Claire Yule of Wood shares key pieces of advice on how to make benefits harmonisation a success

Global engineering and consultancy company, Wood has a long history of acquisitions. Claire Yule, president, reward and mobility, shares key pieces of advice on how to make benefits harmonisation a success.

1. Understand why harmonisation of benefits is important following corporate activity

When creating a new culture and identity, you need to think about the employee experience, including elements such as pay, insured benefits and wider benefits like parental and flexible leave. If you are trying to create a ‘one company’ culture it makes no sense to have employees in the same team/ location etc with different offerings.

Harmonisation is a good opportunity to look at what legacy organisations have in place; consider how aligned to competitive benchmarking that is; think about where you want to position your new company, and what the associated cost will be; ask the employees what works, what doesn’t and what they’d like to see; and then determine what the new offering will be. Remember that insured benefits usually take some time to switch or change and that renewal dates and vendors also need to be considered.

2. During the process, HR and reward directors need to consider and be aware of a core number of issues, including:

The bottom line
Commercial models (depending on the nature of your business)
The emotional aspect attached to benefits provision – including insured benefits
The importance of taking business leaders with you – this is a business decision, not one solely owned by HR
Engagement, engagement, engagement – whether that be face-to-face; digitally; via social media; or through networks or focus groups
One size does not fit all – each country will be different
The need to update your HR policies at the same time – also, try and make them more engaging for employees and easier to read.

3. Collaboration is vital, particularly for global HRDs

The one tip to keep in mind when it comes to harmonisation of benefits is that you can do it for little to no extra cost (even if improving insured benefits) if you work with your vendors. Communication and engagement are key to achieving successful outcomes with your people, business leaders and customers.

This article is part of the Transforming Engagement Series: People risk: why the need for change is urgent, which was conducted with the support of global consultancy Mercer Marsh Benefits.