
Topical breakout sessions
Once the sole domain of compensation, job architecture is fast becoming the hidden superpower behind progressive people strategies. As AI, skills-first models and pay transparency transform how work is designed and rewarded, reward leaders are taking a strategic role in owning data and frameworks that power fairness, agility and trust. Join this session to explore how forward-thinking compensation leaders are redefining their influence from custodians of pay structures to architects of the DNA for work.
Key takeaways
- Insights and practical examples of how reward leaders are turning job architecture into strategic infrastructure
- Building connected, auditable frameworks that ensure global pay equity and compliance
- Embedding dynamic levelling and skills intelligence to align compensation with the future of work
- Positioning reward as the steward of the organisation’s most valuable data asset- the DNA for Work
Speakers
Option 5 - Innovation Demo: From data to decisions: The art of storytelling in people strategy
Option 5 - Innovation Demo: From data to decisions: The art of storytelling in people strategy
Innovation Demo
Data is only powerful when it drives action. Gallagher Guide’s Benefits Platform turns complex analytics into clear, compelling stories that inform smarter, more inclusive workforce strategies. Backed by expert consultancy, this session shows how combining intelligent technology and storytelling can deliver real impact for your people strategy.
In this session, you’ll learn how to:
- Transform data into decisions: Move beyond static dashboards to actionable insights.
- Tell stories that matter: Use analytics to reveal equity gaps and workforce trends.
- Drive measurable results: Optimise spend, boost engagement, and improve ROI.
Speakers
4.15pm – 5pm
Curated roundtables or visit exhibition
Curated roundtables or visit exhibition
Curated roundtables
- Benefits engagement: using tech to enhance benefits engagement, communication and personalisation
- Benefits technology: keeping ahead of digital and AI developments affecting the management of benefits and platforms
- Data-driven strategy: using data insights via AI and platforms to improve benefits planning
- EU Pay Transparency Directive 2026: creating strategies to support equity ahead of new legislation
- Financial wellbeing: supporting the financial needs of different generations
- Global benefits design: identifying providers and strategies that can support our needs
- Pay and reward: Managing the impact of pay legislation on reward strategies and benefits spend
- Mental wellbeing: benefits and strategies to support mental health and neurodiversity
- Preventative health: moving to prevention to manage future health and people risk
Speakers
5pm – 5.35pm
Celebrity guest speaker with Radio DJ and Television Presenter, Jo Whiley
Celebrity guest speaker with Radio DJ and Television Presenter, Jo Whiley
Keynote
One of the most iconic voices in British broadcasting, Jo Whiley will bring the REBA Future Forum to a close with a candid conversation on how she has seen the world of work evolve, what it takes to stay relevant in times of change, and what excites her about the future. Jo first made her mark as music booker for the seminal Channel 4 show The Word, where she booked Nirvana for their unforgettable UK television debut. She went on to co-present the groundbreaking evening session on Radio 1, host Top of the Pops, and front Glastonbury TV since the early 1990s. Over the past 30 years, she has interviewed the world’s biggest acts — including the day Jay-Z came to her house for tea.
In her trademark conversational style, she will reveal the secrets behind her enduring relevance, from championing emerging artists to offering sharp insights into Gen Z – connecting effortlessly to the expectations of tomorrow’s workforce and the world they’ll shape.
Chair: Debi O’Donovan, Co-Founder and Director, REBA
