Study shows global shift in attitudes of leading
organizations toward long-tail risks and the impacts on how
society will continue to work, travel and
convene
More than 130 organizations across multiple industries and
four continents in 10 cities participated in coalition meetings,
sharing best practices and outlining new priorities to accelerate
economic recovery
CHICAGO, Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aon plc (NYSE:
AON), a leading global professional services firm providing a broad
range of risk, retirement and health solutions, has published a
global report, "Helping Organizations Chart a Course to the New
Better," which presents research, regional findings and trends on
how organizations have responded to the novel coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic to date and are adapting to prepare for other
emerging long-tail risks.
Beginning in Chicago in
June 2020, Work, Travel and Convene
Coalitions launched in Australia,
Germany, the Netherlands, and Singapore as well as major urban centers
Dublin, London, Madrid, New
York, and Tokyo, including
participation by more than 130 organizations from a broad range of
industries. The 10 coalitions formed across four continents to
examine issues arising from the pandemic, share key learnings and
insights and help develop best practices for moving forward. This
report is the result of months of ongoing dialogue with some of the
world's leading organizations.
"COVID-19 has fundamentally reordered the priorities of leading
public and private organizations around the world," said
Greg Case, Chief Executive Officer
of Aon. "Our decision to convene these coalitions was driven by a
need to build a collaborative roadmap to make better decisions in
an increasingly complex world. Rather than accept the so-called new
normal, this work leads our clients to define the new better on
their own terms."
Along with the coalition dialogue, Aon performed a comprehensive
quantitative diagnostic to address readiness, resilience and
wellness as well as assess priorities as the pandemic evolved.
Spanning more than 15 industries and representing multinational
organizations from the U.S, Europe
and Asia, key findings
include:
- Nearly 89 percent of companies plan to enhance
their wellbeing program to focus on their workforce's emotional
and mental health wellbeing as a result of the pandemic.
- More than 84 percent of companies said they have
strengthened their communications protocol to better react and
respond to vendors, governments and employees during the
pandemic.
- More than 87 percent of companies have deepened their
partnership with key vendors to support the management process
and coordination of a return to the workplace.
Through the coalitions, key themes have emerged by geography as
participants identify priorities, build guidelines and best
practices and chart the path forward:
- Australia: accelerating
the ability to adapt to crisis, building a resilient workforce in
or out of the office and addressing the underserved impacted by the
economics of COVID-19.
- Dublin: workforce
agility, mental health and wellbeing and the connection between
innovation and collaboration.
- London: how to return
to the workplace, the future of work and the importance of data in
that future.
- The Netherlands: health
and safety, building connectivity to balance attrition and improve
productivity.
- Singapore: the agility
of firms and employees, the importance of culture and the future of
work.
- United States: the role
of leadership and communication, the future of work and return to
the workplace.
The report also highlights six case studies about efforts in
handling the COVID-19 pandemic over the past nine months:
- Professional services company Accenture explores how
strategic planning and integrated decision making, with a primary
focus on safety, enabled the firm to scale its pandemic response
and adapt as the situation evolved.
- Bord Bia, the Irish food board, explains how its past
crisis management experience allowed the organization to plan for
multiple scenarios and support Irish producers, farmers and
companies while nurturing innovation.
- Science and technology company Merck KGaA streamlined
its "Future of Work" program, a data-driven approach shaped by four
guiding principles.
- Real estate services provider JLL identified the
importance of networking and communication in its multifaceted
response to the pandemic, leveraging its technology investments and
forging public-private partnership aiding front-line governments in
their pandemic response.
- Global restaurant chain McDonald's recounts how its
experience in managing health and safety concerns and supply chain
planning, along with support for its diverse workforce, led to the
company's response.
- Helle Thorning-Schmidt,
former prime minister of Denmark,
shared her initial learnings from the crisis, urging the private
and public sectors to find new ways to approach collaboration to
better prepare for future threats.
"Over the course of this six-month dialogue, coalition
participants have reacted to shifting expectations around the
duration and ultimate impact of the pandemic," added Case. "Even as
we publish these findings, new restrictions and lockdowns are being
issued against the backdrop of a global race to approve and
distribute a wave of promising vaccines. These realities reinforce
that, while there may be a long road ahead, there is in fact a path
to a new better for countries, companies and communities around the
world."
Through recent research, these Aon-led efforts have identified
four core priorities for organizations as they have shifted in
response to the pandemic, preparing them to accelerate innovation
and address future risks: addressing the underserved, navigating
new forms of volatility, building a resilient workforce and
rethinking access to capital. The company further examined these
client needs in "Helping Clients Navigate an Increasingly Complex
World," published earlier this year.
In addition, Aon's August 2020
survey, "Are You Prepared for the Next Big Threat?" asked 800
c-suite leaders and senior executives in the U.S., the EU and the
U.K. about their views of future risk in the wake of the COVID-19
pandemic, and is available here.
To access the full report, "Helping Organizations Chart a Course
to the New Better," please click here.
About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) is a leading
global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk,
retirement and health solutions. Our 50,000 colleagues in 120
countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and
analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve
performance.
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