Consolidating Benefits Administration a Top Priority for Multinats

“Managing Global Benefits: Challenges and Opportunities” recognizes that as U.S. companies continue to expand globally, they are being challenged to develop benefits programs for their international workforce that are not only competitive in local communities around the world, but also cost-effective to implement and manage in a wide number of countries. According to a press release, the report reveals that global benefits decisionmakers also consider multinational pooling to be a top-of-mind solution to help manage multinational benefits.

Tips offered in the report for better managing multinational employee benefits programs include:

• Define and articulate a flexible global benefits strategy that can accommodate varied cultures and mandates of different localities and regions.
• Establish a management structure and clearly define roles and responsibilities at both headquarter and subsidiary levels.
• Gather local plan data and research the benefits offerings of direct competitors to ensure benefits offerings meet or exceed market standards to aid in employee attraction and retention.
• Think more broadly on ways to obtain data such as using networks, consultants and associations.
• Consider cost effective options for choosing and administering multinational benefits, such as leveraging a central team, outside benefits resources, and multinational pooling.

Rudy Bethea, vice president, Multinational Solutions for MetLife, noted in the press release that it is also important to take into consideration government mandates and cultural factors when shaping local benefits programs.

A complimentary copy of the report is at www.metlife.com/multinational .