Figuring out how to pay a workforce spread across multiple countries isn’t easy.
Learning how much to pay and what benefits to provide to employees in different markets is complicated by dramatic differences in health care and retirement systems between countries.
Employer-sponsored health insurance, for instance, is not nearly as important in most other industrialized countries, since the government already guarantees health coverage to citizens. Similarly, many countries mandate that employers provide several weeks of paid vacation — the minimum in France is five — which provides a very different baseline expectation for paid time off among employees.
A recent survey of international employers and employees displays the challenges that multinational companies face in shaping their benefits to match the needs of their workforces in different corners of the globe.
The survey of 500 HR professionals and 1,300 employees was conducted by Thomsons Online Benefits, a global benefits software provider.
Overall, more than 60 percent of employees express some level of dissatisfaction with their pay and benefits scheme. Twenty-seven percent say they are unhappy with total compensation, 18 percent say they are frustrated by the way in which they have to interact with their benefits, and similarly, 17 percent say they are dissatisfied with how their benefits are “communicated” to them.
Employees also voiced interest in benefits that remain exceedingly rare. Thirty-eight percent say they would opt for unlimited time off over a pay increase, but only 15 percent of workers have access to that benefit currently.
The top concern voiced by HR personnel was “difficulty in scaling a local benefits solution for multiple markets,” cited by 47 percent of management respondents. The next greatest issue, voiced by 43 percent of managers, is communicating the value of “total rewards” compensation to employees. Finally, 37 percent say they face difficulty reporting on the global cost of wages and benefits.
The challenge organizations face in assessing the cost of payroll and benefits across the globe is highlighted by the fact that only 14 percent report using a global benefits administration software program. Fifty-five percent report they use different systems in different countries
As Thomsons is eager to point out, however, 58 percent of HR managers say they would prefer to adopt a benefits administration system that would account for the company’s entire multi-national workforce.
Communicating the value of the company’s benefits to employees is much more likely with top-notch technology, the study reports.
But also significant is regularly updating workers on the total rewards package, including how they can affect major life events, such as marriage or the birth of a child. Seventy percent of employees say they want to hear more information about the relationship between their benefits in those situations, but only 46 percent of employers report reaching out to workers to communicate such details.
The top goal among the employers surveyed was attracting and retaining talent, cited by 65 percent. Next is to “maintain a competitive employer proposition,” voiced by 47 percent. Finally, 38 percent say a top goal is to increase employee engagement.
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