Part 2 in a series on how to build a global career and legacy through cultural integration. Strategic communication skills require expats to be open and flexible, so that they and their global teams can communicate with one another.

Having great technology is only half the story in benefits. Ease of purchase, superior terms and conditions, customer research, focused marketing, engagement with and motivation of distributors, provision of employee communications, as well as technology, all are needed.

When I agreed to write an article on the current state of employee benefits for Global Benefits Vision, it was suggested that I address issues that were worrying our clients. And I kept coming back to the same answer: there just aren’t any!

Now in its 46th edition, the IBIS Academy was held in May 2016 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. A hundred and fifty participants from Europe, the Americas and Asia took part in one of the three IBIS tracks. A new Mobility track aimed at global mobility specialists was added for the first time to the two traditional sessions, the IBIS Conference and the five-day training course, IBIS Institute.

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Expat assignments create or destroy value and leave positive or negative legacies depending on the success of the expat’s ability to integrate into the host culture(s). Cultural integration requires global skills on the one hand and acceptance from the host country office (even when taking on a global role while sitting at the host country office) on the other hand.

The 2016 Lockton Global Forum took place over two days in May 2016 in Lockton’s offices in the City of London. It was attended by more than 100 delegates from 13 countries. The 2016 Forum featured a great number of in-depth presentations about generic challenges and possible responses, making it a good opportunity for global HR practitioners to sit back and reflect on their practices at a strategic level.

Why do so many well-being programs fail to deliver the outcomes that companies hope for? Their marketing makes well-being programs look highly appealing, and they feel right. But when organizations perform a dispassionate retrospective analysis of what has changed, looking for indications that benefit costs are being reduced due to improved health, there is invariably little reliable evidence.

Administering global healthcare benefits has become a daunting task for multinational employers. Local compliance and medical cost containments have become our biggest challenges, and insurance carriers, third party administrators, consultants, and brokers are busier than ever looking for relevant information that will make the difference in their value propositions. One of the major elements of the cost containment equation, however, continues to be overlooked.

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Many multinational companies struggle with a lack of gender diversity at the management level, and in particular with the lack of visible female representation in key positions. Many consider that the most logical approach to solving this problem is to preferentially hire and promote women into such roles.

Once the preserve of rich investors, endowments, and foundations, hedge funds nowadays acquire 75% of their resources from institutional investors, including 25% from pension funds. In the U.K., where defined benefits pension plans are known for their prudent if not conservative investment policies, fully half allocate at least part of their assets to hedge funds.

Selection for international assignments is not one-sided. Being able to select the right employee depends on having the right group from which to select, individuals motivated by “what’s in it for me?” If the best candidates cannot see a clear personal advantage, they are unlikely to volunteer.

Over the past few decades there has been a significant shift from the traditional defined-benefit (DB) plan toward defined-contribution (DC) plans. In defined benefit (DB) pension plans sponsored by employers, employees must rely on the employer’s investment decisions to guarantee their retirement benefit in the future.

The beginning of 2016 brought with it further controversy about executive pay. A hard-hitting report from the High Pay Centre claimed that, by the end of the first Tuesday of the New Year —dubbed by them “Fat Cat Tuesday”— the U.K.’s top executives will have earned more than the average worker would make in an entire year.

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Chris Bruce, managing director of Thomsons Online Benefits, discusses its latest Global Employee Benefits Watch, revealing the industry’s challenges and why technology is central to global benefits success.

Two critical issues faced by most multinational employers are (1) containing escalating healthcarecosts globally, and (2) building a healthy, committed, and engaged workforce. To help address these issues more effectively, multinational employers should place a higher emphasis on structured analytics when designing and implementing their health and wellness strategy, or prioritizing wellness programs.

The sad truth is that sleep deprivation is an issue too often ignored, even when it is frequently the root cause of decreased productivity, accidents, and mistakes, costing companies billions of dollars each year. Several studies have confirmed that fatigue and/or lack of sleep can produce impairment similar to that from alcohol.

Global HR executives face a distinct set of challenges every year. Our rapidly, constantly changing world is growing more sophisticated, expanding its labor pool and pressing employers, at every turn, to find new and efficient ways to add value to their organizations. Multinational companies must compete as employers of choice to meet their financial and overall organizational goals in 2016 and beyond.

Even the insurance sector, once widely associated with stability, is seeing the impact of disruptive forces and shifting landscapes, from technology to demographic trends and of course economic volatility. The new strategic plan announced by Generali Employee Benefits is all the more interesting as it sees a company that is an integral part of the history of employee benefits getting ready to shape determinedly its future.

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“Corruption, and the perception of corruption, erodes trust in governments, businesses, and markets. In the aftermath of the greatest financial crisis of our time, we need to rebuild that trust more than ever before.

GBV once again gains exclusive access to Chris Bruce of Thomsons Online Benefits for an insight into the global benefits market from one of the largest benefits software providers in the world Global Benefits Vision: What are Thomsons Online Benefits’ core businesses and main activities in general, and how do they specifically relate to the global employee-benefits industry, today?

While the concept of employee engagement has been around for over two decades, its importance as a competitive driver for employers has sharply increased in recent years. Maximizing gains from the total rewards budget and attracting the best workforce, and then retaining employees by maintaining their motivation, has never been more critical to global business.

Research conducted by the London School of Economics (LSE) in the U.K. proves the value and causal link between companies’ investment in communication and increasing their employees’ engagement with their pension, ultimately improving their retirement outcomes.

Everyone claims to be a solution provider. But even those who manage to provide solutions rather than pure products face a crucial question: Is business designed around solutions still in touch with the modern client?