Innovation

The Human Sustainability Index, or HSI, can be attributed to Aon's Human Capital Team. Human Capital can simply be described as the value of your team. Aon realizes that employees are the engine that fuels a business to grow and be successful, but often, they can be the same people left behind by internal policies that do not keep their best interests in mind. Companies who care to improve the quality of life for their most important asset can use the Human Sustainability Index to build an internal culture from its basic building blocks, employees, all the way to the top.

A culminative project developed over the last few years, the HSI is a process to be completed in stages. This begins with the individual. It becomes harder to accomplish anything at all when you are alone with floundering mental health. The first step is to improve the wellbeing of all members of your team, making sure that each member is accounted for. Next comes team building and assessment to understand how your employees interact and collaborate. Finally, comes the overall organizational assessment. These assessments are then used for analytic driven testing where the end result is sustainable goals for individuals and the organization to follow and improve the overall impact and efficiency of their organization.

Goal 16, that of "Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions", is described by the United Nations as follows: "Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels." The Human Sustainability Index promotes peacefully societies from within organizations themselves. By caring for the wellbeing of those within the organization, a company is more likely to understand and care about the impact of their actions on those in their communities. Aon has dedicated years of service to making sure that all of their clients are heading for sustainable futures, and that starts with having people dedicated to your cause. The HSI has the power to bring inclusivity to the workplace by making organizations understand the importance of a healthy workplace culture. Sexism, racism, and other toxic traits are hopefully eliminated through this process, and we can now strive to continue improving the business' output as a fully formed team.

Inspiration

Innovative reinsurance solutions are a great benefit to the environment and society, especially in light of the rising risks associated with climate change and the unpredictability of the economy. The creation of flexible insurance products, which provide payouts based on set triggers like wind speed, rainfall levels, or earthquakes, is one noteworthy example. Following natural catastrophes, these products expedite the claims process and offer affected communities' quick access to financial aid by leveraging cutting-edge data analytics and technology. This promotes societal resilience by expediting recovery and reconstruction activities, while also reducing the financial stress on people and businesses.

The elements into investment strategies and underwriting processes are another significant innovation in the reinsurance industry. In order to encourage sustainable practices and ethical behavior among insured companies, reinsurers are progressively including "SDG" considerations into their risk assessment models. This strategy promotes the adoption of eco-friendly activities and by matching incentives with social welfare and environmental conservation goals. This helps to combat climate change and protect natural ecosystems on a global scale.

By communicating with Joseph Vitale in this interview, what we really found interesting and will carry out for our future is when he mentioned how the human capital and client relationship always remains #1. If you focus on profit, you will never get anywhere. You are only as good as your last deal. It is from this that the idea for the Human Sustainability Index was born. It is imperative that human capital is maximized as a business is only as strong as its weakest link. Assessing the wellness of people within the organization allows a thorough examination of the possible story behind performance. Your people are not just cogs in a machine, and what is seen as poor performance may really be the affects that all factors of life have on the wellness of a human being who just so happens to be a member of your team. The HSI hands the responsibility of looking out for employees back to the clients of AON, and the future of business only exists for those willing to provide that care.

Joseph Vitale elaborated on this by telling a story about how he gained the trust and relationship of his current largest client. He said when he first met her many years ago he would ask her to go to social events in hopes of getting her business and her response would always be “no.” He said one day he asked her why she kept saying no and he said she said that she was a single mother who just wanted someone who could “make her life easier by managing her business.” His response to her was “let’s go to Chucky Cheese on Friday!” This gesture of going out of his way to make it easy for her and taking her personal situation into account has allowed him to build a very strong business relationship that still continues today. This is a great example of the type of connections that the HSI and Aon embody. Life does not end with the workplace and it is important to consider all factors that contribute to our well-being as people.

Overall impact

The short-term effect of the Human Sustainability Index is really the fact that it sets the plan in motion. Resilience is not built in a day, just as any tangible skill is not, but the first purpose of the Index is to get employees to reflect on their already established resilience. According to Aon, only around 30% of all employees who take the beginning assessment describe themselves as resilient. Financial

Financial Health, Community, Physical Health, Emotional Health, Relationships, Competency and Action, Meaning and Purpose, and Mental Health are what are known as the Human Sustainability Index Pathways, and they are what individuals assess their own resilience in relation to. Aon has determined that sustainability and resilience in these key areas are what translate to more committed and focused employees because they would no longer have the stress of these eight factors. In the long-term, this allows for Aon's clients to have a healthier and more efficient workforce that understands their own personal value and how to tackle the challenges from their lives in the workplace.

Initiatives like the HSI are becoming more and more common amongst organizations. According to Aon's 2022-2023 Global Wellbeing Survey, 83% of all institutions have one such plan to increase resilience amongst their team. They are not without success either as according to the same survey, looking to improve the sustainability of your people and make sure that they have as little external dread as possible can be worth up to a 55% increase in performance. This system is also in place at Aon and its affects are remarkable when considering the building the resilience of its employees.

Business benefit

Aon has been an industry leader when it comes to risk assessment and opportunity since its inception. Their team has committed itself to helping its clients develop sustainable business for nearly half a century through better decision making, companywide assessments, and the careful handling of risk capital and most importantly, human capital.

As mentioned before, initiatives to improve wellbeing can be directly correlated with a growth of over half in performance. That type of growth can be seen on an organization's bottom line, and it is clear to see where it originates. The Human Sustainability Index is one of the premiere tools in that realm, and it is one of the many that Aon provides to its patrons. While never directly turning a profit, it is the type of reliable instrument that strengthens the relationship between Aon and its clients. It builds resilient people, and it is an investment into those people by the company.

As Mr. Vitale stated in our interview, "It used to be money, money, money on top, little people, little people, little people on the bottom, and managers got to go on [fancy] vacations. It is no longer; the employee is equal with the revenue stream. Taking into consideration personal parts of your life, difficulties, death of a loved one, etc." This shows the value that is now placed onto people inside of the organization. No longer is money the only most valuable asset to an institution. It is no 1A and 1B with the people they choose to have enter their doors and scan a keycard each and every day.

Social and environmental benefit

The Human Sustainability Index benefits society by creating a world where employees can feel fulfilled in all areas of their lives. I believe that the ultimate Index of the goal is similar to that of a cancer researcher. I say this in the sense that anyone in that line of work hopes that their job will be obsolete one day because a cure has been found. The Index's ultimate goal is to make itself unnecessary.

The Human Sustainability Index will destigmatize the notion that life must be left at the door when entering the workplace. We are all human and we all have our struggles. It is how we understand them, attack them, and not let them define us that makes us who we are. The HSI creates a more resilient work force, prepared to handle all challenges that they must face inside the workplace and the problems they bring from outside those walls.

The HSI pushes employees to invest in themselves. These HSI pathways are intrinsic to not only company success, but to betterment within us all. It is impossible to deny that are best versions of ourselves are what result from focusing on these main pathways. If they goal of every corporation all around the globe using the index were to be realized, the planet would undeniably be a better place as our truest selves entered the world each day ready to improve ourselves.

Naturally, from a risk assessment standpoint, our collective impacts on the environment and the results of climate change are immensely important to Aon. Joseph said this, "We now look at our travel based on if it is needed, how much paper we are using, and what our emissions are." He then related this to the points touched on earlier about evaluating for earthquakes and floods and the direct correlation between these small actions and these large events. The Human Sustainability Index has looked to help these impacts through its Community pathway. The environment is something many employees care about and for, and they can find it harmful if their company is not doing the same. These efforts to cut emissions and be active in helping clients prepare for disaster and react when catastrophe does strike helps prove to members of the team that the corporation very much does care about the impact it has on all people. Assessing employees' thoughts on how the organization tackles these issues using the data-driven assessments of the HSI is a great way to gauge the sentiment of those within your organization.

Interview

Joseph Vitale, Executive Managing Director

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