Dubai, 15 April 2013: Aon Hewitt, the global human resources business of Aon plc (NYSE: AON), today announced the launch of a new salary survey that will focus exclusively on universities and colleges in the GCC.  This is the first time there has been a comprehensive regional survey of those in higher education and comes in response to a growing demand from the sector to have a clearer understanding of the standards of pay and rewards within the industry. 

Until now, universities and colleges across the region have had to suffice with overall GCC salary surveys or sector-specific information coming from the US or European data.  The creation of a bespoke study that will focus entirely on higher education institutions in the GCC will not only provide hard data on salaries for each job role and levels but it will also provide insights on the practices in the rewards policies such as prevalence of variable pay as well as figures on benefits and allowances such as housing.

Robert Richter, Compensation Survey Manager at Aon Hewitt Middle East, said: “The decision to launch a study specifically for the higher education providers in the GCC was prompted by an increase in enquiries for clarification on salary benchmarking from the sector across the region.  By running a specific study tailored to the specific needs of the industry, we will be able to offer HR professionals unprecedented insights into salary levels for every role and area of expertise within the profession. 

“The importance of this cannot be underestimated as the data generated is key to enabling organizations to evaluate how competitive they are within the industry, something which is simply not possible at the moment.  The impact of this is significant as it will help ensure organizations do not under – or indeed, over – pay employees compared to their industry peers, which is vital to attracting and retaining the best talent and, ultimately, achieving business success in the long-term.”

With unparalleled experience in consulting on HR best practice, higher education providers can be confident in the credibility and reliability of Aon Hewitt’s data, which is taken directly from a large number of institutions rather than being based on recruitment statistics or even self-selecting polls which tend not to be representative of the full company nor as accurate. As a result, Aon Hewitt can be relied upon to provide robust and meaningful analysis that is truly representative of the industry. 

Launching in April, Aon Hewitt is inviting universities and colleges across the region to help shape the survey – from specific job functions they would like including to possible survey questions – to ensure the outcomes reflect the needs of the industry.  To get involved, organizations will need to submit their anonymised salary data to Aon Hewitt for confidential inclusion in the industry analysis.  Once registered, organizations will be invited to take part in steering groups which will take place in May, with all data due to be submitted by the end of July.  The cost for taking part is $US 4,000, for which organizations will be represented in the study and also receive the full industry analysis report in September

About Aon Hewitt

Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human resource solutions.  The company partners with organisations 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 plc (NYSE:AON) is the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 65,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative and effective risk and people solutions and through industry-leading global resources and technical expertise. Aon has been named repeatedly as the world’s best broker, best insurance intermediary, reinsurance intermediary, captives manager and best employee benefits consulting firm by multiple industry sources. Visit www.aon.com for more information on Aon and www.aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon’s global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.

Media Contact:
Joanna MacAdie
DABO & CO 
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joanna.m@daboandco.com