Multinational firms are being urged to focus on managing their global benefits offering in 2024.
These companies are now facing “a unique set of challenges” and must take this course of action to support both their business and their workforce, Towergate Health & Protection has warned.
The health insurance firm believes multinationals are currently dealing with risk management, meeting the needs of local businesses, legislative and regulatory compliance, cost control, and the attraction and retention of talent. It warns that the repercussions of making mistakes can be substantial.
According to Towergate Health & Protection, if an employer gets it wrong, the result could mean poor outcomes for individuals, including claims, treatment costs and language barriers. For the business itself, it could lead to reduced productivity, higher absence rates and assignments failing.
The firm highlighted that if global benefits are poorly managed, their administration could be time consuming and overly complex. This could further cause legal and regulatory breaches, resulting in reputational damage for the organisation and its global benefits spend being unknown or overly high.
Instead, Towergate proposes a comprehensive approach, with the main priorities of a global benefits programme focusing on three key categories; complexity risks, people risks and financial risks.
Sarah Dennis, head of international at Towergate Health & Protection said: “There isn’t always a one-size-fits-all approach. To achieve harmonisation of global employee benefit provisions for all employees requires a deep understanding of insurance, regulatory, cultural, and economic characteristics in each market.”
She explained that a global benefits management programme could support the organisation and its people through the challenges of global risk benefits by working with local partners to source an appropriate solution.
Dennis added: “Providing employee benefits across multiple countries and regions should not be a burden on the company. It should be a positive experience for all involved. Taking expert advice is the best way to remove the complexities of the process and employers will find that this can really pay-off.”
