Aon, a Gaelic word for “unity”, is an especially apt name for Aon Corporation, a global Chicago-based insurance brokerage and consulting company. Recently appointed as Aon Corporation’s first chief diversity officer, Corbette Doyle, along with Jean Liu, the head of the Asian Pacific Islander Networking Group, spoke with AD Magazine about their vision, plans, and thoughts about diversity at Aon. One might summarize by defining the value of diversity as at the very heart of unity. It is the mutual appreciation of differences and individual uniqueness that unites the Aon community.

Significantly, the diversity section at Aon.com is not a cursory statement of policy, but a prominent and comprehensive trove of insights and information. Diversity is not a niche project, but a company-wide collaboration. “I have to give kudos to our new marketing team,” commented Doyle. “As someone put it, we’ve got diversity on the front page!” Looking beyond the first page will reveal leadership statements of commitment to diversity, strategic outlines, and other pertinent views and explanations.

There is even an Aon diversity blog, where Doyle is a frequent contributor. “Our first global diversity webcast, which we opened up for a Q&A session, got an overwhelming response. There were so many questions that we couldn’t answer them all! I’ve been trying to answer some of the questions as blog entries.”

Other diversity resources at Aon include the six independent, voluntary business networking groups, which bring together people with shared interests and backgrounds. One of the six is the Asian Pacific Islander group. “We have talent management, recruitment, and retention as some of our top goals,” explained Liu. “We strive for employee fulfillment as an individual and in terms of the company community. Giving back to the community is very important to my membership, so I try to plan programs to support that. I also partner with the community relations department, as well as local and national Asian American organizations like the Organization of Chinese Americans and the National Association of Asian American Professionals. We’re a company that takes diversity seriously, and we want to make sure that that’s visible and welcoming.”

When asked about some of her ambitions for the API Networking Group, she answered, “I’d like to see us expand activities throughout the nation with national organizations and with local-level groups. I want to reach out to the hometown pride that exists in any geographic area. It would encourage the personal fulfillment and focus of our employees, and support networking. I think that from a business perspective, it’s critical to have those networking connections to build new relationships.”

Liu has been very successful in mobilizing and inspiring the group. “I’m proud that we have a very active membership,” said Liu. “We have people who are passionate and work very hard to create events and share information important to our API employees. I’m excited to say that we recently hosted an employee from the People’s Republic of China, who spoke with us about her experience in the Chinese insurance industry. Insurance is a relatively new industry so it was great to get her perspective on what it is like, and what she anticipates.”

“Mentoring is another critical focus of our business networking groups,” said Doyle. “We’ve signed a contract with Triple Creek Associates, which is Match.com for mentoring. We’re going to roll out the Open Mentoring program out to track and evaluate mentoring relationships. We want our talented employees to reach out and help other employees grow.”

This focus on education is symbolized in the Aon diversity training program. Doyle cited Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, as one of the most powerful influences. “The focus of Blink is split perception. Put simply, some split perceptions we make are good, and some are not. Surgeons and professional athletes must make great split decisions—people with strong prejudices make poor split perceptions. The book included a website based on Harvard research, which can test your biases in a timed task. You’ll be surprised to find the biases you can have against your own background—I was at my own! I was a math and economics major, and my husband was English and music, so I was amazed that I tested positive for a slight bias that men were better at quantitative reasoning, and women at communication. It’s important to recognize your own stereotypes and biases, especially those you never realized you had. Our internal training program wanted to help people understand how their assumptions about others were not necessarily fact-based, and provide some educational training about the appropriate way to respond.”

Liu had taken the training as well. “I approached it from two sides, as an end user and a lawyer. It was excellent from both. I enjoyed the training and found out I had a few things to learn! One of the great things about the program is that you can look at why you got a question wrong. They provide explanations so it’s an educational tool, not a judgmental one. It teaches for understanding.”

Doyle explained how the emphasis on understanding supported Aon’s overall client-facing strategy and position as a global company, as exemplified in the China Desk (a group of Chinese national employees in the U.S.). “The China Desk helps our U.S.-based employees, who are working with Chinese employees or clients, or who are going overseas. They help with cultural and language issues, and provide insight on the differences between the insurance laws in the two countries. They also support our Chinese clients, or companies headquartered in China who are setting up U.S. subsidiaries.”

Liu added, “To learn about different countries is in and of itself a challenge and a worthwhile adventure, as well as good business practice. It was enlightening to have our employee from China come and speak with us not just because of her experiences in the insurance industry, but for what she could say about cultural differences and the different philosophy over there.”

“It’s become increasingly important to consider factors outside of the U.S. context, and take diversity globally,” explained Doyle. “For example, in some countries, same sex relationships are illegal. Thus, we cannot extend membership in our GLBT network on a global basis.” Attention to such details is part of the business case for diversity, and has helped Aon understand and support client and employee needs. With that in mind, Aon’s diversity councils, made up of senior-level employees with demonstrated commitment to diversity, work with business units to plan and implement diversity strategies.

The team approach to diversity makes its value felt and used in every aspect of Aon’s work. One might say that valuing diversity is inseparable from valuing people as individuals with unique backgrounds, thoughts, and strengths to offer. “A company is only as good as its people,” said Liu. “I love to meet people and hear their ideas. If we address people’s concerns, ideas, aspirations and goals, it creates a forward-thinking environment. People can take charge of their careers. They better themselves, and do better jobs for the company. It’s a part of building community. The API group has a diverse membership, ranging from Indian to Pakistani to Chinese to Korean. One of our challenges has been to try and include everyone. So I try to find commonalities among our API employees, without ignoring the rich cultural differences. That’s the challenge and reward of what I do.”

The rewards are felt across the board, and more and more are inspired to rise to the challenges. “We have young white males who want to get involved with diversity, who ask what they can do,” said Doyle. “One thing that Jean and her group have done very well is spreading awareness of the issues relevant to our API workforce, so we can all work together to build an inclusive environment. We keep that in mind as we move our diversity strategy to the field. We’re building local diversity councils in all of our key offices, and I’m optimistic that we can do this in other countries as well.”

Further plans include launching a series of development programs for the diverse population. “We have a tiered talent management program for different levels of high-potential employees,” said Doyle. “It’s based on the more traditional management and leadership skills. The diversity programs are more focused on personal development, and aim to increase diversity in meaningful roles. We definitely have a focus on external recruiting as an opportunity to increase our diversity. But we also use our internal talent pool to build visible, meaningful diversity, especially in terms of management responsibility.” Fact of interest: There are two women of color on the Aon board of directors. Carolyn Woo, head of the business school at Notre Dame, and Gloria Santona, the Chief Council for McDonald’s. “We have quite a few Asian women in this program. Several domestically, as well as our country manager in Vietnam, our CFO in Japan, the woman responsible for client management in Hong Kong. We’ve got great global Asian representation in the program, because country leaders were very aggressive about getting their people in.”

“Companies like Aon are doing their part with programs like that,” said Liu. “We’re investing in training and recruiting and retaining talented employees of diverse backgrounds. But it is important to note that it’s also up to the employees to determine where they take their careers. They owe it to themselves to go out and search for the companies and opportunities that will support them and teach them the skill sets they need to advance in their careers, to broaden their career horizons. I don’t think this is especially an API trait, but generally, I’ve met some people who feel the responsibility isn’t on them.”

“One of my associates on our diversity team commented on that very issue,” said Doyle. “It’s interesting, because that’s a tendency I see in women in general. It makes me wonder—and I haven’t seen any research on this—if this is a characteristic appearing in any minority group. How much of it is cultural, and how much of it is simply feeling like an outsider?”

“And it comes down to the fact that it must be a two-way effort,” said Liu. “People can try hard to be inclusive, and provide the programming and education, but it falls on deaf ears if the employee doesn’t feel it will make a difference. Employees must be proactive, and actively seek out opportunities to make the most of their strengths. My hope is that we’re getting to a point where we can look at people without first seeing them as a particular constituency. It’s important to continue towards that goal. It may not be in our lifetime, but if we try to get there, we will.”

“That reminds me of a conference call with my counterpart at Raytheon,” said Doyle. “He said that like Six Sigma, diversity is a continual improvement process. You will reach goals, but the goals will always change. It might be a goal of marginal improvement, or the very yardstick might change. Think of the statistics that are out there now about the declining percentage of white male college students. Right now, 58% of them are women, and then remaining 52% are not all white. You’re looking at a minority right there. From a global standpoint, only one in five college students are white males. There’s this kind of white male backlash, and in twenty years from now, that might be the group we’re trying to address from a diversity standpoint. We have to stay growth-oriented. No matter how good we get, we will always have room for improvement.”