NEW YORK (Business Wire EON) January 31, 2008 -- Mercer’s International Position Evaluation (IPE) system and eIPE Unlimited web tool, used by multinational organizations to objectively and consistently evaluate and assign jobs to grade levels across the organization, has been enhanced to include an alternative platform for those less experienced in position evaluation.

What is distinctive about Mercer's new decision-tree approach is its simplicity, flexibility and transparency. Multinational organizations can now use one tool worldwide and be assured that both levels of functionality will arrive at similar evaluation results.

After years of dormancy, position evaluation has become a priority for multinational organizations as they seek to harmonize their compensation programs. According to Mercer’s Global Compensation Strategy and Design Survey of US and European companies, more than one-third of multinational organizations will implement a new global level structure along with a new position evaluation process in the next two to three years. By doing so, these organizations are seeking simplicity, consistency, transparency and the ability to implement position evaluation in an increasingly decentralized environment.

“Mercer’s original IPE system was designed to meet the most demanding of position evaluation requirements,” said Darrell Cira, principal with Mercer. “However, like other position evaluation tools, it required a certain level of expertise and training which meant relatively few employees within the organization – often compensation professionals at headquarters – could use the system. In fact, our research shows that nearly two-thirds of organizations around the world delegate the process of assigning job grades to the local and regional offices where few compensation professionals are located.” See Table 1.

To allow international organizations to more effectively decentralize the position evaluation process, Mercer’s enhanced IPE system allows users to choose between two levels of functionality: the point-factor rating methodology or the easy-to-use decision tree that leads the HR professional – specialist or generalist – through a series of questions to evaluate a position. Users can decide to apply either or both platforms.

According to Mr. Cira, “What is distinctive about Mercer’s new decision-tree approach is its simplicity, flexibility and transparency. Multinational organizations can now use one tool worldwide and be assured that both levels of functionality will arrive at similar evaluation results.”

Mercer’s IPE system and eIPE Unlimited web tool are used by more than 350 organizations around the world. Valuable insights from users have contributed to continuous improvement of the system.

“Over the past few years, we have done considerable research to ensure what we value in jobs reflects the nature of today’s organizations and job designs,” said Henning Nielsen, principal of Mercer and IPE product manager. “Our emphasis now with IPE is enhancing its simplicity and usability. Later this year, for example, we will release a new software upgrade that, among other things, will introduce multilingual capabilities.”

For more information about Mercer’s IPE system, visit www.imercer.com/ipe. The newly enhanced IPE system will be available for current IPE users as a benefit of their license agreement.

About Mercer

Mercer is a leading global provider of consulting, outsourcing and investment services. Mercer works with clients to solve their most complex benefit and human capital issues, designing and helping manage health, retirement and other benefits. It is a leader in benefit outsourcing. Mercer’s investment services include investment consulting and multi-manager investment management. Mercer’s 17,000 employees are based in more than 40 countries. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., which lists its stock (ticker symbol: MMC) on the New York, Chicago and London stock exchanges. For more information, visit www.mercer.com.

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