Two Australian companies - BHP Billiton and Woolworths - have received the ultimate accolade by their international peers by being listed in their industry categories in the 2008 rankings of The Worlds Most Admired Companies.

Global management consulting firm Hays Group and Fortune Magazine have released the results of their annual survey showing BHP Billiton was ranked number three in the global list of Most Admired Mining Companies and Woolworths was ranked among the finalists in the food and drug store category.

This year's behind the scenes analysis by Hay Group focused on how companies around the world manage their employee reward programs. The results show the Most Admired do a much better job of leveraging their reward investments than their peers.

"Our research found that companies who make the lists haven't stumbled on a silver bullet for making employee reward programs work more effectively. They are simply able to execute more successfully on a number of basic HR best practices, and tend to have a cultural understanding and recognition of the value brought to their organisations," said Hay Group senior consultant Mark Royal.

"Implementation is really the primary differentiator between employee reward programs at World Best companies and their peers - communication, aligning reward programs with business priorities and operationalising the pay for performance relationship," Royal added.

World's most admired - top 10 'All Stars'
1. Apple
2. General Electric
3. Toyota Motor
4. Berkshire Hathaway
5. Procter & Gamble
6. FedEx
7. Johnson & Johnson
8. Target (US)
9. BMW
10. Microsoft