Making Sure Workforce Investments are Driving Growth

Making Sure Workforce Investments are Driving Growth
August 10, 2026 14 mins

Making Sure Workforce Investments are Driving Growth

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As workforce and healthcare costs continue to rise, organizations are facing increasing pressure to make every people investment count

Key Takeaways
  1. Success should be measured by outcomes, not spend. That way, workforce investments will strengthen employee experiences and advance business goals.
  2. A strong employee value proposition provides a strategic framework for decision-making, helping leaders prioritize investments.
  3. Data, personalization and AI mean organizations can build more targeted, effective workforce strategies.

Intro:
Hello and welcome to the latest episode of On Aon. And this week, we’re looking at a Human Capital issue affecting businesses around the world.
Rising workforce costs mean employers cannot simply spend more—they must invest with greater intention. Byron Beebe is joined by Max Saraví and Guy Clarkson to explore how data, personalization and a clear employee value proposition can turn people investment into a measurable business impact.
Here’s Byron to kick off the episode:

Byron Beebe:
Welcome to On Aon. I'm Byron Beebe, CEO of Human Capital at Aon. In this miniseries, we're taking a deeper dive into the findings of our 2026 Human Capital Trends Study, exploring what's shaping the future of work and what it means for leaders navigating today's evolving workforce.

In this episode, we explore how organizations can turn workforce investment into meaningful impact. I'm joined by Max Saraví, Head of Human Capital for Latin America, and Guy Clarkson, Head of Online Benefits in the UK. Guy works with some of Aon's largest clients to deliver the best possible employee experience.

Today, we're going to discuss why rising people and healthcare costs are putting greater scrutiny on every investment employers make, and how leading organizations are responding. Together, we'll explore the growing gap between employer intent and employee experience, the role of the employee value proposition in driving better outcomes, and how data, personalization, and technology can help organizations deliver greater value for both their people and their business.

Healthcare costs continue to rise around the world, placing incredible pressure on employers' benefits, budgets and overall workforce investments. At the same time, employers are expecting more personalized and meaningful experiences from the organizations they work for.

So what are you seeing in the market right now, and how are these pressures changing the way organizations think about investing in their people? Max, I'm going to start with you.

Max Saraví:
Thanks, Byron. Great to be here with you, by the way. What I'm seeing is that employers are no longer looking at benefits, wellbeing, or talent programs as isolated investments. They are looking at them through a much sharper business lens. Costs are rising, especially around healthcare, but expectations are rising too. Employees want support that feels relevant to their lives, not generic.

So the issue is not only affordability, it's value. Are we investing in the things people actually understand, value and use? In Latin America, this is particularly visible because employees are managing very different realities across countries. Inflation, healthcare access, talent scarcity, regulatory differences, and different expectations by generation and income level. That makes the one-size-fits-all approach even less effective.

For instance, Aon employee sentiment data shows that 72% of employees believe customized benefits are important to extremely important. Yet, our latest human capital trend study showed only 33% of employers currently offer them. That's where EVP and communicating that EVP effectively with our people becomes important. A strong employee value proposition acts as a framework for making better decisions about people investment rather than simply adding more programs or benefits.

Byron Beebe:
Thanks, Max. So, we're seeing organizations under pressure from both sides. We've got rising costs on one hand and rising employee expectations on the other hand. And the challenge isn't just spending more on people, because we know most organizations don't have those unlimited investments. We have to make sure that the investments that organizations make actually deliver value.

That raises a really important question. I'm gonna stay with you here, Max. So despite the significant investment we make in benefits and wellbeing and employee support, many organizations are still struggling to close the gap between what they intend to provide and what employees actually perceive to be their experience.

So why does that gap matter? And if organizations don't address it, what happens?

Max Saraví:
Well, Byron, the gap matters because organizations can spend a lot of money and still fail to create the experience they intended. That is frustrating to employees and inefficient for employers. If people don't understand what's available, if the benefits don't reflect their needs, or if the experience is too difficult to navigate, then the investment does not translate into engagement, wellbeing or retention. The risk is not just under investment, the risk is misdirected investment.
Guy, I'm interested in your views.

Guy Clarkson:
Yeah, Max, I would certainly agree with what you've said there. And I think often it's actually at the point of delivery where the gap can appear, either where an employee is looking to use something or indeed just access something for the first time.

We know from a benefits perspective, from a wellbeing support perspective, these things may exist, but if either the employee can't find it — or when they find it, they don't actually understand how to use it, that really is where often the value is lost in the process.

Byron Beebe:
Okay. So that's a compelling point. If organizations risk investing heavily and not generating meaningful impact, the obvious next question is what separates those that are getting it right from those who aren't getting it right?
Guy, maybe I'll go to you with this one.

Guy Clarkson:
Thank you, Byron. For me, where a lot of organizations fail is they don't start with the data. So where we see the most effective organizations where we think about employee value propositions and the investments, really it's using data to understand what their employees truly value. Far too often I think decisions are based on assumptions or on what employees think as opposed to perhaps what they know.

In the survey we see things — a really compelling stat for me — so only thirty-eight percent of organisations actually report high levels of HR data maturity, which immediately jumps out as a potential challenge. And actually only 12% of senior leaders are using comprehensive analytics tools where they're making decisions. So starting with data is certainly where I would begin.

We've talked a little bit about employee value proposition. It's important that an EVP is more than just a slogan. For me, an employee value proposition should be a decision making framework that helps organizations decide where to invest, balancing what matters most to their employees, but also how they can then allocate limited resources. Ultimately, this is about aligning what the employees want and what the employees need, but also with business priorities as well.

Thirdly, probably for me, it's about the focus on the employee experience. So we know that benefits are again only create value where employees access them, understand them, and ultimately use them. One of the biggest mistakes we often see, certainly where we're talking with newer clients, is perhaps they've invested, but they haven't then actually communicated things properly.

Make personalization easy. So where we think about employees, they've long wanted more choice, more flexibility from their award package, their wider employee value proposition. And for me, this really aligns with our consumer lives outside of work as well.

Digital platforms we know can have a major role. We bring benefits, we bring wellbeing resources, the wider reward and other elements of employee value proposition consolidated in one place. So very easy to find and navigate for employees.

We know that as employees go through different life stages, their needs, their wants, their priorities will naturally change as well. And I think as opposed to going into many multiple systems to find things in the moments that matter, a benefits platform, for example, can bring everything very well into one place.

Where we think about employee communication, look, technology is probably the single biggest communication channel we have in our lives nowadays. We've heard a lot about AI in recent years. And I think actually where we think about AI and its role and its use case in communication, it's really around this hyper-personalization of communications as well.

We've brought out a great new tool — we’re calling it the AI Concierge. So this is where an employee, for example, can ask a natural language question: how can I help you today, Guy? And ultimately it will then help me understand what's available, but also crucially pathways that I can take to take action around benefits as well. So lots happening, I think, from in the platform space.

Byron Beebe:
Thanks, Guy. Max, let me turn it to you and, first of all, make sure that what Guy just said resonates in your part of the world. And also just ask, what are some of the biggest mistakes employers make when turning investment into impact?

Max Saraví:
Thanks, Byron, for the question. And yeah, yes, these are the most common mistakes that I see in my interactions with firms.

First of all, measuring spend instead of the impact that the implementation of these tools creates for the business.

Also, launching programs that don't have clear employee insight, that don't consider the fact that we have multiple generations in the workforce and this request for personalization that Guy was expressing before.

Communication should be simple as well. Some companies overcomplicate and use different methods and messages that sometimes don't talk to each other.

Also offering benefits that sometimes people don't understand. And once again, there are many tools that employers can use to identify what are the benefits that are more relevant for each of the different segments of the population in any given organization. And finally, treating the employee value proposition more as a branding exercise instead of an operational strategy. The EVP is the issue that connects the business outcomes that the companies expect to together with the output that the employees will be producing for any given firm.

Byron Beebe:
Yeah, I think one thing that's important it really is this concept of employee value proposition. And I think when you do that, Guy, you're right. We have to communicate to people about the benefits at times when people are going to use them. But we also have to take a step back and always communicate the benefit programs more broadly so that employees understand what the organization's providing. I guess one example I would use, I've spent my entire career in the defined benefit business. We spend very little time sometimes communicating to people about the value of a defined benefit pension plan because employees actually don't need to do anything on a daily basis to get that benefit. We talk a lot about defined contribution plans and how people need to save more and how the matching contribution works and how employees can invest their money. But on the defined benefit side, that's a really big benefit employers provide that can have a low perceived value if employers don't spend time communicating that. And there are lots of other benefits like that that I think we need to make sure we communicate on a regular basis to employees so they understand the entire employee value proposition.

So you've talked a little bit, Guy, about better technology and better data now that's available to improve and maybe more personalize the employee experience. So as employee expectations continue to evolve, what changes do you expect to see? And what do you see organizations doing now just to stay ahead?

Guy Clarkson:
Yeah, I've talked about personalization, Byron, really moving on just to becoming a core expectation. For me, for employers, I don't see that as a differentiator really anymore. We know that again, employees are bringing their expectations, the experiences they have outside of the workplace, very much into the workplace. And again, they expect things that cater to individual needs, life stages and preferences. A really interesting piece we're talking a lot here at Aon about is also the integration and I guess across things like health, wealth, skills, talent, reward.

These aren't mutually exclusive areas where we think about employee value propositions. So looking ahead, I absolutely think that a deeper integration across those areas is going to become very prevalent.

I've touched briefly on AI. Again, I come back to this hyper-personalized communications, but being able to do it at scale across thousands or tens of thousands of employees — personalized recommendations, targeted nudges — really just again helping make it clear to employees what is available to them in the moments that they need the help or the support from it.

Finally, for me, I think where we think about AI, and there is a lot of noise around AI at the moment, it's about data. So where clients talk to me about AI, I often actually ask them about data because the large language model you're using and putting over data actually isn't really the differentiator, it's the depth, breadth, quality of the data it's fetching from that will really be prevalent, I think, for those who get the greatest value out of AI.
And Max, what are you seeing in Latin America?

Max Saraví:
Well, Guy, the organizations that will be ahead are those who start building the foundation now with data maturity, integrated health, wealth and talent insights, and a clear employee value proposition.

Technology then will accelerate personalization, but the strategy still needs to be human-centered.

Byron Beebe:
Yep, there's clearly a lot to think about these days. And again, we've done the most of this conversation without even talking about AI, but it is really transforming the world in terms of how we communicate with employees and how we do a lot of things.

So, we're getting to the end of our time here. Maybe I would just ask both of you, Max, I'll start with you. If there's one thing you'd wanted our audience to remember about today's podcast, what would you want to tell them?

Max Saraví:
Thanks, Byron. For me, the key message is that the answer is not simply to spend more. It is to invest with more intention. For instance, a clear employee value proposition or EVP helps organizations connect what they invest in their people with the outcomes they need for the business. It's a way of connecting those investments with the results of the business.

Byron Beebe:
Yeah, I think that's great, Max. Guy, anything you would share?

Guy Clarkson:
Yeah, I would absolutely echo what Max has said there, Byron. And for me it I come back to the employee experience. Let's keep it simple, let's keep it in one place, but then let's be holistic across that wider employee value proposition. AI use cases are here and I would certainly urge the listeners to investigate what that can mean for them as well.

Byron Beebe:
Okay. Well, thank you both for what you do for Aon and for our clients on a daily basis. I really appreciate you joining me today. And thank you to our audience for spending time with us.
As workforce costs continue to rise, the real opportunity lies not in spending more, but making every investment in your people count. And so we hope today's discussion is giving you some ideas to take back to your organization.
Thanks for listening. And until next time, have a great day.

Outro:
Thanks for tuning into the latest episode of On Aon. If you enjoyed this one, don’t forget to like, share and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to visit Aon.com to learn more about Aon.

We’ll be back next week with another episode — our Industry Insight — when we’ll be talking about the thorny issues impacting a particular sector.

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