Watson Wyatt Worldwide - Strategy@Work

Keep Your Eye on the Ball: Sales Effectiveness and Compensation in 2009

When experts discuss the best path out of an economic downturn, they typically describe a back-to-basics approach. Recent statements by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, investment guru Warren Buffett and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown focus on the fundamentals of corporate value, market structure and investment theory.

Performance Metrics
Balancing the Needs of Creditors and Shareholders

The events of the past 12 months tell us at least one thing: Credit and shareholder value are interrelated. While the effects of deteriorating credit markets were first felt in the financial sector in the United States, there have been broader consequences across many nonfinancial sectors. The cost of borrowing has increased, and lenders are more selective when extending credit. The capital markets are skeptical of loans to even the largest, most creditworthy companies.

Retirement Investment Strategies in a Time of Financial Crisis

What is the best strategy for retirement plan sponsors to ride out the current storm? Three Watson Wyatt experts discuss the implications of the financial crisis on investment and risk, and smart strategies for institutional investors.

Managing Retirement Plans in a Financial Crisis

What actions should retirement plan sponsors take in response to the financial crisis? In a new consultants� roundtable, Watson Wyatt experts from around the world discuss the key issues that defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors are facing and strategies to address them.

Communicating a Change in Your Retirement Plan

Companies provide retirement benefits for many reasons, including worker recruitment and retention. But if a defined benefit (DB) plan is no longer the appropriate solution, two significant questions arise: What should replace it? What�s the best way to inform employees?

MedStar Health: Engaging People, Improving Performance

MedStar Health�s vision is simple: Be the trusted leader in caring for people and advancing health. Realizing this vision isn�t quite as simple, thanks to constant financial pressures, escalating consumer demand and workforce shortages. Despite these challenges, MedStar Health is succeeding.

Leveraging Your Brand to Create an Engaged Workforce

Southwest Airlines, The Container Store, FedEx, Google. These companies have incredibly strong brands that resonate with consumers and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. But it�s also important that the brands these companies have established � the messages about �who we are� and �what we stand for in the market� � resonate with employees. Companies that achieve this brand buy-in from both customers and employees develop what Watson Wyatt and Brodeur Partners (a unit of Omnicom Group) call �employee passion.�

Path to Workforce Success in Latin America
Using strategic workforce planning and career mapping to manage talent

Latin America is enjoying a period of robust economic growth, but even good times present business challenges. In particular, the demand for talent has exceeded the supply of top-quality workers. Companies must compete to attract and retain valuable employees to propel growth and profitability.

DC Chemical Co., Ltd.: The Yin and Yang of Global Growth

New products, new countries and new ways of doing business � DC Chemical Co., Ltd., (DCC) is carrying out an aggressive agenda. Three years ago, the South Korea-based company operated in a single country. Today, it�s a global player in the chemical production industry with facilities crisscrossing the world, including those in Brazil, Germany and the United States.

Using a Career Framework to Foster Better Conversations

How many of your employees �don�t really know what to expect� from managerial communications? Their questions may seem clear-cut: Where do I fit into the organization? What is expected of me? How can I grow my career and financial opportunities? But the answers are not always easy or clear for managers and employees.

No Panic Required
Winning through productivity in an unsure economy

This much, at least, is clear: The global economy is wavering. A predicted U.S. recession and widespread inflation spell possible trouble worldwide. However, any agreement among top economists stops right there. Divided expert opinion sees today�s situation as anything from a blip on the screen to the beginning of a doomsday scenario.

Can Enterprise Annuities Flourish in China?

Many countries around the world want to emulate the success of the United States� 401(k) system and contractual savings. Among them: China, one of the world�s fastest growing economies. Faced with a sharp increase in the nation�s elderly population, the Chinese government is promoting innovative retirement savings vehicles. Its enterprise annuities � or EA � system was introduced in 2004 to provide supplementary income to retiring workers.

New Meaning in the War for Talent: The Economy, Attraction and Retention

Several months ago, Paul Platten, global director of Watson Wyatt�s Human Capital Group, sat down to discuss attraction and retention issues with three clients. Their discussion focused largely on how to control costs without affecting talent and productivity � which remain important concerns. Since then, however, the stakes have changed. There is still a very real war for talent, but it�s now being waged in a more uncertain economic landscape. This article summarizes Platten�s conversations with those clients shortly before the U.S. downturn began.

Managing People and Cultural Challenges in Mergers

Depending on the source, 50 to 70 percent of all merger deals fail. That is, they fail to achieve the goals articulated in the merger rationale. At the heart of this problem: people and cultural issues. If poorly handled, they can result in employee unrest, talent defection and organizational gridlock and, combined, can derail even the best of mergers.

Consumer-Directed Health Plans:
The Journey Continues

Consumers faced with new products or services are often skeptical. This is particularly true in health care. But when packaged with effective tools and communicated with plain language, the right innovations can move quickly into the mainstream.

Managing Human Capital in Difficult Economic Times

With the U.S. and world economies under significant pressure, many companies are looking to cut costs. But all costs are not equal. Four Watson Wyatt experts recently discussed the trade-offs executives face and how the right decisions can help employers retain the key talent they�ll need to prosper in the future.

10 questions for Joseph D�Amico, executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, Apollo Group, Inc.

Retiree Health: Challenges for Brazilian Companies

Employers around the world are struggling with the implications of retiree health care, and Brazil is no exception. A recent Watson Wyatt Voice of the Consumer survey asked more than 2,700 Brazilian employees how they feel about their prospects for post-retirement health care. Seven out of ten (68 percent) said they are concerned or very concerned, while another 29 percent are somewhat concerned.

A Matter of Choice

As director of HR at PT Bank Danamon Indonesia, Muliadi Rahardja knows his company competes in three important markets. First, the bank competes with other banks to attract and retain desirable customers. Second, Danamon competes in the capital market, for business expansion resources. Finally, it competes in the talent market to hire and keep the best employees.

Technology and the Workforce: How to Engage Talent and Build Strategic Advantage

As attracting and retaining critical talent becomes even more challenging, companies need to focus on how to successfully engage their employees once they�re on board. Engaged employees not only are highly committed but also understand how they make a positive contribution.