Concurrent Workshop Sessions

Wednesday, 29 October

11:00 – 12:15

European Reward Practices — An Expert’s Point of View
Plenary Session
A panel of regional experts will participate in a moderated discussion about compensation and rewards in various countries. Panelists will discuss their experiences across borders and offer perspectives on:

• Developing an integrated total rewards strategy that balances the need for global consistency with the need to address local competitive requirements.
  
• Obtaining market intelligence. Discussion will include information about common and innovative practices, as well as emerging trends.
• Developing an integrated, global total rewards strategy that supports the movement of resources across countries.
  

This will be an up-to-date look at issues in real life, where balancing global consistency and leveraging local customisation is crucial — and complex. Global professionals will tell their stories and audience members will be invited to participate in a question-and-answer session with the opportunity to share their own experiences.

• Mark Hudson, Reward Director – IST, BP Oil International
• Antoine Carlier, Director, Compensation & Benefits, EMEA, Avaya
• Alexander Zerkowitz, Human Resource Director, Raiffeisen Landesbank Steiermark
• Pat Gurren, Principal Consultant, Gurren Compensation Limited

14:00-15:00

1A. Case Study: Tetra Pak — Pensions and Benefits Solutions for a Mobile Workforce
Tetra Pak has approximately 400 active members and more than 600 passive members in its Global Employee Benefit Plan, all moving continuously across more than 65 countries. Designing, implementing and managing a global pension and risk benefit plan for this mobile workforce presents major challenges. Learn from one company’s experience transitioning from a defined-benefit arrangement to a defined-contribution arrangement, offering investment choices in multiple currencies, complying with different tax regulations, and finding a provider in the offshore market to meet Tetra Pak’s needs. In this session, Tetra Pak will share solutions as well as considerations for benefit design, legal and tax issues, and provider selection.

Presenters
Michael Tovar, GRP, Director, Center of Expertise Global Compensation & Benefits, Tetra Pak

1B. Sales Compensation: Capitalising on the Sales Organisation’s Need for HR Involvement
The sales compensation plan is an important tool to use in directing, motivating and rewarding success, but as global companies face increasing challenges implementing a unified sales strategy while also allowing flexibility to local markets, HR involvement becomes essential. This involvement is critical in translating sales strategy into the compensation plan’s objectives, clarifying job roles eligible for sales incentive pay, designing a payout formula, and contributing to implementation and ongoing plan management. But, to be most effective in helping sales leaders increase the global returns on sales compensation investment, HR professionals have to acquire and continuously upgrade the principles and incentive techniques that deliver consistency and local market flexibility. This workshop identifies the expertise and skill requirements that top business and sales executives across boundaries expect from HR professionals and the actions practitioners can take to meet changing expectations and make significant contributions to the success of the plan in complex selling environments.

Presenters:
Jerome A Colletti, Managing Partner, Colletti-Fiss LLC
Enrique Zamarbide, Medtronic International

1C. Compensation Implications of Talent Management
Organisations today are focusing more on comprehensive approaches to talent management. This presentation reviews recent trends and best practices in talent management and the implications on compensation strategy, base salary, short- and long-term incentives, as well as general rewards mix and design. Of course, changing demographics and economic conditions require adjustments in talent management. This presentation features experts discussing the different compensation and reward strategies for Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y, as well as the impact and strategies to address talent shortages for specific organisations, professions, industries and geographies. Learn to align the workplace of the future with the workforce of the future. This workshop includes findings from the Deloitte Consulting Global Talent Management survey, with data specific to countries and workforce segments.

Presenters:
Gregory A Stoskopf, CCP, Director, Deloitte Consulting LLP

15:30-16:30

2A. Sales Compensation Plan (and how to build one that’s as close as possible)
Regardless of how much effort goes into designing a sales compensation plan, someone can always find some problem with it. The biggest reason behind this is that while everyone may agree on the principles that should guide the compensation plan design — simplicity, equity, motivation, alignment with strategy, etc — trade-offs inevitably arise. We may want to provide an equal earning opportunity for all sales personnel, but to do so would make the plan too complicated. Further complicating the matter is the fact that stakeholders have different perspectives and varying levels of authority. With examples and case studies, ZS Associates’ incentive compensation practice area team offers practical frameworks and insights into navigating several common trade-offs to help attendees design their next sales compensation plan without compromising success.

Presenters:
Rohan Fernando, Managing Principal European Offices, ZS Associates
Jean-Francois Latour, Manager, ZS Associates

2B. Talent Management — Processes to Decisions
The challenge for many large and complex organisations today is how to use talent management-related data to build a comprehensive planning and monitoring process that can:

• Connect the key aspects of people management and development for select segments and positions in the population;
• Guide investments on human capital, mobility, job rotation and strategic projects;
• Highlight risks in retaining key resources and the actions in succession planning to ensure sustainability of business objectives;
• Monitor the adequacy of efforts made on human capital in relation to changing business and HR needs.
  

Drawing on the experience of a leading global insurance company, this presentation shows how organisations can build a robust and effective people strategy by focusing on how to use key output data from their talent management and rewards processes.

Presenter:
Enrico Gambi, Consultant, Watson Wyatt

2C. Implementing a Global Reward Strategy in Europe — A Case Study from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)
Flexible benefits have become mainstream in the United Kingdom but are less common elsewhere in Europe. However, companies are increasingly looking to implement global reward strategies to provide more centralised and cost-controlled programmes, and to communicate a consistent employer brand no matter where an employee works. Nevertheless, whilst thinking globally, employers need to act locally, making flexibility critical. Although the availability of web-based technology makes global communication and administration increasingly easy, it is imperative to consider local, cultural and legal frameworks, as well as language, to ensure that your reward strategy in each European location is appropriate to the market today and in the future. Hear a case study from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is deploying regional strategies while rolling out its flexible benefits programme globally in a bid to give its business a competitive edge in the employment market and to drive higher employee engagement.

Presenters:
Chris Bruce, Managing Director, Thomsons Online Benefits
Trevor Blackman, Head of Remuneration & Benefits, Royal Bank of Scotland

17:00-18:00

3A. How Rewards Influence the Transition from Public to Private: Lessons Learned from Belgacom
Belgacom SA is a Belgium-based telecommunications company that provides both fixed and mobile telecommunication services to both professional and residential customers. Due to changing regulations in the telecommunications sector, Belgacom has had to continue to innovate while managing the transition from state-owned to private. Its IPO launched in March 2004, and as of December 31, the Belgian state owned a 53.5% stake in the company. In the transition, Belgacom talent managers needed to be innovative and streamline the organization. Knowing that this majority stake in ownership influences management, human resources and reward programs, the telecom company worked with Hay Group to remain one of the most successful workforces in the industry. Learn how Belgacom adapted its reward strategies to a changing environment.

Presenters:
Gie Kauwenberghs, General Manager, Hay Group
Astrid De Lathauwer, Executive Vice President Human Resources, Belgacom SA

3B. Driving Performance at a Global Level
We are all convinced that variable pay plans support performance. At least, that is what we all say…but do we have real, global cases to back up this strong belief? And, more importantly, beyond the concepts, how much do we really know about how successful companies actually design, develop and manage their plans throughout the world? Firmenich, one of the top three leading companies in the industry of fragrance and flavours, along with Hewitt Associates, will share why and how they actually transformed their existing global variable plan in a period of three months, and the results that the company is collecting from this new incentive plan.

Presenters:
Laurence Chou, Talent & Organisation Consulting Director, Hewitt Associates
Nicholas Egger, HR Director Compensation & Benefits, Firmenich Inc

3C. Meeting the Challenge of Post — M&A Total Rewards Integration:
Avery Dennison’s Experience across Eastern and Western Europe
Although all mergers and acquisitions (M&A) present risks, a transaction across borders and in unfamiliar markets can be especially difficult. According to recent Mercer research, the biggest challenges executives face in international M&A transactions are in managing human capital integration and cultural differences. Organisations have to make a business case for integration to balance a global HR strategy with local practices, knowing that critical decisions effect revenue growth, cost containments and workforce engagement — all the while considering labour markets and cultures. Using data from a recent Mercer study, this compelling presentation follows how Avery Dennison, after acquiring Paxar, launched a global effort to integrate total rewards, considering benefits, compensation, HR policies and workforce practices in 15 different countries with both emerging and mature markets throughout EMEA.

Presenters:
Josy Koumans, Consultant, Mercer
John Richardson, European Compensation & Benefits Director,
Avery Dennison

Thursday, 30 October

9:00-10:00

4A. Why Smart Rewards?
BT, as a networked IT and communications services provider, recognised the need to update its reward structure to compete with other leading professional services businesses.  Smart Rewards is an innovative, market leading reward structure designed to attract, retain and engage key senior talent.  The programme aims to drive motivation and high performance to help foster a culture more aligned to a leading services organisation.

Smart Rewards at a glance

• Provides employees the flexibility to alter pay, bonus and other benefits. 
• The employee can elect for potentially much higher annual total reward for higher performance by giving up elements of fixed pay. 
• How much risk and reward is down to the employee in making their elections.  
• The session will explore the design and implementation challenges within BT.

Presenters:
Clare Muhiudeen, European Practice Head, Human Capital Group, Watson Wyatt
Vivian Leinster, Head of HR and Sourcing, BT Design

4B. Reward Governance: Why Do We Need It?
Corporate Governance is the set of standards and procedures that affect the way a corporation is directed and controlled and includes the relationships among the many stakeholders and the goals of the corporation. Corporate scandals, new rules and regulations, and media headlines emphasise the need for appropriate Corporate Governance as well as reward checks and balances. Allianz Group, one of the leading global services providers in insurance, banking and asset management, will share its approach to how to design and implement an effective reward governance architecture in a mostly decentralised organisation. Participants will understand why corporate governance is an important reward topic, what characterises an effective reward governance system and how effective reward governance can be achieved in a large, diverse and mostly decentralised organisation like Allianz Group.

Presenters:
Desiree Isabelle Klein-Wagner, GRP, Senior Vice President, Global Rewards Systems, Allianz AG

10:15-11:15

5A. Compensations and Benefit Trends in the Middle East
During the last year, the global media has consistently publicised the rapid growth of the UAE (Dubai in particular) in infrastructure, commerce, travel and tourism as the state looks to reduce its reliance on oil and gas revenues. Many other parts of the Middle East are enjoying similar growth and diversification resulting from high oil revenues, with significant implications for workforce management. Is this market’s rapid growth affecting the ability of multinational companies to attract and retain high-calibre people with competitive compensation and benefits plans? What is happening to the traditional expatriate assignment package in the region? This workshop explores some of the issues and challenges facing companies that already have staff in the Middle East or are planning to expand there. Attendees may also share experiences and ask questions about the very latest talent trends in the region.

Presenters:
Narcisa Chelaru, National Expenditure Profiler, ORC Worldwide
John Macdonald, Managing Director Middle East, ORC Worldwide

5B. Learning from the UK Experience — Towards Pan-European Standards of Corporate Governance
Corporate governance in Europe has developed significantly over the past decade, but there are still considerable differences by country. Given the likelihood of further convergence in standards, what are the implications for executive remuneration? The UK is often seen as a source of corporate governance best practice. It has been at the forefront of many key international trends, including: the establishment of independent compensation committees; remuneration disclosure; shareholder votes on executive remuneration and performance conditions on long-term incentives. But across Europe numerous ideas and practices deserve close inspection. Has the inflexible approach adopted by many leading UK investors had a negative impact on the development of executive pay throughout Europe? In this session, Hay Group representatives discuss how corporate governance applies to European executive remuneration and how good practice and governance might develop without creating an inflexible set of rules.

Presenters:
Christine Abel, Practice Leader, Hay Group
Peter Boreham, Associate Director, Hay Group

5C. Managing Executive Remuneration Programmes Through a Global Economic Down Cycle
The growing financial crisis and looming economic recession have created an environment whereby Remuneration Committees as well as the senior management teams of European organisations need to ensure their business strategy and executive remuneration programmes are appropriately aligned to both the current economic environment and the regulatory and shareholder scrutiny lying ahead. As governments intervene to stabilise the global financial system, it is very likely that executive remuneration programmes will change in the affected institutions. The U.S. and the U.K. have announced constraints on some aspects of executive remuneration arrangements, and other countries on the Continent are expected to follow. This session will discuss major implications of the current global economic down cycle on executive remuneration management based on recent Mercer research and will provide guiding principles organisations should be considering as they assess their existing executive remuneration programmes. The presentation will cover pressing executive remuneration issues for both the financial services and the general industry, with focus on key areas like governance, performance measurement and risk management.

Speakers:
Diane Doubleday, Worldwide Partner, Global and Europe Executive Remuneration Head, Mercer
Mark Hoble, Principal, Senior Executive Remuneration Consultant, Mercer