Mercer: Making a difference in people's lives

Mustafa Faizani, CEO - UAE and IMETA Region, tells us why in an evolving society driven by digital age it is imperative to invest in services that address the needs of a multi-generational workforce.

For more than 70 years, Mercer has been in the business of creating more rewarding futures for their clients and their employees by designing affordable health plans and improving quality of care, managing and advising on assets for investors for enhancing financial wellness and applying digital innovation to match employers with the right talent.
Founded in 1945, Mercer spearheaded operations from Canada as an actuarial and benefits consulting firm. In 1959, Mercerwas acquired by Marsh & McLennan Companies. The firm has since expanded through growth and acquisition to become a global leader in Health, Wealth, and Career.
Expansion into the U.S. and across North America and Europe ensued throughout the '70s and '80s. The '90s marked Mercer's global expansion into Latin American, Asia, Australia, and Eastern European markets. By 2000, Mercer entered the Middle East, Africa and India. With 21,000+
colleagues, 26,000+ clients and offices in 140 countries, Mercer is a dominant brand across the world, and is rapidly growing throughout growth economies including the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Placing people at the core
As a global leader in Health, Wealth, and Career, Mercer is driven to solve complex problems and find new ways to make a positive impact. "Creating better outcomes for the clients we serve is our guiding principle. Our clients' success is the true measure of our success. We have touched 110 million lives globally and offer regional and hyperlocal support to all of our markets. Especially within the Middle East, we have taken global intellectual capital and localised it to help our clients. Health, wealth, and career challenges, including but not limited to managing rising labour costs, developing the skills of local national employees and matching employer demand with talent supply - are influencing how organisations operate and manage their people throughout the Middle East," said Mustafa Faizani.
"Our expertise and ability to apply data-driven research, analysis and insights, allows us to bring greater value to our clients. We are especially recognised for our Human Resources solutions in the region [IMETA], as we help our clients with talent strategy, workforce rewards and planning,
workforce analytics and productivity, employee engagement and compensation benchmarking. One of our leading research initiatives, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, details that 50 per cent of the skill sets individuals possess today will not be applicable in the next four years. Adopting digital skillsets will be critical to remaining competitive." 
Driving digital transformation
"In response to the ongoing digital transformation taking place across international markets, we launched MercerDigital. This unifying brand provides our clients digital solutions to automate HR processes, helps our clients engage with their talent, meets changing workforce needs, and supports their people in achieving better health and financial well-being. For example, one of our data-driven apps, MercerMatch, applies psychometric analytics to accurately identify the right candidate based on client specifications. Already proven successful in North America, we are deploying it in Saudi Arabia and with some of our clients here in the UAE," explains Faizani.
In addition to the various solutions within Mercer's wealth domain, their private client investment consulting team specialises in the formation and implementation of financial strategies developed to meet the unique objectives of each family. "We work with clients to establish family offices, investment plans and processes to effectively manage inter-generational family wealth. Our analytical rigour, insights and global expertise allow us to create comprehensive, tailor-made solutions for our clients' needs.
"With a firm-wide focus on innovation, Mercer is dedicated to and specialises in planning effectively for change in health, wealth, career platforms where policy changes and shifting workforce demographics abound. Lastly, our global reach ensures we can deliver the right solutions, anytime, anywhere," Faizani adds.

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