'Best Employers 2011' list revealed

_{30/05/2011
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Construction product provider Hilti have been named the best employer in Australia and New Zealand, according to Aon Hewitt’s annual Best Employers survey.

The results of its 2011 Best Employers in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) survey, announced this morning, saw 11 organisations receive the accreditation of ‘Best Employer’, with Hilti being named the ‘Best of the Best’.

The other 10 organisations named 'Best Employer' were Aegis, Boehringer Ingelheim Australia and New Zealand, Federal Express (New Zealand), Flexirent Capital Pty Ltd, Frucor Beverages Australia, Frucor Beverages New Zealand, InterContinental Hotels Group, Johnson & Johnson Medical, Merck Serono Australia and Millward Brown Australia.

The study reflected the opinions of over 124,000 employees across 200 companies within Australia and New Zealand. 130 organisations registered to participate in the 2010/2011 study.

Jan Pacas, general manager of Hilti Australia, said that employee development is key to becoming a ‘Best Employer’.

“A Best Employer is made up of people who realise their full potential and who are motivated to perform beyond just their usual duties,” he said.

“When people are developing and growing, it benefits the organisation and this is a win-win situation for both the organisation and the individual.”

The study found that employees are finding it harder to engage and are expecting more from their employers.

Tim Powell, CEO, Talent & Rewards Pacific & Southeast Asia at Aon Hewitt, said this was the first time in a decade that there were more organisations with declining employee engagement than improving engagement.

“Our clients consistently speak about this as a lag effect following the global financial crisis, with most organisations now facing a workforce that is more challenging to engage than during the crisis itself,” he said.

John De Lano, CEO of Flexirent Capital, said they could never have achieved the results they have without ensuring their workforce was engaged.

“It is no coincidence that our growth began to accelerate on a continuous basis only since we made a concerted effort to improve our employee engagement – from an unacceptable 31% in 2004 to Best Employer in 2011,” he said.

The results also revealed that strong leadership was a vital factor to becoming a best employer. Less than 50% of senior leaders were viewed as effective in most organisations, but 72% of employees of ‘Best Employers’ saw strong evidence of effective leadership from their senior leaders.

Employees of ‘Best Employers’ believed their organisations delivered on the promises they made and that their companies were better at sharing financial success and supporting them in their roles.

Powell said that these 11 employers are faced with the same challenging economic conditions and adversity as all other organisations.

“The difference is that their senior leaders have taken accountability for the engagement of their people, and persisted over time in taking action for improvement," he said.

"They understand the critical role they play in driving business performance by continuously increasing the percentage of employees who say positive things about their organisation, stay committed to the organisation, and strive to deliver their best every day. Who wouldn’t want to work at an organisation like that?”

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