Shanghai, November 10th, 2010 – Many China-based companies have been slow to adopt current best practices in the delivery of human resources services, and HR departments are generally doing a poor job of providing the services that their companies need to compete in the global business arena, according to a recent survey conducted by Aon Hewitt, the global human capital consulting and outsourcing business of Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON), with unique expertise in the China market.

Barely one quarter (27%) of companies surveyed had adopted the “three pillar model” or HR service delivery, which allows companies to more effectively target HR services to segments within the company, according to data from Aon Hewitt’s “HR Effectiveness in Greater China” survey. Many Chinese companies are still using a “one size fits all” service delivery model, which does not allow them to differentiate services as needed to support the company’s business goals. 

The three-pillar model, widely used by top firms in developed countries, is designed to maximize the value of HR services to the larger business needs of the company. It consists of three elements:
HR Center of Expertise – focuses on designing programs and strategies for delivering technical expertise and solutions in such areas as compensation, talent management, and training.
HR Business Partner – provides a single point of contact for HR services to company executives and senior managers and directs the crucial function of aligning HR solutions with business needs.
HR Shared Services – concentrates on centralizing and streamlining traditional transactional HR services such as payroll and benefits.

The Aon Hewitt survey also identified a need for companies to improve their processes for gathering feedback from their internal customers, in order to better differentiate and target HR services. Only one third of responding companies regularly collected feedback on customer satisfaction with HR services.

“Our data show a clear need for many China-based companies to retool their HR functions to better differentiate services for internal customers,” said Dr Piotr Bednarczuk, corporate transactions and transformations practice leader of Aon Hewitt Greater China. “Companies that can provide high quality targeted HR services that meet the business needs of the company will stand the best chance of maintaining the high growth rates we have seen in recent years.”

The survey demonstrated that companies that have adopted the new model in China also have higher HR efficiency. Companies with a clearly defined service delivery model have substantially higher HR FTE (Full Time Employee) ratio and higher on average spans of control. This is mainly due to clearly defined roles and documented processes as well as a higher leverage of technology.

About the HR Effectiveness in Greater China Survey
Aon Hewitt conducted this survey in July 2010, in both Chinese and English. It is designed to inspire reflection on current practices by HR professionals across China and to provide benchmarking data that will enable companies to identify their own areas of need. The 114 responding companies were asked to use a six-point scale to rate their own effectiveness across four main areas covered by the survey: HR strategy and governance, HR organization and delivery, HR processes, and HR capabilities, as well as to identify the leading workforce challenges they face. Companies were determined to be “HR Excellence” companies if they had an average rating of at least 4.5 across all four areas of the survey.

About Aon Hewitt
Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human capital 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 capital 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/unitedin2010 to learn about Aon's global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.

Media Contact:
Jiang Tong, +86.10.6587.5800, tong.jiang@hewitt.com
Cynthia Tian, +86.21.3865.8319, Cynthia.tian@aon.com