Mollie O'Brien

Head of Compensation, Benefits & Performance Management

BASF

Mollie O’Brien understands first-hand that internal communications are as important as external communications in a social media world that empowers employees as well as consumers.  Through her efforts, BASF has demonstrated how Business-to-Employee (BtoE) Marketing can contribute to a company's success, particularly as they grapple to attract and retain the kind of talent that can transform a company's activities, its image, and--ultimately-- its bottom line.

BASF, the world's largest chemical producer, realized that its employees didn't fully understand the range of benefits the company had to offer. In fact, BASF research revealed that the company's Compelling Total Offer (CTO) was on par— and often better— than that of competitors. However the perception of BASF's CTO wasn't aligned with this truth. There was an awareness problem, not just of benefits, but of overall depth and breadth of their CTO.

As a result, Ms. O’Brien created the Total Rewards brand for BASF’s Human Resources organization to communicate an integrated offer to current and future employees in a more “holistic” manner to shift perceptions.

A "you@BASF" campaign was launched to the 17,000-strong workforce in North America to communicate the company’s benefits and the new Total Rewards program.  BASF's German headquarters then decided to roll out the program globally to over 100,000 employees. The "you@BASF" campaign now consists of traditional, digital, experiential and other touchpoints.

Today, the total number of employees who feel that BASF Total Rewards meets their needs has risen from 27% to 58%, while the number of employees that say that BASF Total Rewards strongly factor into their decision to stay with the organization has jumped from 48% to 63%.

Mollie O’Brien’s role is not only to create new Total Rewards brands, but to overhaul salary and bonus structures, ensure market competitiveness, and drive change management efforts.  Prior to BASF, she served as Global Director, Total Rewards for AOL and Director of Compensation at Time Inc.