Workshop themes

Workshop descriptions

Pre-conference workshops - country and regional updates

Pre-conference workshop - M&A Ready for Global Executives

Workshop grid

The conference workshops address five business themes:

Presenters identified by name only are Mercer consultants. Many of our sessions will also feature client speakers, and we will update those as they are confirmed.

#1: Optimizing total rewards across a global business portfolio
Hewlett-Packard operates a comprehensive portfolio of global businesses. This workshop will describe HP’s approach to segmenting its business portfolio to optimize the return on its total investments in employee rewards.

Deihleen Claffey

     VP HR, Strategic HR Policies, Hewlett-Packard

Robin Ferracone

#2: Global pandemic: Preparing for the workforce implications
The prospect of a global avian flu pandemic is, as most scientists say, not a matter of “if” but “when.” Mercer’s recent global survey has indicated that most enterprises are very concerned about the issue, but are taking a wait-and-see approach with respect to planning and actions. This workshop will look at the full range of issues facing organizations – financial stability; leadership and governance; customer service and brand preservation; security of human, physical, and economic capital; contingent HR policies; alternative talent and staffing strategies – and key actions that should be taken now to avoid disaster later.

Rosaline Koo

Dave Kieffer

#4: Workforce architecture: Organizing the workforce infrastructure to increase organizational capability and drive business results
Organizations are executing transformational change through a new blueprint of workforce architecture. Combining accountability mapping, role clarification, and skill and competency assessment, this new framework not only ensures the organization is “hard-wired” with the required behavioral shift to create a high-performing culture, but also presents a clear roadmap of how to implement widespread organizational change that is fully aligned with business strategies. A case study featuring T-Mobile Croatia will highlight how effective implementation can deliver superior business results.

Jim Matthewman

#5: How to make a big splash with pooling, or unlock a captive solution
Not many solutions let you lower cost and control risk in tandem, but multinational pooling can. Learn practical steps to improve the profitability and efficiency of your risk benefit management arrangements, including highlights from Mercer’s 2006 multinational pooling research study.

Jeremy Hill

Peter Eyre

#6: Managing the costs of health care
The costs of providing health care around the world are increasing at a rate significantly higher than general inflation. In many countries, this is leading to a shift in financial responsibility from the public to the private sector. This workshop will provide an overview of the global health care landscape, costs and trends, and explore some realistic strategies that companies are using to manage these costs. We will also examine the extent to which cost strategies in one country can be leveraged, and barriers to be overcome.

Steve Clements

Eric Grossman

#8: Will my children know what “defined benefit” is?

Defined benefit plans have never been more embattled. Global competition, changing workforce demographics, and the ability to shift risk to employees through defined contribution plans have caused more and more employers to freeze or otherwise scale back their defined benefit pension provision. In this workshop, we will explore the future of retirement provision, including a discussion on the challenges with the current approaches and an exploration of alternatives to the retirement income challenge.

Noam Lakser

Ronald Griffith

     Ashland, Inc.

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#9: The changing demographics of the workforce in China and India
Rapid economic growth in both China and India, combined with continued improvements in their education systems, is rapidly changing the workforce landscape in both countries. This workshop will compare and contrast how the workforces are evolving, how HR management is adapting to workforce needs, how the environment is expected to evolve and how multinational organizations operating in these countries need to respond.
 

Guo Xin

Sankar Ramamurthy

#11: How to build a strong leadership pipeline: Practical advice from global companies
Companies are scrambling to identify and nurture leaders who can operate effectively across borders as globalization accelerates and workforces age. Assess your organization’s leadership bench strength, gain research-based insights into global leadership development, and learn directly from the experience of McDermott International in its efforts to strengthen its global leadership pipeline.

Kevin Blasini

     Director of Human Resources, McDermott International

Colleen O’Neill

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#13: Aligning benefit provision with your international mobility needs
Significant shifts in global employment patterns and ever-changing local regulations present serious challenges to employers of globally mobile employees. This workshop will look at trends, challenges and real-life solutions for providing retirement and health benefits to expatriates.

Peter Blake

Jane Bulger

     Bristol-Myers Squibb

#14: Mergers in developing markets
Rapidly expanding economies such as those of India, China, Brazil and Eastern Europe are prime acquisition markets for companies seeking to grow. But these markets present many unique people-related challenges that need to be addressed in corporate transactions. This workshop will explore some of the key human capital issues that must be addressed when acquiring companies in emerging markets.

Stephen Lee

Bruce Wang

#15: Around the retirement world in nearly 80 minutes
Take a quick tour around the world of retirement, focusing on significant local developments and global trends, as well as how such trends are being manifested. We will explore how multinational organizations can globally manage retirement issues in an evolving global environment.

Duncan Smithson

Yvonne Sonsino

#16: After you … No, after you: Developing total rewards programs in emerging countries
Most multinational organizations rely heavily on competitive practices when designing and implementing new compensation and benefit programs. Yet in many emerging economies, few established practices exist. Moreover, these economies are evolving rapidly, and practices are changing fast. This workshop will describe how companies approach the challenge of being among the first to implement total rewards programs in emerging economies.

Marlies Noll

     Director, International Total Rewards, Medtronic, Inc.

Cameron Hannah

Su Yen Wong

#17: Going global with a compensation strategy: Who’s doing it, how and why
In today’s global business environment, HR is challenged with striking the right balance between global compensation systems and optimal local solutions. This workshop will share the successes and challenges of designing and administering compensation in a global context from several organizations that have begun the journey towards globalization.

Darrell Cira

Stephanie Penner

Bruce Cameron

    Director Compensation, Kimberly-Clark

#18: Weaving the global career fabric in the new flat world: J&J’s story
Underlying the fundamental commitment to marketing excellence at Johnson & Johnson is a passionate commitment to talent management. This workshop shares J&J’s successes and challenges with developing a global career framework for marketers – considered critical for addressing the changing landscape of the pharmaceutical environment.

Ellen E. McMahon

     HR Director, McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson

Tonushree Mondal

#19: Retirement reform in Asia
Market reforms in Asia – particularly China –  are unleashing the energies of an ever more productive workforce. But how will formerly traditional countries address the needs of their retiring workers as their countries continue to industrialize? We will review the significant reforms taking place in retirement systems across Asia, how they are evolving and how employers are responding. The discussion will include an in-depth analysis of the Enterprise Annuity market in China, which has emerged since 2004 legislation made these voluntary employer-sponsored plans possible.

Lu Qiang

     Deputy Managing Director, MHRC of Greater China

Anthony Lowe

Reece Saywell

#20: Going global … right from the start
INTTRA, Inc. is the largest multicarrier e-commerce platform for global shipping. Since its inception five years ago, INTTRA has established a global workforce to achieve three objectives: to be close to its customers; to attract and retain exceptional talent; and to be cost effective. This workshop will describe how this high-growth service company has addressed key global workforce decisions and challenges.

Lisa Bell

     Vice President, Human Resources, INTTRA, Inc

Rick Guzzo

#21: Your fortune: A hostage to global health care?

Many employers aspire to harmonization and equanimity in the delivery of their health care benefits around the world. In this workshop, we examine what opportunities exist, the extent to which those opportunities can add value and ways companies can approach these ideals. We will also explore the role of multinational companies in shaping health care reform as well as opportunities for influencing the design of supplemental services and programs in emerging markets.

Bill Maloney

Charles Nelson

#22: Managing pan-European benefits
You may be overlooking opportunities to simplify and manage employee benefits across Europe. In this workshop, we will look at how other companies are doing so, including the practicalities and challenges of establishing a single pan-European pension plan. We will consider both provider solutions and methods companies are using to deliver synergies from across the region. Sharon Anderson of Franklin Templeton will share her experiences facing the challenges and hurdles of pension regulation/ management in Europe and lessons learned on the road to delivering against corporate goals.

Sharon Anderson

     Director, Benefits & EE Programs, Franklin Templeton

Mark Sullivan

#23: Managing defined contribution retirement plans globally
Managing global retirement plans from corporate headquarters can be difficult. There is often little visibility at headquarters into how local programs operate. This workshop will explore how companies are introducing and managing defined contribution retirement plans around the world – including outsourcing them. We will examine how Cisco implemented a global governance process to monitor operational and investment aspects of retirement plans, including local regulatory requirements, the process for determining and funding contributions, and fund performance.

Debra Pynchon

     Cisco

François Choquette

Paul O’Faherty

#24: Total rewards: Comparing Asia, Europe and the Americas
During the summer of 2006, Mercer will be conducting extensive total rewards surveys across Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. This workshop will present the results of those surveys, compare and contrast corporate practices across the regions, and assess the implications for developing effective total rewards strategies while thinking globally but acting locally.

Panel: Corinne Carlson, Paul O’Malley, Steve Gross

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#25: Building the brand: A CEO’s perspective on talent management
When Conrad Smits became CEO of rapidly growing and globalizing Philips Oral Healthcare, he was concerned that the company’s past success based on technological excellence would not be enough to carry it into the future. By creating new marketing competencies, performance expectations and career paths, Philips focused employees on strengthening its global brand and improved its ability to attract and retain world-class talent.

Conrad Smits

     CEO, Philips Oral Healthcare

Ilene Siscovick

Pat Shannon

#26: Health: The untapped global competitive advantage
Many organizations are thinking about developing a global health and benefits vision, encompassing aspects of wellness, illness and disability, including policy, benefit programs and services. This client panel discussion will explore why and how companies go about developing their vision in this area, and the pitfalls and considerations to watch out for in implementation.

Chrissie Owen

Jill D. Olds

     Cummins, Inc.

Jennifer Arcure

     Pfizer

#27: Just showing up is not enough: Performance measurement
It takes more than thinking globally to be a successful global business. An effective global employee performance measurement system translates strategy into action by creating a powerful common language of success that binds an organization together. This workshop will discuss the key principles and challenges of effectively defining and adapting performance measures in a global organization.

John Borneman

Will Ferguson

#28: What’s working?
Ways to create a fully engaged workforce vary by company, business sector and geography. At the same time, certain core elements of engagement drivers show up consistently around the world. This workshop will present Mercer’s global What’s Working™ normative studies. You will also learn how major global companies have used this research to identify and implement new approaches to employee engagement.

Paul Sanchez

#29: Redefining and communicating the new employment “deal”
Many leading global organizations are redefining “the deal” – the unwritten agreement between employer and employee – in response to heightened pressure to attract and retain key talent. This workshop will feature how Microsoft is reconfiguring the employee deal through “myMicrosoft”, which addresses performance management, career progression, reward strategy, management excellence and the work environment.

J Ritchie

     General Manager, Compensation & Benefits, Microsoft

Betty Barnett

#30: Things just ain’t what they used to be: Trends in global equity plans
Stock option expensing and pressure from shareholders to manage dilution are causing many global organizations to change the way they deliver equity to employees. They are using less stock, considering a range of alternative vehicles and/or changing their eligibility guidelines and grant levels. This workshop will explore the challenges that global organizations face with respect to equity usage and present emerging practices and the results from Mercer's 2006 Global Equity and Cash Long-term Incentive Survey.

Joe Farris

Yolande Foord

#31: The impact of culture on M&A: Doing something about it
Almost every global business transaction encounters challenges presented by cultural differences. Yet, because culture represents the “soft” side of deal making, cultural issues are often overlooked – despite a considerable body of evidence that supports the fact that failure to consider culture is the largest single contributor to value destruction in a merged company. This workshop will provide a practical framework for dismantling cultural barriers as well as transforming cultural differences from liabilities into assets.

Bob Bundy

Hiro Nishiguchi

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#32: Increasing HR efficiency and effectiveness through compensation co-sourcing

Compensation co-sourcing continues to pique the interest of more and more global companies as they look for ways to increase efficiencies, reduce costs, improve credibility and shift internal staff to more strategic activities. This workshop will discuss the kinds of compensation activities being co-sourced, the keys to implementation success and the varying degrees of complexity across different global regions.

Tom Jacob

James Roth

Judy Warren

     Flowserve

#33: Multinational asset pooling for pension plans: How it can add value

If your company operates pension plans in many countries, you may be able to take advantage of economies of scale by setting up a global asset-pooling vehicle. Pooling vehicles can enable you to cut costs, increase returns, improve governance and better manage risk. We’ll consider the necessary conditions for pooling, pitfalls to be overcome, ways to resolve stakeholders’ competing interests, and ongoing management and governance policies.

Angela Docherty

     Senior Corporate Investment Consultant, Unilever

Mark Walker

#34: Globalizing the HR function

The relentless business imperatives to cut costs, streamline, globalize and optimize have affected every business function, including HR. Learn how multinational organizations are structuring, managing and delivering HR services to their global operations. We will unveil the findings of Mercer’s new Global HR Transformation Survey to show how HR functions are evolving based on changing business demands, with emphasis on outsourcing trends around the world, effective HR service delivery models and the role of HR as a true business partner.

Mercer Panel: Paul Rubenstein, Philip Vernon, Steve Fein, Anne Evenden, Paulette Welsing

#35: Global retirement plan governance that works

Gain insight into how three very different organizations have established and implemented a governance structure for their benefit plans around the world. Panelists will describe what is monitored and approved and by whom, how they ensure compliance, and the advantages to the corporation of the governance model.

Panel: Kathleen Mathis, Honeywell; Dan McCarthy, Bloomberg; Bruce Monte, Director, Retirement Plans, PepsiCo; Giles Archibald

#36: Think bigger: Global strategies for outsourcing retirement plan administration

For most companies, the goals of outsourcing retirement plan administration include better management of risks, better cost control and improved services and resources for employees. What are the key steps in the process for achieving these goals? This workshop will address the issues and opportunities for the global outsourcing of retirement plan administration, identifying common global opportunities and unique regional and local challenges that companies face as they identify and assess potential solutions.

Paul O’Faherty

Mark Haskell

     ConocoPhillips

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Pre-conference workshops, Tuesday, 5 December

On the afternoon of Tuesday, 5 December, we will offer (at no additional cost) seven optional country and regional updates for conference attendees who wish to arrive early for the conference. These workshops will provide a detailed review of compensation, benefits and HR trends in each location and offer the opportunity for informal discussion with local Mercer experts.

Attendees can register for two out of the following seven updates:

What’s happening in China

Guo Xin

Jill Millila

What’s happening in India

Sankar Ramamurthy

What’s happening in Southeast Asia

Su Yen Wong

What’s happening in Latin America

Emerson Soma

What’s happening in Eastern Europe

Cameron Hannah

Larisa Muravska

What’s happening in the United Kingdom

Mark Sullivan

What’s happening in Western Europe

Mark Sullivan

Also on Tuesday, 5 December, delegates may register for a one-day M&A readiness training session at an additional cost.

9:00 – 17:00 Tuesday, 5 December
 

(US$895 – or US$750 if you register by 16 October 2006)

Building on the success of our two-day program that we have offered for years, M&A Ready for Global Executives is a one-day intensive preparedness session for HR professionals who are well positioned to identify and manage the people-related activities vital to successful cross-border transactions. We will bring HR professionals up to speed on M&A business fundamentals and terminology, discuss each phase of a deal and highlight key considerations in globalizing business operations through transactions. You will receive valuable tools and methodologies that will help your organization fulfill the promise of a merger, acquisition, joint venture, IPO, divestiture or other major business transaction – whatever the home country of the parties. We will limit the number of attendees to maximize the exchange of firsthand experiences.

Your fee includes Mercer’s proprietary M&A reference materials, tools and sample templates, as well as breakfast and lunch. For cancellation and substitutions, please refer to the conference terms and conditions, which apply to this session.

For more information about what the program will cover and its key deliverables and take-aways, please click here.

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Conference workshops on Wednesday and Thursday, 6-7 December

The conference schedule includes six concurrent workshops over two days. Review the grid of workshop choices below. Download the hardcopy of the grid if you want to write in the numbers of the workshops you wish to attend in the corresponding time slots to help you during registration. 

 Download hardcopy of the grid

Conference business themes

A personalized agenda will be provided with your registration materials when you arrive at the conference.

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