The new shape of work: Recent Episodes
Mercer
Businesses are reinventing in response to COVID-19. The new shape of work reflects a focus on values critical to business success. More flexible, sustainable work models and business practices are the keys to helping companies address today’s realities and tomorrow’s challenges. This podcast addresses the challenges and uncertainty in the workplace and focuses on how we transition to a more agile workforce for the future. For more Mercer insights, please visit https://www.mercer.com/our-thinking/career/the-new-shape-of-work-covid-19.html
The Middle East and India have tremendous growth ambition and are making great strides toward their goals. But fast growth also comes with talent management chalenges. In this episode, Lisa Lyons, Mercer’s Regional Transformation Center for Excellence Lead for Middle East, India and Africa talks about workforce trends, challenges and opportunities in the market. Through the conversation they discuss the impact of GenAI on work, the focus on developing skills for the future, and the role of HR in helping employees prepare for work and workforce changes.
While organizations have been exploring how AI can support their productivity and growth across many functions, one area that has been taking a more cautiousapproach is the Total Rewards function. With a variety of confidential data about employees managed by this team, there is an understandable hesitance to jump in too quickly. But there is also a risk of not being at the table to help shape how AI will used in the HR function.
In this episode, Kate Bravery and Gordon Frost of Mercer explore how employee expectations and legislative imperatives are reshaping total reward strategies with the shift to pay fairness and transparency.
Janine Vos of Rabobank shares the challenges and opportunities on the path to becoming an agile HR team, and the mindset shift that is crucial tothe transformation.
Are we positioned to access the full potential of AI-driven productivity gains when 82% of employees feel at risk of burnout?
Wanda Wallace shares the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone, knowing when it is time to move on, and building supportive relationships in your organization.
In this episode, we speak with Martin Smit, Head of Global Compensation Solutions at Takeda, about Generative AI in the rewards function, the opportunities for GenAI to improve efficiency and productivity, as well as ideas to help employees become more comfortable with AI tools.
Hanna Fager shares how the focus on long-term employment and investing in people’s development supports performance and culture at Volvo Cars.
In this episode, we are sharing practical guidance for making sustainable people mangement work in today's global economy. The advice shared comes from a new book from called Work Different: 10 Truths for Winning in the People Age.
The use of generative AI can enable HR teams to work more efficiently with data, find talent with future-fit skills, and enhance the employee experience. What steps are employers taking to embrace this transformation?
The conversation around well-being is expanding from health into new areas including financial well-being, job quality and even social isolation. Workplaces can be powerful communities to influence improved well-being outcomes. How are employers tapping into theopportunity?
The fast pace of change has employees exhausted, but adding AI into the HR digital transformation has the potential to enhance jobs in the future. Jason Averbook joins our podcast to share three pressing trends for the future of HR.
How did HR and IT at Novo Nordisk collaborated to elevate DEI as a critical piece of the business transformation agenda? Listen to the journey they took and what they see moving forward.
Transforming total rewards programs to create consistent and cost effective benefits offerings for employees can be an effective way to attract and retain top employees. In this episode we share the total rewards transformation journey Ericsson has taken to enhance employee experience while reducing benefit costs and risk.
Read here for more information about New Shape of Work.
How can we do things differently today to improve the future of work? Melissa Swift shares practical fixes to basic things that are wrong with work. Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
Organizations are looking for ways to win the war for talent. In this episode, Nandini Nathan, Group Head of Compensation and Benefits at Infosys, talks about how putting skills at the heart of the talent and reward processes has been critical for their success. Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
In this episode Jeff Black, Mercer’s Global M&A Advisory Leader, shares how organizations need to understand the talent they have and ensure they have people, with the right skills and in the right roles, to make an M&A deal move forward effectively. Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
Today we'll be diving deep into Generative AI to discuss how generative AI is impacting the workplace, andmore critically how we can at an individual and organizational level prepare ourselves for its impact.
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
Employee engagement is critical, but as people rethink their relationship to work, organizations have an opportunity to improve their approach engagement. Hear two of our specialists sharing their ideas on how organizations can refocus on employee experience.
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
In the discussions about the evolving future of work, the idea of transitioning from traditional roles into skills-based work has many people excited. But it brings with it a challenge that we cannot overlook. According to our Global Talent Trends study, women tend not to believe that the skills that they have today could be suitable for a role they might move in tomorrow. This brings concern for gender equity in the future of work.
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
Organizations worldwide are facing big challenges. Whether it is talent shortages, inflationary challenges and how they affect compensation, or recession concerns in different countries, 2023 is starting as a challenge. Our conversation today features three global experts from Mercer talking about these talent challenges and opportunities.
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
Forward-thinking organizations are reinventing themselves under the new shape of work as responsible, innovative employers making proactive commitments to good work. In this episode, hear how Yara International is working to ensure a living wage across their full time employees.
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
In this episode, we speak about the current economic situation and the potential impacts on the business and people agendas in 2023.
Amelia Hadfield the Head of the Department of Politics, Dean International at the University of Surrey
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
We are seeing a human energy crisis in workplaces today. People are feeling especially depleted and HR is concerned that if we can’t bring back people’s energy, the whole conversation around returning to the office is a non-starter. In this episode, we hear about the four types of energy as well as how we need to work collectively as individuals and organizations to recognize and resolve the human energy crisis.
Eren Rosenfeld Managing Director, Leadership at The Energy Project
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
Employees have been bruised by the events of the last two years and many are feeling a form of despair, anxiety and a lost sense of belonging. While the road ahead still appears rocky, employers can provide mental health options to help cultivate a feeling of belonging, encourage psychological safety, and provide tools and training to help struggling employees find the support they need.
Wolfgang Seidl, Leader of workplace Health consulting in the UK and Europe for Mercer Marsh Benefits
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
The employee reward landscape is adapting to better support new ways of working and it is becoming a critical lever in culture change. In this episode, Chetna Singh, Head of Total Rewards at SAP, shares how total rewards goes beyond compensation and benefits to support transformation and innovation for employee culture and careers.
Chetna Singh, Head of Total Rewards at SAP
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
In this episode, we are talking with Moritz Kippenberger, head of HR services at BMW group, about how HR needs to radically transform the way it operates to survive post-COVID. And, the role of employee experience can play to ensure that the jobs that we have are attractive today and offer growth path for skills of the future.
Workplace flexibility is high on the business agenda and, as a result, organizations are looking at adjustments to their work operating model. This has big implications for people responsible for talent management. In this episode, Placid Jover, Unilever’s VP HR for Latin America, talks about a new approach to talent management that balances the need for critical skills and workforce flexibility to help both the company and employees succeed.
Guest: Placid Jover, VP HR for Latin America, Unilever
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
Executives ranked total well-being as one of the top employee initiatives that will deliver ROI in 2022. Learn what employees are looking for from their employers based on the Health on Demand research, and how employers are responding by offering new and innovative benefits programs.
Guest: Nicole Passmore Cohen, Principal, Advice & Solutions, Global Health & Benefits at Mercer
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
Employers are managing through a tremendous amount of change. In this episode, Ravin Jesuthasan and Brian Fisher with Mercer discuss employers’ need for agility, and how technology, new operating models and cultures need to come together to help employers be successful in the future of work.
Guest speakers
Brian Fisher, Global Skills Solutions Lead Mercer
Ravin Jesuthasan, Global Transformation leader Mercer
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
At its core, transformation is more than just business model transformation, it is also about people. We can start the transformation journey by thinking about the needs of our people and our cultures to help us define the path forward.
Guest speaker
Sarena Lin, Chief Transformation and Talent officer with Bayer
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
With men still holding the majority of the positions of power in the global workforce, gender equality will simply not happen without their involvement. Join us as Mercer’s Angela Berg discusses how to equip men to participate in the DEI journey and how embedding DEI across the organization can lead to competitive advantage.
Guest: Angela Berg Global Diversity,
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
COVID-19, racial and social unrest, and a growing ESG agenda have accelerated the need for a more diverse, equitable and inclusive world. Join as Till Leopold and Gitanjali Chaturvedi from the World Economic Forum discuss how companies can make a positive societal change as part of their own sustainability agendas.
Guests: Till Leopold and Gitanjali Chaturvedi with the World Economic Forum
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
At this stage in the pandemic, many organizations are finding themselves on growth trajectories again. But, those growth trajectories need to be sustainable and factor in environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals to meet the expectations of employees, customers and investors.
Guest: Kai Anderson, Transformation leader for Mercer Europe
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
At this stage in the pandemic, many organizations are finding themselves on growth trajectories again. But, those growth trajectories need to be sustainable and factor in environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals to meet the expectations of employees, customers and investors.
Guest: Kai Anderson, Transformation leader for Mercer Europe
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
In part two of our conversation with Tripti Jha, we discuss the importance of skills, building a skill-fueled culture, and how you might approach the talent marketplace as a way to bring in new skills to the organization, and to build skills more effectively in the organization.
Guest: Tripti Jha, Chief Talent and People Solutions officer at Novartis
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
Tripti Jha, Novartis discusses the shift away from seeing well-being as a benefit, as well as how the unbossed culture journey that Novartis started prior to the pandemic has allowed them to focus both on understanding and meeting employee needs, and working toward their vision and purpose for the future of working.
Guest: Tripti Jha, Chief Talent and People Solutions officer at Novartis
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
David Henderson Group CHRO at Zurich Insurance shares how the future of work has shifted during the pandemic; the critical role that upskilling and reskilling play in having an organization that can perform today and stay relevant tomorrow; and the role of psychological safety as they build toward work sustainability.
Guest: David Henderson, Group CHRO at Zurich Insurance
The healthcare industry faces a variety of significant risks from rising demand for service, rapid technology adoption and a workforce on the front line of the pandemic response. We discuss these issues and ideas on how providers can address these issues now and in the near future.
Guests: Gisele Norris, Managing Director, US National Healthcare Practice at Marsh, and John Derse, Partner, Healthcare Industry at Mercer
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
The healthcare industry faces a variety of significant risks from rising demand for service, rapid technology adoption and a workforce on the front line of the pandemic response. We discuss these issues and ideas on how providers can address these issues now and in the near future.
Guests: Gisele Norris, Managing Director, US National Healthcare Practice at Marsh, and John Derse, Partner, Healthcare Industry at Mercer
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
The workplace and the workforce has changed at an accelerated pace. It's clear that we're still figuring out how best to respond to this new landscape. We're diving into how the future work agenda has been reset, and what individuals, companies and societies do to thrive in this new world order.
Guest: Till Leopold, World Economic Forum
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
77% of companies said that flexibility is going to drive their transformation agenda this year according to our Global Talent Trends research. Companies are looking to understand how to develop a more flexible workforce and work model. Our guest shares the flexibility journey Pandora is taking.
Michele Wilkinson, Chief Talent Officer at Pandora
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
Organizations’ are increasingly focused on ensuring that different populations of their employees are truly thriving. Join us as we speak with Travis Barton, Talent manager and analytics leader at GE to hear the proactive steps that GE has taken on the path to a more diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment.
Guest: Travis Barton, Talent Manager and Analytics Leader at GE
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
The pandemic has magnified the impacts of social inequality. There is more awareness of racial discrimination, gender inequalities, and mental health challenges. It is more critical than ever for companies who want to remain relevant and best positioned for the future to have leaders committed to DEI.
Guests: Angela Berg, Mercer Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and engagement practice partner and David Jackson, Mercer talent strategy partner
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp
Flexible working supports longer and more fulfilling careers, giving employees newfound freedom and employers access to experienced talent. Interestingly, it’s also an inclusive way to support ALL generations in the workforce, an important component of today’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agendas.
Guest: Yvonne Sonsino, Partner and Global Co-Leader of Mercer’s Next Stage platform, Mercer
Providing cost-effective benefit plans that protect and improve health requires optimizing costs while maintaining a focus on employee wellbeing. Employee benefits programs play an important role in supporting the employee retention, engagement, and employee wellbeing. But COVID-19 has brought uncertainty to medical trend rates and risks to cost containment and employee health. Listen to learn more.
Guest: Amy Laverock, Mercer Marsh Benefits Global Strategic Initiatives and Solutions Leader
Mercer’s Global Talent Trends 2021 research shares four key trends that will enable companies to navigate in the future. COVID-19 has accelerated many trends identified in Mercer’s Global Talent Trends report. Listen to hear how the top four trends are reshaping HR strategies and prompting organizations to reimagine the employee experience. Listen to learn more.
Guest: Kate Bravery, Mercer global advisory solutions & insights leader
Pairing empathy and design thinking can support plans for a safe return to work factoring in the diverse physical, mental, and social needs of the workforce to provide a balance of flexibility and stability. Empathetic leaders are well placed to support employee health and wellbeing, and identify early warning signs that employees are struggling. Listen to learn more.
Guest: Wolfgang Seidl, Mercer Partner and Workplace Health Consulting leader
Temporary talent sharing can help you optimize costs and workforce — and avoid layoffs — by flexing roles and talent, allowing employees to learn new skills in new environments. Listen to learn more.
Guest: Brian Fischer, Mercer’s global leader for job evaluation and career frameworks
Looking at the coronavirus in three phases – respond, return, and reinvent – can help employers plan for the unique challenges that businesses must address in each phase. The crisis has shifted how we work and is providing the opportunity to incorporate the successful changes we’ve made in our daily work in response to COVID-19. Listen to learn more.
Guest: Norman Dreger, Partner and CEO Mercer Germany
Website: https://bit.ly/2XAZ7pp