Mercer Digital launches with Rohit Mehrotra named CEO of new arm
Global professional services firm Mercer have launched a new Digital business wing. Mercer Digital will aim to connect the enterprise to new technology-driven and innovative ways of working. The new arm of the consulting firm will be headed up by Rohit Mehrotra, the current Global Leader of subsidiary Mercer Workday, in the capacity of CEO.
Mercer, the consulting firm whose parent group Marsh & McLennan also includes Oliver Wyman, NERA and Marsh, have formed a strategic alliance with PayScale, a provider of compensation management software which analyses real-time salary data to ensure financial efficiency. The arrangement has been negotiated in order to bring together Mercer’s expertise in compensation consulting and information products with PayScale’s strength in technology and data science. The coalition, which will operate under the Mercer Digital banner, aims to advance compensation data and software solutions Mercer can offer clients and their future workforces.
Mercer Digital will support clients as they transition to new models of work that are enabled by digital technologies. In connection with this alliance, Mercer will secure an equity stake in PayScale, which has built the world’s largest crowdsourced database of salary profiles utilising big data technologies. That investment seeks to build upon the firm’s strong position in reward consulting and information. For PayScale, the hope is this relationship will enhance the company’s portfolio and product capabilities with deeper consulting and data expertise, enabling the firm to tailor solutions to customers’ needs.
As Mercer will provide a global channel for distributing PayScale’s products, PayScale will also provide a channel for Mercer’s products. Together, they will collaborate to develop new, innovative compensation and workforce data products and solutions, though the full terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The agreement comes at a time when Mercer is looking to boost its benefits and compensation offering, having acquired Thomsons Online Benefits outright earlier in 2017.
“Our strategic alliance with PayScale is an ideal opportunity for Mercer to provide clients with new technology platforms as we help them transition to a digital future,” said Ilya Bonic, Senior Partner and President of Mercer’s Career business. “By investing in PayScale and serving on its Board, Mercer will have a front-line view of the most promising technologies as well as contribute to the development of new data products.”
Rohit Mehrotra to lead the arm
Mercer has meanwhile appointed Rohit Mehrotra as CEO of Mercer Digital. In his new role, Mehrotra will report to Ilya Bonic, President of Mercer’s Career business, while working to build a portfolio of digital organisation and workforce change solutions. The new platform, Mercer hopes, will enable businesses to adapt their technology and people models to operate, manage, and compete more effectively. Mehrotra has worked to change organisational though regarding work before. A co-founder and CEO of CPSG Partners and current Global Leader of Mercer’s Workday business, the firm intends for him to enable Mercer to combine human capital and technologies in ways that will distinctly change the way organisations connect with their employees, as they transition to a digital workforce.
According to Mehrotra himself, a rapidly transforming consumer-led business environment is being driven by how individuals around the world engage with digital technology, which employers are yet to fully utilise in aid of their employees. He continued, “That intersection is exactly where Mercer Digital sits, bringing the combination of the digital mind-set and the deep expertise of Mercer. We intend to create an environment that attracts top talent that has a passion for charting new frontiers in the digital world. We will bring Mercer IP and digital assets to well-established cloud platforms.”
“Rohit’s background, leadership, and knowledge of technology and business insight make him perfectly suited to lead Mercer Digital,” said Julio Portalatin, President and CEO of Mercer. “He understands clients’ needs to be digitally enabled throughout their organization and will ensure we offer a comprehensive, fully integrated set of capabilities that can be delivered to clients globally.”
Mercer’s move to launch a Digital offering follows a growing trend in the consulting industry. As the digital transformation market has boomed to a value of $23 billion, a number of high profile firms have launched their own effort to assist clients with new technology. Deloitte, PwC, BCG, Bain and many more have all entered the market with 'Digital' labels looking to tap into increased demand in the field, while firms like McKinsey & Company and Synechron have launched variants on digital capability centres; laboratories aimed at showcasing the potential of automated technologies for applications like Industry 4.0.
