London, 10 July, 2013 – Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health solutions business of Aon plc (NYSE: AON), has today announced further findings from its Benefits Administration Survey 2013, which highlights that increasing numbers of employers are offering flexible benefits plans to improve overall levels of employee engagement.

Andrew Woolnough, client development director at Aon Hewitt said:

“The use of flex plans is becoming ever more widespread, with 70% of organisations surveyed offering them - up from 62% in 2012. This is increasing as employers also seek to enhance employee engagement as well as attracting and retaining the best staff.

“Flex is a growing part of the employee benefits ‘menu’, offering a real answer to organisations’ problems by further allowing the shaping of benefits, the work environment, and the options they present to their employees to enable them to take control of their health, retirement, financial security and careers.”

Aon Hewitt's Benefits Administration Survey 2013 attracted 361 respondents from organisations representing over two million employees. Respondents to the survey included professionals from HR, benefits, compensation, reward and other specialties, as well as pension managers and trustees. .

The survey also revealed that employers are committing increasing resources to benefits packages, with one third of respondents spending more than 20% of payroll on benefits as they seek to use them to deliver better employee recruitment, retention and engagement.

As employers are spending more and more on benefits, they are understandably keen to derive as much value for money from their commitments and to be able to track measurable returns on their investment.

Andrew Woolnough said:

“Monitoring and measurement of benefits is of paramount importance.  Employers increasingly need to know what returns – both financial and otherwise – they are targeting and receiving. Unfortunately, many employers fail to measure accurately against their key objectives and so cannot track the true value of the benefits packages they are offering.

“It is not just a matter of increased measurement but also of enhancing perceptions. Effective employee communication is key to this process and is becoming more important than ever as the benefits agenda extends into engagement.”

As with other forms of administration, there is an increasing trend towards the outsourcing of flexible benefits administration. 73% of respondents outsource the administration of their flex plan, up from 60% in 2012.

Respondents to the survey indicated that the most common reasons for choosing an external provider are cost, the ability to have multiple services handled by one provider and a desire to improve the employee experience.

While satisfaction levels with outsourced service providers for flexible benefits admin are generally high, more than a quarter feel that their current service is average or poor.

Andrew Woolnough added:

In our experience, organisations are looking for the next generation service, where value is increasingly being defined by the employee.”

Other key findings from the survey include:
• Over half of respondents spend more than 15% of payroll on benefits and more than a third spend more than 20% of payroll on benefits.
• The top engagement priority for the next 12 months is communicating the full value of reward to employees.
• 45% of respondents cite attracting and retaining talent as the most popular reason for offering benefits.
• More than half of respondents evaluate their benefits strategy. The evaluation measures they use are partly aligned with the reasons they give for offering benefits.

Media Contacts:  

Colin Mayes                                    Giles Abbott
Aon Hewitt                                       Capital MSL
 01372 733689                                 020 7307 5340
colin.mayes@aonhewitt.com             giles.abbott@capitalmsl.com

Notes to Editors

Copies of Aon Hewitt's Benefits Administration Survey 2013 are available here.

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About Aon Hewitt

Aon Hewitt empowers organisations and individuals to secure a better future through innovative talent, retirement and health solutions. We advise, design and execute a wide range of solutions that enable clients to cultivate talent to drive organisational and personal performance and growth, navigate retirement risk while providing new levels of financial security, and redefine health solutions for greater choice, affordability and wellness.  Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human resource solutions, with over 30,000 professionals in 90 countries serving more than 20,000 clients worldwide.  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 61,000 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.