Mercer Marsh Benefits March 2020

Mercer Marsh Benefits: Developing data and talent

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Mercer Marsh Benefits: Developing data and talent WRITTEN BY

AMBER DONOVAN-STEVENS PRODUCED BY

NATHAN HOLMES

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Richard Roper, Health & Benefits Leader Hong Kong, Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) Asia, discusses building an excellent workforce and optimising data in order to drive the insurance company forward

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Richard Roper, Health & Benefits Leader Hong Kong, Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) Asia, became a part of MMB,

a collaboration between Mercer and Marsh, when Marsh & McLennan acquired Jardine Lloyd 04

Thompson (JLT) in April 2019. Roper had been with JLT for over 20 years, starting out as a consultant before moving to lead the corporate financial services business, private clients, sales and marketing in the UK. In 2014, he moved to Asia in order to lead the JLT Employee Benefits business in Asia. Though the merger marked a significant shift across the organisation, Roper takes personal pride in the success of the integration of the two companies. “During this time, we surpassed all targets. This was against a backdrop of difficult times in Hong Kong,” he adds. “The resilience of the team to get the job done was remarkable.”

Roper’s role divides into two sets of priorities: internal and external. “From an internal perspective I want to build a great working environment which gives everyone an opportunity to shine,” he explains.

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“ I want to build a great working environment which gives everyone an opportunity to shine” 06

— Richard Roper, Health & Benefits Leader Hong Kong, Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) Asia

Given the amount of uncertainty in Hong Kong at present, he emphasises the need for stability, transparency, good communications and an element of fun when completing tasks. In terms of external priorities, Roper refers to Mercer’s new tagline, ‘Welcome to Brighter’, which he feels summarises both his and the company’s outward priorities. “We need to always bring a point of view to our clients and execute well. We need to ensure that our clients get to see the whole of what Mercer can offer and boldly shape the

Mercer: Welcome to Brighter CLICK TO WATCH

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07 future.” He goes on, saying: “This is

improve the employee experience,”

particularly exciting in Hong Kong and

he says. “Our role is to work out how

in the health and benefits space as it is

we can best help companies achieve

such a fast moving environment with

those goals by understanding what

many new companies trying to impact

the factors are that affect those

on the medical insurance ecosystem.”

goals.” To achieve this, data needs to

Executing a successful digital

be acquired and assimilated in a man-

strategy is invaluable in the industry

ner that enables effective insights for

and region currently, but for MMB it

Marsh & McLennan’s clients, and this

is particularly important to harness

has been taking place alongside the

technology in order to bring improved

changes undertaken by the workforce.

insights to its clients while matching

“For example, last year our Hong Kong

the needs of its changing workforce.

office went 100% agile. No allocated

“Our clients are looking to attract and

desks, no offices, just different types

retain employees, manage costs and

of mobile workstations. All employees w w w.me rc e rma rshbe ne f i ts . com

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have laptops and access to confer-

then use the outputs to formulate

encing technology that allows fully

targeted actions to help organisations

mobile virtual meetings.” He adds that

achieve their people-related goals.”

this has been particularly valuable with

Corporations moving to harness large

the recent disruptions in Hong Kong,

amounts of data is often easier said

as employees have been able to work

than done, but MMB has met this

from home or remotely.

challenge with confidence through its

Within this strategy, Roper believes

partnership with AIA. “We worked very

that the key technology underpinning

closely with AIA on data driven well-

MMB’s competitive edge is its use of

ness, utilising claims data, biometric

data. “MMB goes a step further with

screening data and health risk

the use of data. Data without insights

assessment data to formulate a plan

is useless. We go the extra mile to

to provide targeted interventions

gather different data sources and

to improve the underlying health

“ We utilise our own talent and retention strategies and work on organisational structures in order to ensure that MMB is an exciting, challenging and vibrant place to work” — Richard Roper, Health & Benefits Leader Hong Kong, Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) Asia

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Richard Roper Richard Roper is the Health And Benefits Leader Hong Kong. Having worked for JLT for 14 years in the UK EB team, Roper came to Asia in 2014 to lead the JLT Asia EB business which now spans 14 territories in the region. Situated in Hong Kong, he sits on the JLT Asia Executive Committee and the Global EB Leaders Forum. Roper previously held roles at JLT as Head of Private Clients, Sales and Marketing Director and Managing Director of the JLT benefit Solutions business in the UK. Prior to JLT he worked at Capita for nine years leading the UK financial services team.

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LEADING A

HEALTHIER CENTURY At AIA we make a promise. We are going to help people live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives. This is our purpose and sits at the heart of everything we're about and everything we do.

LEARN MORE

aia.com

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PA RT N E R S

Richard Roper on Mercer Marsh Benefits’ partnership with AIA Group

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“AIA are a key insurer partner. We work closely with them, particularly around health and wellbeing and ‘data driven wellness’. Their Healthiest Workplace Survey is a key tool in benchmarking corporate health. For our larger clients we utilise AIA’s data tool which provides a great visualisation of data for clients. In addition, the ‘Vitality’ exercise incentivisation programme, delivered by utilising wearable devices or simply mobile phones, is very successful in getting people moving more.”

and wellbeing of employees.” Roper credits the ability to have provided companies with a benchmark from which they can assess the success of these goals to MMB’s completion of AIA’s Healthiest Workplace Survey.

MMB has real expertise on ‘The Workforce of The Future,’ according to Roper. He asserts the need to be attuned to the fact that MMB’s workforce is changing, as employees’ needs differ depending on where they may live. “We utilise our own talent and retention strategies and work on organisational structures in order to ensure that MMB is an exciting, challenging and vibrant place to work.”

To give his workforce the tools needed to provide excellent service, Roper elaborates on MMB’s new healthcare data dashboard, which enables companies to understand how ongoing claims information could be used to predict costs at renewal.

“Rather than wait until close to renewal and possibly get a shock in terms of costs, we can provide a dashboard providing a consolidated view of all aspects driving future insurance costs,” he says. This includes top diagnoses w w w.me rc e rma rshbe ne f i ts . com

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and conditions, predictive cost modelling and hypotheticals. Clients can then benefit from both early warnings to any future cost increases, as well as a view of all of the underlying drivers of those costs.

Looking forward, Roper can see that the claims process is moving to become wholly digital in the wider industry. As an athlete with a particular love for triathlons, Roper uses various apps such as Strava and Relive in order to track his performance. Wearable 14

technology, he believes, will become an integral part of the medical insurance industry in the future. “In addition to simply providing fun data postexercise, wearable technology will undoubtedly impact medical insurance as well. The more data that insurers have on individuals, the more accurate the pricing and therefore the more incentive to improve health.� Wearable technology will be amongst many other types of disruptive technology that will enter the region. “Telemedicine has to come to Hong Kong, despite regulatory challenges. There are also many advanced chatbots or virtual assistants that can serve as a triage service

“ We go the extra mile to gather different data sources and then use the outputs to formulate targeted actions to help organisations achieve their people-related goals” — Richard Roper, Health & Benefits Leader Hong Kong, Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) Asia 15 before a doctor is seen. That will become commonplace over the next decade. The culmination of all of these factors will create an improved experience for both clients and employees alike.” As MMB gathers pace in this new decade, it is ready to embrace new challenges and technologies head-on in order to remain a leader in the region and industry.

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