LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill., Mar. 19, 2013 – While the number of organizations offering virtual work arrangements has increased from 35 to 45 percent over the past few years¹, a few notable companies have recently gone against the trend and banned working from home policies. These moves may lead more employers to reevaluate their own flexible work arrangements, says Aon Hewitt, the global human resource solutions business of Aon plc (NYSE:AON).

“While we do not expect to see a huge flux of companies banning telecommuting, it does open the door for other companies to at least consider whether virtual work makes sense for their own workforce today,” said Carol Sladek, work-life consulting lead at Aon Hewitt. “It’s important for employers to remember that virtual work programs are not one-size-fits-all. They need to consider how to best balance workforce productivity with initiatives that attract, engage and retain top talent. This balance is particularly important in today’s increasingly global and mobile workforce.”

Aon Hewitt offers five questions employers should consider when evaluating their virtual work programs:

• To what extent does the organization’s strategy emphasize collaboration and innovation, and what tools does it have to encourage and enhance collaboration for those working virtually? How might collaboration be impacted by requiring all employees to work on-site?
• Are formal guidelines in place to help managers and employees evaluate whether a virtual work arrangement is appropriate for the role/employee, or are arrangements offered on an ad hoc basis?
• How does offering a virtual work program impact employee attraction, engagement and retention, especially with high performing employees? What effect would eliminating this policy have?
• Does the organization have managers who can successfully manage their teams, whether employees are working in or out of the office?
• Are there tools in place to assess the effectiveness of virtual work, such as performance, engagement, retention, teamwork and cost/savings impact?

“Virtual work programs are most successful when organizations set appropriate expectations, foster communication between managers and employees and measure performance to ensure effectiveness,” added Sladek. “They should be designed and implemented to support the needs of employees, yet drive results and support the organization’s overall business goals.”

¹ Aon Hewitt 2012 SpecSummary database of more than 1,300 employers

Sign up for News Alerts: http://aon.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=58
Follow Aon Hewitt on Twitter @AonHewitt

About Aon Hewitt
Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human resource 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 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 Contacts:
Amy Ochalski
847-771-4225
Amy.ochalski@aonhewitt.com

Cybil Rose
312-755-3537
Cybil.rose@kemperlesnik.com