Move aims to increase support for multinationals seeking global approach to benefits management
New York — Mercer and Thomsons Online Benefits, have entered into an alliance to expand their respective offerings to multinationals looking to manage their global benefits programs. Mercer will provide global employee benefits brokerage and consulting to multinationals while Thomsons will provide streamlined administration, automation and enhanced communication of benefit plans through its global, flexible employee benefits SaaS (Software as a Service) platform Darwin™. Both Mercer and Thomsons remain committed to offering their own local market solutions as appropriate.
According to Jacques Goulet, President, Retirement, Health & Benefits from Mercer, “The HR environment is transforming at a global level; it’s difficult for clients operating in many geographies to consistently manage their global employee benefits in line with local legislation and workforce expectations. Together with Thomsons, we can meet those needs. Mercer has a long heritage in and a deep understanding of global benefits and health management and combined with Darwin, Thomsons’ cutting edge global benefits technology; we’re now at the forefront of developments in this market.”
Graham Pearce, Head of Mercer’s International Consulting Group, noted that, “We’ve formed this alliance with Thomsons given its strength in benefits technology innovation and their ability to scale benefits delivery globally while taking account of local market nuances. We expect the relationship to evolve over time with new offerings announced in the future. Many of these will center on robust and comprehensive data analytics – financial, vendor and design data from Mercer coupled with engagement and workforce data from Darwin. Our intention is to bring clients powerful and unique insights to help them make the most of their benefits.”
Michael Whitfield, CEO of Thomsons Online Benefits, commented, “Over the last ten years we have built up a strong relationship with Mercer with a host of global enterprise clients. It’s a natural next step to formalize our collaboration and offer multinationals the best of both solutions. By implementing a consistent global benefits approach, our shared clients have already seen increases in employee engagement of benefits. We’ve also significantly managed our clients’ benefits spend through Mercer’s powerful global broking and consultancy, alongside Darwin’s reduction of benefits administration time. This is freeing up HR leaders to work on strategic initiatives delivering more business impact to the wider organization.”
