Managing employee benefits across multiple countries is a complex challenge, especially for organizations with diverse local practices and a history of acquisitions. Milliman and MBWL helped a global locomotive and rail technology leader move from a transactional benefits renewal process to a proactive, strategic global benefits program.

The challenge

A major player in the locomotive and rail technology sector was not receiving sufficient strategic value from its incumbent global benefits management (GBM) provider. The arrangement focused heavily on renewal management, with little proactive advice or innovation.

The organization faced several key challenges, including:

• Limited strategic input from the incumbent GBM provider.
• Gaps in benefits coverage and reporting across multiple regions.
• A complex benefits landscape due to multiple legacy acquisitions, resulting in numerous plans in many countries.
• A lean but highly capable global center of excellence (CoE) team that needed more robust global support.

The solution: Identifying opportunities

Building on a strong relationship with Milliman in the United States, the company was eager to expand that engagement globally as Milliman experts saw several opportunities to add value. In particular, they recommended adding:

• Proactive and tailored strategic advice at the global and local levels
• Delivery of strategic global initiatives and alignment with local benefit strategies
• Optimization of plan financials through pooling arrangements, harmonization, and cost-efficiency measures
• Equipping HR teams with expertise, insights, and ideas to enhance the employee experience
• Simplifying access to benefits data through easy-to-navigate summaries of plan design and key data points
• Extending global support to include both retirement and broader benefits

The solution: Addressing immediate and long-term needs

After appointing Milliman as its global benefits adviser—an arrangement that offered pooling optimization in addition to centralized GBM responsibilities—Milliman implemented a phased approach to address both immediate and long-term needs:

• Addition of global benefits management tools: Milliman developed a global country tracker and benefits inventory to create a comprehensive view of global benefit plans.
• Engagement with local brokers: The Milliman team established relationships with existing local brokers to gather data, ensure alignment, and streamline reporting.
• Enhanced communication with local HR: Milliman conducted targeted calls with local teams to align all staff on global benefits and pooling objectives.
• Creation of a complete global benefits database: Milliman experts built an up-to-date inventory of all insured benefit plans so the client had a holistic view of coverage worldwide.
• Guidance on strategic global direction: By facilitating strategic discussions across the company’s HR functions, Milliman helped the global CoE define its short- and mid-term benefits initiatives and work toward accomplishing those goals.

The outcome

Milliman’s changes helped the organization achieve both tangible financial savings and strategic advancements.

• Significant cost savings: The client saved more than $500,000 in the first year alone thanks to pooling and optimization.
• Improved global visibility: HR leaders could now rely on a complete and accurate database of insured benefits worldwide.
• Enhanced strategic influence: The global CoE gained greater influence with local and regional HR teams.
• Momentum for change: The client launched many initiatives, including benefit plan reviews, harmonization projects, and the establishment of global minimum standards.
• Broader scope of support: This included local brokerage appointments as well as pension review and administration in the United States.
• Effective change management: Milliman led and implemented changes aligned with the client’s global benefits objectives.

Through a combination of strategic advisory services, data-driven insights, and a collaborative global-local engagement, Milliman and MBWL helped the client transform its approach to global benefits management. Moving beyond renewals, the relationship positioned the organization to achieve sustainable cost savings, improved governance, and a more consistent, employee-focused benefits strategy worldwide.