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Source: Aon Hewitt Canada

Effectively leading through change defines excellence for Aon’s 2018 Best Employers in Canada

  • Best Employers distinguish themselves by better managing disruption

TORONTO, Nov. 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aon, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, released its 2018 Aon Best Employers in Canada – the country’s premier benchmark for the quality and performance of excellent workplaces –– recognizing 63 companies, including 31 organizations with more than 400 employees and 32 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Now in its 19th year, the Aon Best Employers in Canada Study is based on the opinions of almost 734,000 employees across approximately 500 Canadian organizations.

This year’s results highlight management factors that characterize organizations with highly engaged employees. Overall employee engagement in the survey group remained largely unchanged from last year. However, Platinum-level Best Employers, which scored in the top quartile of the Study, clearly differentiated themselves in engagement measures that relate to managing through change – a sign, says Aon, that Best Employers are much more effective at attracting, retaining and engaging high performers through disruptive times. 

Quotes: 
“Almost every organization we surveyed is facing some kind of disruption, and a lot of it is being generated by technology, directly or indirectly,” said Todd Mathers, Partner, Talent, Rewards and Performance Consulting, Aon Hewitt. “The pressure that we’ve been seeing is that the advancement of technology – and related changes in how work is done in organizations – are creating an environment of increasing uncertainty for employees, many of whom need to work in different ways while at the same time delivering expected results.  This year’s survey data highlight how Best Employers are helping and leading employees through those challenges.”

“One key indicator is in the survey dimension Enabling Work, which measures how effectively organizations are equipping employees to perform their work tasks through effective work processes, people resources, information, and tools and technology,” Mathers added. “Platinum-level Best Employers are far better at this than non-Best Employers, by a margin of 18 percentage points – the biggest differential of any engagement dimension in the Study. Not only do Best Employers do a better job enabling their employees, but they are also more effective in supporting employees through technology and work process changes.”

“Strong leadership is also vital to effectively managing disruption, because good leaders are able to articulate the need for change and motivate employees to support it,” he continued. “Again, we can see this in the data: Platinum-level Best Employers score 17 percentage points higher than non-Best Employers in the Senior Leadership dimension. Platinum Best Employers are also better, by similar margins, in Recognition and in Managing Performance – helping employees feel valued by providing them with appropriate feedback and rewards, and helping them connect the work they do with higher-level organization objectives.”

Key Facts:

  • Average engagement for Platinum-level Best Employers (top 25% of all organizations) stood at 79%, down slightly from 80% last year. Average engagement among Gold-level Best Employers (top 33%of all organizations) was 73%, unchanged.
  • Among sectors, Banking and Financial Services represented the greatest number of Best Employers, followed by Software and IT, Insurance, and Construction and Engineering.
  • Among the scoring categories with the largest differentials between Platinum-level Best Employers and non-Best Employers, those related to an organization’s ability to effectively lead through change stood out, especially Enabling Work (74% versus 56%), Senior Leadership (77% versus 60%), Managing Performance (74% versus 57%), and Recognition (68% versus 53%).
  • Platinum-level Best Employers were also significantly more effective in the areas of supporting employee Learning & Development (+16% over non-Best Employers) and future Career Opportunities (+17%).

About the Aon Best Employers in Canada Study
The Aon Best Employers in Canada Study is the country’s premier benchmark for assessing the quality and performance of workplace excellence using global standards based on more than 20 years of learnings and best practices from Aon studies conducted all over the world, relying on data collected in more than 150 markets from over 9,000 organizations in 68 industries, including over 734,000 employees and more than 500 companies of all sizes in Canada. Recognized organizations have achieved outstanding results among their Canadian counterparts for engaging employees, demonstrating effective leadership, building a performance culture and leveraging the strength of their employer brand.

Aon’s Best Employers in Canada (>400 employees) and Aon’s Best Small and Medium-sized Employers in Canada award recipients (<400 employees) for 2018 appear in the print edition of Maclean’s, the online edition of Canadian Business magazine on November 9, and in the November 10 edition of La Presse (see list on next page).

To learn more about the Aon Best Employers studies and register online to participate, please visit the Aon Best Employers website.

About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Our 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve performance.

Media contact
For further information please contact: Alexandre Daudelin (+1.514.982.4910)

Aon’s Best Employers in Canada for 2018 (>400 employees)
  
 Platinum
Award
Recipients
Allstate Insurance Company of CanadaEquitable Bank
ATB Financial Farm Credit Canada
BBA Federal Express Canada Corporation
Bennett Jones LLP ­Intact Financial Corporation
Birchwood Automotive Group Keg Restaurants Ltd.
Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust Libro Credit Union
CIMA+ Maritime Travel Inc.
Cintas Canada LimitedMeridian Credit Union
Clark Builders Group of CompaniesPurdys Chocolatier
Colliers InternationalSAP Canada
Davis Auto GroupStikeman Elliott LLP
Dilawri's Crown Auto GroupThe Co-operators
Edward Jones 
    
 Gold
Award
Recipients
Alterna SavingsMNP LLP
British Columbia Automobile AssociationOpenRoad Auto Group Ltd.
La Capitale Groupe financierPCL Constructors Inc.
    
Aon’s Best Small and Medium-sized Employers in Canada for 2018 (<400 employees)
    
 Platinum
Award
Recipients
Addenda Capital Inc.Lakeside Process Controls Ltd.
AxonifyMitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada Inc.
BlueShore FinancialNorWest Co-op Community Health
Bosa PropertiesOPTIMUS | SBR
Celero SolutionsRyan ULC
Cority Software Inc. (formerly Medgate)Solutions 2 GO Inc.
DLGL Technologies CorporationSolvera Solutions
Fusion HomesThe Berkeley Retirement Residences
GEF Seniors HousingTrisura Guarantee Insurance Company
Grantek Systems Integration Ltd.Vigilant - a DRW company
Kawartha Credit UnionYou.i TV
  
 Gold
Award
Recipients
Arrow Engineering LGM Financial Services Inc.
CAAT Pension PlanMiele Limited
Canadian Canola Growers AssociationNaylor Building Partnerships
Jayman BUILT Group of CompaniesProfessionals financial
Kindred Credit UnionUltra Electronics Forensic Technology Inc.
  

An infographic accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b60726a4-1a73-483a-b01f-181e80396d2e

 

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