2001 Editor’s Choice Special Recognition
Hewitt Associates
Johnson & Johnson, the largest and most diversified healthcare company in the world. Deutsche Bank, one of the world’s leading investment banks. Boeing Company, a leader in the aerospace industry. Glaxo Wellcome, Inc., a leading research pharmaceutical firm. Rohm and Haas, a specialty chemical company. BP Amoco. Nokia. CNA Insurance. And PSEG, an electric and gas holding company in 13 countries. The roster of satisfied customers of outsourcer, Hewitt Associates, is a Who’s Who of leading world-class companies.
Each of those companies recognizes the role their employees play in making their companies successful. They also recognize that their ability to recruit and retain high-caliber employees depends heavily on the benefits programs and quality of human resources services extended to employees. Although each had variations on reasons to outsource their human resources functions, they all knew the importance of selecting the right supplier. As Dick Quinn, director of performance and rewards for PSEG, says, “you are hiring more than an outsourcing partner you are hiring somebody to represent your own company to your own employees.”
When companies outsource, they should get excellent service from their suppliers. Through the research interviews we conducted with the award nominations listed above, it was clearly evident that Hewitt’s customers know they are receiving excellent service. Steven Vigneron, director of regional compensation and benefits for Deutsche Bank, says that both Hewitt’s service and cutting-edge technology is “second to none.”
Because all of the responses in the interviews about Hewitt were so similar, it was difficult for our judges to award one relationship as being more outstanding than the others. For this reason, our editorial staff has designated Hewitt Associates for “Special Recognition of Outstanding Service.” We have chosen to recognize all nine of these nominations as an impressive body of work epitomizing the essence of outsourcing.
Over and over, these nine companies told us about Hewitt’s outstanding benefits center representatives not only their daily service but also the excellent manner in which they are trained. All of these companies are involved in numerous huge mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, but they report that Hewitt is way out ahead in handling these gigantic headaches. Each described to us the winning strategies put in place to ensure a “partnership” approach, teamwork and proactive communication on an ongoing basis. In all nine cases, the nominees described a relationship where the supplier consistently brings to the buyer new technology and new ideas for added value to benefit the buyer organization and its employees. Each described to us an outsourcing supplier that provides enormous flexibility to be able to respond to the changing business needs of its clients.
It is remarkable that a supplier presents such consistent excellence in service and receives this kind of enthusiastic reception among a community of buyers. We congratulate the companies in these nine relationships and are very pleased to have such great examples of best practices to illustrate to our readers how outsourcing creates value.