Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, today announced the formation of a coalition of leading London-based businesses that will develop key recommendations and guidelines on how companies can work, travel and convene in future, as society moves towards the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The London Work, Travel & Convene Coalition, which holds its inaugural virtual meeting today, consists of large employers and other key organisations with a presence in the City of London or Canary Wharf including Accenture, Aviva, Clyde & Co, JLL, Legal & General and others.
Convened and led by Aon, the focus of the coalition will be for members to share key learnings and insights related to planning and operations, assess the impact of different approaches, and evaluate the latest technologies and how these can be utilised to support employees and businesses returning to the workplace. This collective knowledge will be used to create a first-of-its-kind benchmark to rapidly develop key recommendations and guidelines to build a path forward. An initial report is expected in November 2020.
Reflective of business leaders’ expertise, the coalition will also look to closely align efforts with UK government guidelines on public health and other official recommendations.
Julie Page, CEO, Aon UK, commented: “We are very pleased to bring our coalition-building efforts to London, one of the world’s leading international financial centres. While all parts of London face challenges in acclimatising to the ‘new better’ following the government-mandated lockdown, The City and Canary Wharf face specific challenges in getting people back to the workplace, such as high-rise buildings, the density of buildings and people, and dependence on public transport. These parts of London also form an interconnected eco-system, and decisions made by the large employers that inhabit them will be a determinant in London’s ability to move toward societal and economic recovery. We also believe there is an important opportunity to learn from the pandemic and its impact, to build stronger operational resilience and explore improvements in how we most effectively use the workplace.”
“Large employees have a critical role to play, and we hope that by working closely with the public sector and guidelines set by the government, we can be a positive catalyst in helping organisations return safely to the workplace and rebuilding economies around the world.”
Richard Waterer, Managing Director, EMEA, Aon Global Risk Consulting commented: “Whilst the pandemic has brought about higher levels of remote working for many firms, it’s important for us to think about what the future will look like. Some employees will need, or choose, to return to the office while some will continue working remotely. As businesses and organisations take steps to reopen offices, it’s important to do so with a people-first approach. Key to this will be evaluating how we can embrace new technologies that support businesses and employees and help in the drive to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces.”
“The London Coalition will also focus on Community Wellbeing, to ensure that our collective efforts play a role in supporting social justice, as well as societal and economic recovery initiatives. It’s vital that we commit to strengthening the communities in which we work, many of which have been dramatically impacted by the reduction in office workers as a consequence of the pandemic.”
The initiative is part of a global objective of supporting the safe return to the workplace; Aon has also launched coalitions in New York, Chicago, Dublin and Singapore, and plans to conduct similar efforts in other major cities including Rotterdam, Madrid and Tokyo. Individual members of the Coalition will also undergo practical readiness assessments, which will further support collaboration and feed into the global insights Aon generates in its annual Global Risk Management Survey.
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