The People Behind HR – An interview with Anne Phelan, Rewards & People Advisory Director with AON

At HR Search we are constantly inspired by the success stories of all of the incredible HR Professionals we have met along the way. We really enjoy getting to know people and we thought you may like to too! With that in mind, we are delighted to introduce you to Anne Phelan – Rewards and People Advisory Director with AON. In this interview,  Anne talks about her career in Rewards and her journey to AON. For those of you who know Anne, you will see how her technical knowledge is complimented by her inspiring energy, get up and go and infectious positive personality.  I am delighted to be able to interview Anne in her exciting new role with People and Advisory market leaders at AON.

To start, could you tell us a little about yourself and your career to date?

After growing up in the US, I decided to return to Ireland for one year after graduating college.  I had completed an internship in Dublin but wanted to spend more time in Waterford where my family was originally from. But plans changed and I ended up staying, starting a career and a family and never looked back.  I recently have been joined by some of my immediate family members who also returned to Waterford so we really have come full circle.

My HR career began in 2001 in payroll administration, before quickly moving into compensation and benefits. There, I led annual salary reviews, managed health and pension provider relationships, and contributed to salary benchmarking and market surveys. In 2007, I joined Sun Life as a Senior HR Business Partner, while also serving as the main compensation and benefits lead for Ireland, partnering closely with the North American Total Rewards team. Over time, I transitioned fully into Total Rewards.

After 14 years with Sun Life, I made a deliberate shift into Reward Advisory—moving from in-house leadership to consulting—so I could apply my global experience across a broader range of clients and more strategic, project-based initiatives. Today, I’m part of Aon’s Human Capital team in Ireland, focusing on pay transparency and total rewards consulting.

When did compensation and benefits (C&B) first start to stand out as an area you wanted to focus on more deeply?

It really began with my work promoting the benefits available to employees. I felt strongly that people should understand the full value of what was on offer to them and their families beyond just their base salary. I had access to the underlying data and could see, very tangibly, how a competitive rewards package translated into real, meaningful advantages for employees and their overall experience at work.  Employees increasingly expect more than just a paycheck and how employers meet their needs will determine how successful they are at attracting and retaining talent. 

Most C&B professionals move from consulting to industry. What led you to take the opposite route?

Over the years I built strong relationships with consulting firms through working with them on various projects and attending their events.  What really motivated me was the opportunity to take what I’d learned in-house within a large multinational and share that knowledge with a wider range of Irish employers. I felt I had accumulated significant practical experience across total rewards—covering areas like job architecture, pay range transparency, and performance management—and I wanted to use that experience to help organisations design more effective and sustainable reward strategies. When the opportunity arose to join Aon, it felt like a natural next step and a good platform to bring that experience to more clients.

What was the most difficult adjustment when you moved into consulting, having held a senior in-house HR role?

One of the biggest adjustments was realising I needed to be very intentional about internal networking, not just external. In an in-house HR role, you’re naturally visible across the organisation; you interact regularly with colleagues from different teams and functions, and relationships build organically over time. As a consultant, you’re no longer embedded within a single HR team in the same way. You must make a conscious effort to connect with colleagues within the firm—across practices, geographies, and levels to understand who does what, how you can collaborate, and how to bring the best solutions to your clients.

Did you feel you had to re-establish your credibility when you entered consulting, despite your experience?

Absolutely. Pitching proposals, scoping work, and building rapport with clients in a consulting context were all new experiences for me. Any time you move into a new role or environment, there’s an element of re-establishing your credibility, demonstrating not just what you know, but that you can apply that knowledge effectively in a new setting. 

In what ways did your generalist HR background shape how you approached compensation differently from career specialists?

My generalist HR background has been a real asset in consultancy. Having sat on the client side, I understand the broader context in which compensation and benefits decisions are made. I’ve lived through the same challenges my clients face, whether it’s balancing budget constraints with market pressures, aligning reward with performance management, or communicating sensitive pay decisions. That first-hand experience helps me relate to clients more deeply and develop solutions that are practical, grounded, and informed by what I’ve seen work (and sometimes not work) in real life.

What do senior leaders most often misunderstand about pay, incentives, or C&B strategy?

Many senior leaders underestimate how important it is to review pay and incentives regularly to stay current and competitive. Market dynamics, employee expectations, and legislation all move quickly, and pay strategies that aren’t refreshed can fall behind.

Listening to employees is critical—understanding what they value, what will meet their needs, and how different elements of the reward package are perceived. Rewards, when designed and communicated effectively, are among the strongest levers for attracting and retaining talent. In my experience, when senior leaders see rewards only as a cost line rather than a strategic lever, it can limit their ability to compete for and retain key talent.

If you were giving advice to Compensation and Benefits specialists starting out in their career, what would it look like?

Be proactive and curious. Volunteer for project work, especially where you can stretch beyond your core responsibilities. Look for opportunities to become the “go-to” expert on a particular topic.

Stay close to the data, but also to people. Understanding the numbers behind pay decisions is essential, but so is understanding how those decisions land with employees and leaders.

In summary, what advice are you giving to medium-to-large organisations on Pay Transparency, Equity & Compliance with the new EU rules?

In my work with clients at Aon, my core advice is to treat pay transparency as a strategic opportunity rather than simply a regulatory burden. The Directive provides enough clarity to start planning now, even as we wait for each member state to transpose it into national law. Organisations that begin early will be better positioned and less reactive when the requirements fully come into force.

Don’t underestimate how critical it is to plan your communication strategy from the outset—how you will explain changes to employees, how you’ll support managers in answering questions, and how you’ll integrate transparency into your broader reward narrative. Getting ahead of the curve now will make compliance smoother and, more importantly, can strengthen trust and engagement with your workforce.

For more interviews in this series and HR insights take a look here!