Aon Hewitt Survey Shows Gap in Leadership Effectiveness and Lack of Confidence to Drive Change

CHICAGO, May 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2011 Talent Survey released today by Aon Hewitt, the global human resource consulting and outsourcing solutions business of Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON), finds a significant capability gap in leaders, as most organizations focus on growth in today's post-recession environment.

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Aon Hewitt surveyed 1,328 employers nationwide and found that leaders play a vital role in meeting business goals (56 percent), meeting profitability targets (56 percent), delivering service (56 percent) and retaining talent (44 percent). However, only 12 percent of respondents say their leaders are extremely effective at meeting business goals. What's more, just 14 percent believe their leaders are extremely effective at meeting profitability targets, 17 percent say the same holds true for delivering service and 7 percent believe their leaders are extremely effective at retaining talent.

"As we emerge from one of the worst recessions in history, company executives must develop new leadership skills in order to improve workforce productivity and stimulate engagement," said Amy Mills, vice president with Aon Hewitt. "They also must invest in developing middle managers who can bridge the gap between leadership strategy and employee actions, and are best positioned to effect change. In fact, our survey shows a crisis in confidence that corporate leaders will be able to reposition their companies for profitable growth and create an engaging work environment."

According to Aon Hewitt, leaders must be more creative in this post-recession environment. Other key capabilities include:

• Focus on the most valuable talent and pay for performance;
• Demonstrate speed and agility;
• Develop middle management;
• Increase employee engagement; and
• Develop leadership resiliency.

Hiring Trends

In addition, this survey revealed that 45 percent of respondents are planning to hire more employees in 2011 than they did in 2010, and only 16 percent expect to hire fewer employees this year than they did last year.  However, just 28 percent of organizations believe they are very or extremely effective at hiring quality employees. Approximately half of these employers (51 percent) say they are effective at securing quality hires and 21 percent think they are only somewhat effective or not at all effective at hiring quality workers. According to Aon Hewitt, many HR departments lack recruiting resources to process and screen the large number of candidates applying for positions.

"As employers begin ramping up the number of hires, this is a great opportunity to significantly improve the hiring process," said Jason Krumwiede, vice president with Aon Hewitt. "We are seeing clients focus on improving the candidate experience, upgrading selection and assessment approaches that will yield increased performance from new hires, and redesigning the on-boarding process."

Additional findings from the 2011 Talent Survey:

• Employers' top three concerns are talent retention (31 percent), business strategy execution (18 percent) and employee engagement (16 percent).
• Sixty-one percent of employers will increase their focus on talent development, 40 percent anticipate a greater focus on hiring, and nearly one-third anticipate increased turnover in 2011.  
• Seventy-eight percent of employers agree that total rewards statements, which provide an overall look at compensation and benefits in a user-friendly manner, are effective at demonstrating value to employees. In addition, total rewards statements are reported to improve retention (69 percent) and improve employee engagement (63 percent).

About this Survey

Aon Hewitt's 2011 Talent Survey examines the talent practices, strategies and challenges employers face, as the nation begins to emerge from the worst financial crisis in modern history. Findings show that organizations are optimistic and cautiously beginning to change their focus from reducing costs to growth strategies. To download the report, please visit www.aon.com/talentsurvey.

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About Aon Hewitt

Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human resource consulting and outsourcing solutions.  The company partners with organizations to solve their most complex benefits, talent and related financial challenges, and improve business performance.  Aon Hewitt designs, implements, communicates and administers a wide range of human capital, retirement, investment management, health care, compensation and talent management strategies.  With more than 29,000 professionals in 90 countries, Aon Hewitt makes the world a better place to work for clients and their employees.  For more information on Aon Hewitt, please visit www.aonhewitt.com.

About Aon

Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing. Through its more than 59,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to deliver distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Aon's industry-leading global resources and technical expertise are delivered locally in over 120 countries. Named the world's best broker by Euromoney magazine's 2008, 2009 and 2010 Insurance Survey, Aon also ranked highest on Business Insurance's listing of the world's insurance brokers based on commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage revenues in 2008 and 2009. A.M. Best deemed Aon the number one insurance broker based on revenues in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and Aon was voted best insurance intermediary 2007-2010, best reinsurance intermediary 2006-2010, best captives manager 2009-2010, and best employee benefits consulting firm 2007-2009 by the readers of Business Insurance. Visit http://www.aon.com for more information on Aon and http://www.aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon's global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.

SOURCE Aon Corporation