Bernie C Knobbe CEBS, CCP

Head of Global Benefits & Well-being

AECOM

Bernie is Head of Global Benefits and Well-being, with AECOM, the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from planning, design and engineering to program and construction management.

AECOM has 55,000 employees in 100 countries worldwide. He is the Corporate COE leader responsible for health care, retirement, group, voluntary, lifestyle, perks and wellness/well-being benefit plans and benefits communications, benefits compliance and M&A benefits activities globally.

Previously, he was Sr. Director, Global Benefits & Mobility with Yahoo!, in Sunnyvale, CA and Vice President, Strategic Benefits with ACS, A Xerox Company, in Dallas, TX, He was also Senior Director, Global Benefits with Hilton Hotels and Senior Vice President, Benefits with Countrywide Financial/Bank of America, both headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. Bernie was also Senior Director, Global Benefits/Total Rewards with Gap Inc. headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Previously, he was Senior Manager, Global Benefits with Accenture, headquartered in Chicago, IL. Prior to that, he held Benefits Leadership positions with Morton International, CT&T, Continental Bank and AM International, all located in Chicago, IL.

He has been the Chair of The Corporate Board of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) and has attained his Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) designation. He also served on the Board of the Council on Employee Benefits (CEB) and member of the Annual Conference Planning Committee. He was a faculty member for World at Work and has attained his Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) designation. He was elected to both the Council on International Compensation and Benefits and the Council on Employee Benefits of The Conference Board and has been a Speaker at many of their sponsored Conferences on Health Care, Benefits Communications and Executive Compensation.

He has acted as a Moderator, Speaker and Panelist at sponsored Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit Conferences managed by Euromoney/Institutional Investors, both in the U.S. and Europe (UK, Spain, Italy and Hungary). He has been a judge for both the Pensions & Investments Eddy Awards and the Business Insurance EBC Awards and has been a Speaker and Moderator at several of their sponsored Defined Contribution Conferences, US and The Hague, Netherlands. He has served on Employer Councils for the NCQA and the HR Policy Association and on Advisory Councils for United Healthcare, Cigna, Aetna, Anthem, Merrill Lynch and Ameriprise, and the Canada Pensions Benefits National Forum in Canada. He was a Speaker at the Mobile Health Conference at Stanford University, and several Workshops at the CEB Annual Conferences. He has also presented at the Willis Towers Watson Client Conferences, Aon Empower Client Days, Mercer 101 and the Employee Benefits News Annual Benefits Conference.He also served as Co-Chair for the McDermott, Will & Emery Benefits Innovator Roundtable events. (See Biographical Resume Supplement for Awards, Publications, Speaking at Industry Events, etc.).

He holds a BS in Accounting from Truman State College and served an internship with the US Department of the Treasury, IRS.

Speaker Questionnaire

What are your top priorities for employee health and well-being in 2022?

Continue our global well-being journey, in year 5 of our program, to enhance return on individual for employees well-being and return on investment for the company by supporting our culture of caring, health and safety and employee experience in all 6 of the pillars embedded in it, including both emotional and physical health and the planet to support our ESG business strategy.

What are the most innovative programs that you will focus on in 2022 and 2023?

Global Challenges, Global e-Newsletters, Freedom to Grow flexible work arrangements, Employee Value Proposition alignment.

Looking at our three moonshots surrounding costs, culture, and care, which do you align with the most? What are you doing in this area?

Continuing to enhance our culture of well-being will enable higher levels of care and greater alignment of costs to deliver best in class programs, services and resources that provide opportunities to optimize spend and outcomes.

If you could automatically receive a 25% reduction in costs in three areas/programs, what would your dream list be?

Improved results in mental health and stress related costs, preventive and behavioral health costs and improved financial well-being outcomes of investments for employees.

Is there an area where you were able to either create savings or stop costs from rising?

Are you doing anything to reimagine corporate culture and wellbeing?

If there were two physical solutions that could be turned into virtual or remote care instead, what would those be?

If you look at our 3 Moonshots - Costs, Culture, and Care; In one sentence, tell us what would be something positive for us to take from 2020 and bring into this new year?

Well-being culture can be supported virtually and globally by focusing on a caring approach with mental health-focused efforts to support employees and families.

Sessions Speaking

Families First, Top Priorities Organizations are Adopting for In-Person and Remote Workforces

April 27, 2022

10:00 am

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10:50 am

As we step into year three of the pandemic, no other benefits have had such importance as those that focus around prioritizing employees’ families. This session will share what leading organizations are offering and rolling out to employees in the areas of fertility, childcare, eldercare and other health benefits that focus on women and their families. With more and more employees working from home, and many companies postponing return to work initiatives, companies are recognizing that productivity and profits are tied directly to the benefits that help employees out at home. Learn how these benefits are your ultimate weapon against the great resignation.

View session details

1 Conference. 3 Moonshots.

Remember the mission to reach the moon? In 1962, President JFK set forth a vision. He initiated a movement that outlived him! Even in his death, the mission was accomplished seven years after his famous speech. Now we’re on a five-year mission, and it's not about us. This is a mission for you – the individual, the stakeholder, the employer healthcare and benefits professional. Join the mission to reduce costs, reimagine culture, and reinvent care.