More than half of financial services employees find their senior leaders are acting effectively, according to a new survey by Aon Hewitt.

The study spoke to more than 170,000 Australian and NZ employees and found 54% of financial services workers believe their leaders are effective.

And just over half (51%) of financial services employees trusted their senior leaders.

Aon Hewitt Southeast Asia Human Capital CEO Tim Powell says the survey is a “wake-up call” for companies.

“They need to assess, and more importantly, improve their leadership,” he said.

Aon Hewitt is citing three components of good management techniques that senior leaders should be using to lift their performance in the eyes of their employees.

These are capability and know-how, style and time effectiveness.