Attracting, retaining talent rising global concern: Aon survey

Cyber risk and business interruption remain top concerns of risk managers and executives globally, but failure to attract and retain talent entered the top 10 ranking for the first time, according to the Aon 2023 Global Risk Management Survey, results of which were released Tuesday.

The risk of supply chain and distribution failure rose to sixth place in the survey – its highest ranking in 14 years, Aon said.

Nearly 3,000 executives at public and private companies in 61 countries across 16 industries participated in the survey, conducted in June and July.

The biennial survey found that human capital issues are no longer simply a “people problem,” but a key business risk fueled by rising health care costs, the competition for talent, workforce shortages, and a lack of retirement preparedness.

Attracting and retaining top talent ranked fourth globally after not breaking the top 10 in 2021, representing a shift in how risk managers view this issue, Aon said.

Only 11% of survey respondents indicated they have quantified the risk of failing to attract and retain top talent, illustrating a significant gap between risk awareness and risk preparedness, Aon said.

Cyberattacks and data breaches remain the top risk globally and in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, Aon said. Respondents reported their readiness for cyberattacks at 89%,  but only 30% said they had quantified cyber risk, while 56% said they have developed risk management plans down from 68% in 2021.

Supply chain/distribution failure rose to sixth place, from eighth place in the 2021 survey. Geopolitical volatility in Asia and Eastern Europe has created production and distribution disruptions, exacerbating supply chain issues that began during the pandemic, Aon said.

Fewer than 40% of organizations have conducted supplier resilience assessments and fewer than 20% have diversified their supplier base to mitigate supply chain or distribution failure risk.

Just 18% of survey participants said they had quantified their supply chain or distribution failure risk. “Insufficient mitigation efforts, therefore, appear to be correlated closely with a rise in supply chain/distribution risk exposure,” Aon said.