October 2022 / 10 Min Read

How Companies are Improving the Employee Experience

In today’s evolving market, it takes more than compensation to attract and retain the talent you need. Aon recently conducted its Employee Experience Survey to find out what’s top of mind. Here’s a snapshot of what we found.

Key Takeaways

With shifting workforce priorities and a constantly evolving workplace, employees across regions and industries now care more about the bigger picture.
The majority of employers are offering programs and amenities to support physical health and wellness.
Employees are increasingly seeking recognition for their work, as well as opportunities to make a meaningful impact on society.

In today’s evolving market, it takes more than compensation to attract and retain the talent you need. With shifting workforce priorities and a constantly evolving workplace, employees across regions and industries now care more about the bigger picture. It becomes a question of not how can, but how does an employer enrich their lives?

As part of the Radford Market Practice Studies, Aon recently conducted its Employee Experience Survey, which includes responses from 1,059 global HR professionals representing their organization’s practices across sectors. Findings reinforced the immense increase in focus for these five areas…

Wellness

Whether full-time or hybrid, flexible work is here to stay. Ninety-two percent of organizations are currently offering a formal or informal flexible workforce program that supports virtual work. Additionally, 83 percent of employers have programs and amenities to support physical health and wellness, with every respondent in the United States providing this benefit.

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Types of On-Site Facilities or Amenities Offered

Country	Shower/ Locker Room	Gym/ Weight Room	Indoor Activities	Outdoor Group Activities	Outdoor Individual Activities	Health Classes/ Training
United States	65%	64%	43%	28%	29%	53%
United Kingdom	36%	25%	33%	20%	25%	66%
Australia	32%	23%	26%	13%	24%	61%
China	30%	23%	18%	21%	19%	61%
India	24%	28%	41%	21%	25%	72%
Brazil	22%	18%	27%	11%	14%	76%
Germany	30%	27%	31%	21%	22%	60%

Types of On-Site Health and Wellness Services Provided

Country	Vaccinations	Health Screening	Ergonomic Evaluations	No On-Site Services Offered
United States	41%	28%	40%	38%
United Kingdom	17%	16%	29%	57%
Australia	19%	15%	26%	58%
China	19%	24%	32%	49%
India	31%	21%	29%	47%
Brazil	15%	19%	31%	58%
Germany	16%	18%	30%	57%

58%
Companies that offer employees personal financial support (e.g., debt management, retirement planning, scholarships for dependents and other tools and services).

Aon’s Employee Experience Study, September 2022

The main challenge organizations face in attracting, retaining and inspiring the workforce of the future is articulating their human capital strategy with the needs and preferences of their talent. At a tactical level, organizations are refocusing their wellness programs to meet individual needs in the context of an evolving work model that breaks down spatial, temporal and career barriers.”

Carlos Ferreyra
Head of Advisory & Specialty, Health Solutions, Aon

Employee recognition

Top recognized achievements include reinforcing values, recognizing performance, enhancing performance and increasing engagement.

Types of Achievement Awards

Country	Company Memorabilia	Household Items	Lifestyle/Luxury Items	Event Tickets
United States	75%	37%	40%	14%
United Kingdom	78%	32%	34%	10%
Australia	80%	30%	30%	12%
China	76%	34%	33%	10%
India	79%	36%	35%	11%
Brazil	80%	33%	29%	7%
Germany	79%	32%	32%	7%

68%
Companies with a formal employee recognition program.

Aon’s Employee Experience Study, September 2022

Learning and development

Nearly three-quarters of organizations offer internal learning and development programs, compared to 57 percent for external programs. The most popular types of internal training include subject specific training followed by career planning tools. Leadership programs were offered by around two thirds of respondents with mentoring, job rotation and special projects being offered by less than half of respondents globally.

Perquisites

While sixty-three percent of companies still offer certain defined perquisites to most or all employees, specific in-office perks, like free meals have declined year-over-year likely due to continued remote work.

Before the pandemic, keeping up with competitors by creating an all-enveloping workplace with generous on-site perquisites was all the rage. In today’s new hybrid environment, the employee experience goes well beyond the physical space and now must focus more comprehensively on what matters to your employees to engage and retain them.”

Tim Brown
Partner, Human Capital Solutions, Aon

80%
Companies in the U.S. that offer subject specific training.

Aon’s Employee Experience Study, September 2022

Companies Offering Free Meals at Work: 2021 vs. 2022

Country	2021	2022
United States	68%	55%
United Kingdom	53%	41%
Australia	51%	35%
China	52%	27%
India	53%	37%
Brazil	39%	27%
Germany	45%	34%

Corporate citizenship

Being part of a meaningful organization is rising to the top of many employees’ priorities. To keep in line with this demand, 78 percent of companies are currently publishing “social responsibility reports,” with around three-quarters of them being published annually.

45 percent of organizations are providing incentives for “going green” by pledging to carbon neutral and green building initiatives. Other examples include public transport cost subsidy, recycling and bike to work programs.

Ensuring that your firm has clear DEI goals and delivers on them is also key. Sixty-one and 60 percent of companies, respectively, have formal initiatives in place to address gender and ethnic diversity.

Types of DEI Metrics Measured

Gender or Ethnicity	Workforce Demographics	Mobility of Diverse Employees	Employee Sentiment (Analyze/Use Engagement Surveys)	Pay Equity Studies
Gender	95%	68%	51%	77%
Ethnicity	94%	66%	51%	74%

Capturing all aspects of the employee experience is becoming more and more pivotal to an organization’s workforce resilience and business success. To learn more about Aon’s Employee Experience study and other studies in the Radford Global Compensation Database, click here.

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