13 - 14 October 2022
Athens
We are in the midst of a workplace revolution, especially within the rewards sector. To keep up with a constantly evolving environment and accelerate towards the future, it is critical for organizations to understand how the dynamics of work have changed, and how that impacts: rewards, talent attraction and retention, remote working, re-skilling and up-skilling, and other workforce-related challenges.
Over the two days, Mercer’s 2022 European Rewards Conference helped people to embrace the new realities that will define the future of rewards. For those that attended our annual event, we hope you had the chance to learn, network and be inspired to create a brighter future for your organization.
Renowned speakers: Hearing from HR Leaders in top organizations in Europe as they share their expertise and insights along with Mercer consultants and advising how they approach challenges faced by Rewards professionals such as retention and acquisition of talent.
Constructive networking: Connecting with like-minded peers and experts through networking games and getting plenty of opportunities to socialize during the event or at the welcome reception or gala dinner.
Unparalleled information: Learning from our latest research and understanding how inflation and the geopolitical situation are impacting rewards and what innovative strategies your peers have put into place to deal with these challenges.
The event took place at the InterContinental Hotel in Athens, Greece on the 13 – 14 October 2022.
This event included participation in the plenary and breakout sessions, networking activities, access to content and presentation materials as well as lunches and an evening networking event.
6:00 pm | Welcome drinks reception |
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9:00 am – 9:30 am | Conference welcome
Neil Hurst
Partner, Career, Mercer
Katerina Psychopaida
Principle, Career, Mercer
9:30 am – 10:15 am | Keynote: Crisis and its consequences in 2022: Geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges
Amelia Hadfield
Head of Department of Politics, University of Surrey, Director, Centre for Britain and Europe, Chair in European and International Relations
2022 has been a year like no other. In the face of key political upheavals and financial volatilities, Professor Hadfield explores three key areas: the ongoing impacts of adjusting to post-COVID effects, the increasingly intense impact of the war in Ukraine and the future of European governance. COVID-19’s shift from pandemic to endemic has resulted in both business-as-usual and radical responses from businesses — some successful, others not. These changes have been complicated by the collapse of key supply chains and rocketing unit prices triggered by the war in Ukraine, prompting businesses to consider whether to domesticate or merely future-proof the basic mechanics of supply and demand. Europe’s response, in terms of government, security and defence, is a key predictor of evolving Western relations with Russia, while the UK continues to consolidate its new post-Brexit identity.
10:15 am – 10:30 am | Spotlight on the National Bank of Greece
Evi Hatzioannou
Chief HR Officer, National Bank of Greece
10:30 am – 11:00 am | Networking break |
11:00 am – 11:45 am | Rethinking total rewards and the future of work
Join Chetna and Alejandro show how the 3Cs of total rewards contribute to SAP’s cloud transformation and Future of Work agenda. They say it takes two to tango but it takes compensation, culture, and career growth (3Cs) to drive business transformation, a cultural shift and a holistic talent experience.
Alejandro Aichele
Head of Total Rewards Market Intelligence, SAP
Chetna Singh
SVP, Global Head Total Rewards, SAP
11:45 am – 12:30 pm | The impact of reward in divestments
John Beadle
Global Head of Performance & Reward, ABB
Thomas Bouchez
Partner - Europe M&A and Org Transformation Advisory Services Leader, Mercer
Divestiture and other separation projects are complex in nature. Often with uncertainty about the future, an organization needs to manage the separation or sale process while considering the future state of the organization, ensuring business continuity and managing day-to-day operations. John Beadle will share his experience and lessons learned around the global separation of Power Grids (with approximately 40,000 employees in 70 countries) from ABB and other related transactions. Thomas Bouchez will bring another perspective from another large global separation where a more fundamental redesign of the reward strategy was conducted in parallel with rewards separation.
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm | Lunch |
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm | Breakout sessions
Breakout 1 - Immovable objects and irresistible forces |
Speaker - David Wreford, Senior Reward Consultant, Mercer |
Breakout 2 - Executive remuneration in times of uncertainty |
Speaker- Peter Boreham, UK & European Practice Leader (Executive Reward), Mercer |
Breakout 3 - Pay Equity |
Speaker- Lea Lonsted, HR Transformation, Pay Equity Leader, Europe and UK, Mercer |
Breakout 4 - Mobility/remote working |
Speakers Michael Grover, Principal, Mercer Yvonne Traber, Partner, Europe Mobility Practice Leader, Mercer |
Breakout 5 - The world is changing; so should pay strategies |
Speaker- John Langenuis, Associate Consultant, Career, Mercer |
Breakout 6 - HR digital transformation and the rewards function |
Speaker- Eric Chuet, Head of Digital Solutions, Mercer |
Breakout 7- Demystifying total rewards in emerging markets |
Speaker- Puneet Swani, Career Business Leader - International Region, Mercer |
2:30 pm – 2:35 pm | Break |
2:35 pm – 3:20 pm | Implementing a skills based reward model in the fintech industry
Ieva Polakovska
Head of Compensation & Benefits, Klarna
Hear the story of Klarna, a business that has moved away from a traditional hierarchical organisation to the equivalent of more than 1,000 start-up companies while implementing a compensation model based on skills. In this session, learn how Klarna is focusing on individual skill sets instead of roles and positions and how doing so can promote agility in organisations.
3:20 pm – 3:45 pm | Networking break |
3:45 pm – 4:30 pm | Evolution of rewards at Iveco Group
Robert Gerdes
Global Head of Rewards and Mobility, Iveco Group
Iveco Group, a newly created manufacturing company, is undergoing a transformation. Rob Gerdes will share a broad overview of its transformation journey, providing relevant examples of how the Rewards team has also transformed to meet the needs of the business and changing work patterns, along with some lessons learned along the way.
4:30 pm – 5:15 pm | Linking executive incentives to environmental and social objectives
Peter Boreham
UK & European Practice Leader (Executive Reward), Mercer
Graham Kavanagh
Global Head of Rewards and Mobility, Carlsberg Group
Andrew Pilbeam
VP, Head of Total Rewards, Ericsson
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations have become increasingly important for companies and their investors and employees, along with regulators and governments. Most leading companies now include ESG objectives in their executive incentive plans. In this session, two world-class companies, from the consumer and B2B spaces, respectively, share how they have determined their ESG strategies and translated them into their incentive plans. The session also covers wider market trends and the evolving views of governance professionals and considers what the future might hold as the approach of business towards ESG evolves and matures.
5:15 pm - 5:30 pm | Wrap up day 1 - Intro day 2
Neil Hurst
Partner, Career, Mercer
Katerina Psychopaida
Principle, Career, Mercer
Evening | Networking event |
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9:00 am – 9:10 am | Welcome day 2
Neil Hurst
Partner, Career, Mercer
Katerina Psychopaida
Principle, Career, Mercer
9:10 am – 9:55 am | Keynote - Work without jobs: how to reboot your work operating system
Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA
Global Leader, Transformation Services, Mercer
The future of work demands that organizations address the following reality: their work and workforces need to be perpetually reinvented as they are continually being rendered obsolete by automation and the democratization of work. Navigating this new reality requires a new work operating system that frees work and workers from the traditional boundaries of work embedded in jobs and job holders.
In this session, Ravin Jesuthasan will explore the fundamental and structural changes affecting work. He will:
9:55 am – 10:40 am | The total in total rewards – enhancing the employee experience
Melissa Maguire
Head of Compensation, Ericsson
Andrew Pilbeam
VP, Head of Total Rewards, Ericsson
Hear how Ericsson has developed its total reward offering over the past four years to support a rapidly changing business environment while ensuring employee experiences, engagement and motivation are improving. In this session, Ericsson will share how it has repositioned its offering and is building an increasingly experience-focused reward framework in the areas of recognition, well-being, pensions, benefits and flexible working.
10:40 am – 11:00 am | Networking break |
11:00 – 12:00 pm | Breakout sessions
Breakout 1 - Immovable objects and irresistible forces |
Speaker - David Wreford, Senior Reward Consultant, Mercer |
Breakout 2 - Executive remuneration in times of uncertainty |
Speaker- Peter Boreham, UK & European Practice Leader (Executive Reward), Mercer |
Breakout 3 - Pay Equity |
Speaker- Lea Lonsted, HR Transformation, Pay Equity Leader, Europe and UK, Mercer |
Breakout 4 - Mobility/remote working |
SpeakersMichael Grover, Principal, Mercer Yvonne Traber, Partner, Europe Mobility Practice Leader, Mercer |
Breakout 5 - The world is changing; so should pay strategies |
Speaker- John Langenuis, Associate Consultant, Career, Mercer |
Breakout 6 - HR digital transformation and the rewards function |
Speaker- Eric Chuet, Head of Digital Solutions, Mercer |
Breakout 7- Demystifying total rewards in emerging markets |
Speaker- Puneet Swani, Career Business Leader - International Region, Mercer |
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm | Break |
12:05 pm – 12:50 pm | Living Wage - Achieving success in the right way
Ronan Maher
SVP People & Organizational Performance, Yara International
David Smeets
Senior Manager Global Total Rewards, Yara International
How can a global company ensure it pays its employees decent and sufficient wages? Not only the minimum wages but living wages that enable employees to participate fully in society? It’s more complicated than you might think, but Yara is taking action. Paying a living wage is vital for Yara to meet its goals of providing decent work and reducing inequality. For Yara, success can only be celebrated when it’s achieved in the right way. Join Ronan Maher and David Smeets in this session to explore how Yara is taking action.
12:50 pm – 1:00 pm | Wrap up day 2 and event close
Neil Hurst
Partner, Career, Mercer
Katerina Psychopaida
Principle, Career, Mercer
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm | Lunch |
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Amelia Hadfield Head of Department of Politics, University of Surrey |
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Amelia joined the University of Surrey in January 2019 as Head of the Department of Politics and Chair in European and International Affairs. From 2013 to 2018, she worked as Director of the Centre for European Studies (CEFEUS), a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at Canterbury Christ Church University, following positions in Brussels at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels and the Institute for European Studies, where she directed the Euromaster degree and Educational Development (EDU). Amelia is a longstanding Jean Monnet Chair in European Foreign Affairs, which has allowed her to successfully obtain Erasmus+ funding for the University of Surrey’s Centre for Britain and Europe (based in the Department of Politics), establishing it in 2020 as a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence.
Amelia’s research, teaching, consulting and postgraduate supervisory activities cover a wide range of EU foreign and security policy, along with new forms of EU–UK relations. These include common foreign and security policy, common security and defence policy, EU–US and EU–Canada relations, EU–Russia relations, EU neighbourhood policy, EU development policy (with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa) and Arctic and Northern governance issues. Additional areas of interest include foreign policy analysis, international and diplomatic history, the role of sovereignty in political history, international relations theory, international political economy, public policy analysis, the Commonwealth, and EU education policy.
Amelia is regularly called upon as a guest speaker, external supervisor, research partner, consultant and media pundit in the areas of EU foreign affairs and, most recently, EU–UK relations. In January 2021, Amelia was appointed Dean International of the University of Surrey, leading the International Engagement Office in supporting the strategic goals of the university on partnership with other universities and networks worldwide, enhanced cutting-edge research cooperation, and staff/student mobility.
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Alejandro Aichele Head of Total Rewards Market Intelligence, SAP |
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Alejandro is a seasoned international leader with 20 years of experience in various leadership roles in HR and Finance. In his view, the powerful combination of data, people and technology can solve difficult problems and deliver innovative solutions to make visions a reality. Prior to leading SAP’s Total Rewards Market Intelligence function, Alejandro was responsible for different areas focusing on strategy development, portfolio planning and operating models. He has extensive experience in leading and developing shared services organizations, with a focus on operational excellence and scope expansion.
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John Beadle Global Head of Performance and Reward, ABB |
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John is Global Head of Performance and Reward at ASEA Brown Boveri (ABB), located in Zurich. ABB is a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation specialising in robotics, electrical and automation technology.
John’s portfolio includes board and executive rewards, employee rewardss (for example, grading, variable pay, share-incentive planning), benefits, international mobility and HR M&A.
He has more than 20 years of experience in rewards and human resource management in the financial, consumer goods, information technology and pharmaceutical industries. He has held a wide variety of international HR roles for GSK, HSBC, IBM, Reckitt Benckiser, Rio Tinto and Standard Chartered Bank.
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Nicolas Beaujard Director, Compensation and Benefits, HRIS, HR Performance and International Mobility Group, Ceva Animal Healthcare |
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Nicolas is the Group Compensation and Benefits (C&B) Director of Ceva Animal Healthcare. His responsibilities include oversight of HR performance management and the International Mobility and HRIS divisions.
Nicolas joined Ceva in 2018. Previously, he held several positions as a C&B and HR business partner in international companies, including Alstom and Amcor.
Nicolas holds an engineering degree and an MBA/Master of Science in international HR.
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Robert Gerdes Global Head of Rewards and Mobility, Iveco Group |