February 22, 2022

Creating a Globally Consistent Benefits Strategy

This guide’s goal is to inform employers on a variety of different elements to consider when creating their strategy. It also explores the business case and core tenets to focus on in establishing a thorough approach while providing guidance on how to produce a more equitable ecosystem.

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Remember, change takes time, so be sure to enlist support and advice from experts while keeping your focus on the North Star.

2. Conduct a Comprehensive Review of Country or Region Infrastructure Barriers.

Business Group on Health’s survey revealed that location feasibility (e.g., regulatory limitations, limits of captive reach) primarily determined where a strategy was first rolled out. Also, for those without a global consistency strategy in place, survey respondents stated market infrastructure challenges as their top barrier, while those with a global consistency strategy noted that standards were set that took into consideration infrastructure capacity.

Assess structural benefit needs and gaps. It is extremely important to intimately understand what the company currently offers around the world, including gaps or inadequacies, as well as what local governments offer, and then create a comprehensive but not duplicative benefits program.

3. Enable Engagement Through Communication.

When making any changes to benefit designs or structure, it is important to meet early and often with relevant stakeholders to facilitate transparency and understanding with leaders of the affected markets. Also, how you communicate with those ultimately impacted by the changes --your employees-- is just as important as the message being conveyed.

Be proactive and communicate changes to your employees thoughtfully. Effective communication can provide more education of any impacts brought on by the changes, as well as remove any potential issues regarding stigma and discrimination about diseases or conditions and facilitate more sustainable employee engagement.

4. Understand Cyclical Data Collection.

When collecting international health data, there is a balance between creating an equitable and consistent experience while also addressing local challenges. It is important to do a deep dive and robust analysis of your data. For example, consider:

• Are global statistics too aggregated to be useful at a country or even regional level?
• Are the most common conditions identified at a country, regional or global level?
• Are the most common causes of absence, disability and/or death identified at a country, regional or global level?

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