Julie Ann Merkel is a Managing Director in WTW’s Employee Experience line of business with two decades of experience in employee research, communications and change management. She applies her expertise in these areas to help clients plan, implement and manage change within their organization across total rewards topics, including wellbeing.

She is the North America Total Rewards Optimization leader, which is WTW’s research approach assisting organizations with determining the rewards that have the biggest impact on employee attitudes and behaviors (using adaptive conjoint analysis) and then creating reward portfolios that deliver the highest return on investment to the organization (using portfolio optimization).

Partnering with clients, Julie Ann identifies the most effective methods for gathering the “employee voice” and translating it into strategy, drawing on internal and external research, interviews with leaders, employee focus groups and surveys. Because her expertise spans the full total rewards spectrum (compensation, healthcare, wellbeing, retirement, work environment and talent management), she brings a holistic perspective to how program changes are designed and put into practice.

She has presented on total rewards topics at various forums, including the Human Resources Management Association of Chicago, Automotive Operations Survey Group, and most recently at the High Tech and Media Steering Committee meeting in London. 

Since joining Towers Perrin in 2007, her clients have included Fortune 500-listed companies in the financial, healthcare, automotive, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, engineering, retail, internet service, education and technology industries.

Education and Credentials

Julie Ann has an M.S. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Alliant International University (San Diego campus), a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Organizational Communications from Western Michigan University.