Last week Aon Hewitt announced that Russ Fradin, who led Hewitt since 2006 and is currently the Chairman and CEO of Aon Hewitt, will be leaving to become CEO of SunGard.
Kristi Savacool, Aon Hewitt’s current chief executive officer of Benefits Administration, and Baljit Dail, Aon Hewitt’s chief executive officer of Consulting, were appointed co-CEOs of Aon Hewitt and will report to Greg Case, President and CEO of AON. Jim Konieczny, current chief executive officer of Aon Hewitt’s HR BPO, will remain in that role and will report directly to Savacool. These changes are effective immediately.
In a call with other Aon Hewitt leaders, Savacool and Dail stressed that the effect of their co-leadership would be “greater integration between the Outsourcing and the Consulting businesses,” resulting in better solutions and service delivery for Aon Hewitt clients around the world.
Other important points:
- It is business as usual at Aon Hewitt. Other than changes in leadership roles, very little else is changing. The business and investment strategy remains the same, and the delivery teams remain focused on their clients.
- Bringing the HRO and the Total Benefits Outsourcing businesses under Savacool will further promote the integration of Aon Hewitt’s outsourcing services without diminishing Jim Konieczny’s responsibilities.
- There is continued commitment to the growth and development of the HRO BPO business.
- The leadership structure in Benefits and Consulting will remain unchanged; all leaders will take on more responsibilities, creating the capacity needed by Savacool and Dail to take on their new roles.
- The focus on integration between the Outsourcing and Consulting businesses is being touted as a continuation of the broader integration of the former Aon and Hewitt organizations.
While this can be viewed as a positive change, it will be important to see how the integration is truly realized by clients. While the pair expressed that good succession planning prepared them for Fradin’s departure, most senior leaders in the Aon Hewitt Outsourcing and Consulting businesses will be adding responsibilities to their realm — all this during a time when the Aon and Hewitt integration is still under way.
Client satisfaction can be greatly improved with integrated consulting and outsourcing services by one provider. Others have tried to build out such synergies in the past, with varying success. These factors make the new co-CEO arrangement worth keeping an eye on.
Readers, what do you think of this turn of events?
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