Ioannis Sapoutzis, Advisory and Business Development Manager at Mercer Marsh Benefits, talks to Business Partners about the importance of benefits in attracting and retaining talent and boosting employee motivation and engagement across a multigenerational workforce.
Tell us a little about what differentiates Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB).
As a global leader in risk, strategy, and people, MMB operates in over 100 countries, giving us the unique perspective to act globally but think locally. In the last two years, we’ve changed how we will deliver value to our clients. We are people oriented consultants; therefore, we aim at addressing people’s needs. People change and so do their needs, and we cannot stick to the old traditional transactional support when new challenges arise. Therefore, we strategically address all aspects of HR concerns through our holistic approach, be it broking, advisory, or digital. It is through our diverse range of propositions, skillsets, and intellectual capital that we successfully provide a client first, full-service proposition. So, whether our clients are local SMEs or large multinationals, we can provide comprehensive solutions to support businesses as well as employees.
What are the current trends for employee benefits, particularly in terms of attracting and retaining talent?
Our recent Health on Demand report highlighted the need for increased protection as a major theme following the pandemic, yet there is still a disconnect between what employers are doing and what employees expect, with 41% of employees not believing the benefits they receive meet their needs. Similarly, the foremost people risk in 2024 was the continued rise of health and benefit costs, meaning there is a greater focus on balancing empathy and economics and on delivering employee wellbeing, as employers recognize that more resilient workforces are not only more productive but also more sustainable.
The common theme is managing people risk. Organizations with engaged, resilient, and present employees and with strong employee experience (EX) and culture focused mindsets see higher retention rates and can attract the best talent.
Businesses focusing on wellbeing see higher levels of motivation and engagement
What is MMB doing to enhance EX in the context of today’s multigenerational workforce?
The needs of someone just setting out in their career differ greatly from the needs of those closing in on retirement or the sandwich generation caring for children and their elderly parents. Thanks to data analytics, innovative benefit scheme design, and listening to the needs of employees through employee engagement, it is possible to create fit-for-purpose benefit programs that cater for all, offering personalized EX and choice. Innovating in this way makes it possible to increase the accessibility of benefits, drive value to make benefits more affordable, and use technology to improve engagement.
How does wellbeing factor into boosting employee motivation and engagement?
According to our 2024 Global Talent Trends survey, businesses focusing on wellbeing typically see higher levels of motivation and engagement—one in two employees would actually forgo a pay raise for additional wellbeing benefits. Given the interaction of the wellbeing pillars, we designed a proposition, delivered through our “Benefits You” application, that proactively engages employees with their wellbeing solutions backed by data analytics capabilities to inform future strategy.
How does MMB leverage its global presence to deliver tailored solutions locally?
The benefit of being the largest benefits broker globally is that by working with hundreds of thousands of clients, we are able to inform and influence the market with our scale, skillset, and strategy. We take a global > regional > local view, meaning that we innovate and design solutions that we know will benefit our clients and, by achieving scale, can deliver value to our clients and their employees.
