Post by Maarten A.

One month in at Aon Human Capital Solutions. Some reflections. I joined to build the Rewards Advisory practice in the Netherlands. Total rewards strategy & data, job architecture, pay equity. What I found was a team that was already leaning into this work and ready to move. I'm grateful to the people who made this first month what it was. Günther Stalenberg gave me the mandate and the room to build. Jan-Willem Evers backed the practice from the top of Human Capital NL. Bruno Rocquemont and Paul Zoghbi brought the full depth of EMEA data and advisory capability into the room from week one. And a big shout out to Benjamin Sada, who made sure that what we promise clients, we can deliver. That combination matters incredibly more than people think, when you're building something. In 30 days we started working with three clients on #PayTransparencyDirective readiness, assessing where they stand and supporting them in closing gaps. The energy around this practice is real, from colleagues and from the market. Increasingly, we're able to serve Dutch clients locally rather than routing through the region, what feels like a meaningful shift. What I'm seeing in practice: companies are realizing that preparing for the #PTD is not a compliance checkbox. It means getting your organizational house in order. Job architecture, job evaluation, pay frameworks that actually hold up under scrutiny. The organizations doing this well are treating it as a competitive talent advantage, not as a regulatory burden. Especially larger corporates with US headquarters are waking up to the fact that this is a global movement, rather than an EU obligation. Aon's latest research backs this up. The 2026 Pay Transparency Pulse Survey found that only 8% of EMEA organizations say their managers are prepared for pay transparency conversations. That's a gap with consequences. Our insights on that are worth reading if this is on your radar (see link in comment). If your organization is working through what pay transparency means in practice, for your job architecture, rewards structures, your manager capability, I'd welcome the conversation. #Aon #PayTransparency #PayEquity #TotalRewards #JobArchitecture #HumanCapital #HRAnalytics