Hewitt winners announced

SALESFORCE WON the 2005 Hewitt Best Employers in Australia and New Zealand study, while ING Direct took out the Best New Entrant spot and seek.com.au and Swiss Re were recognised for consistent improvement.

Announcing the winners of the trans-Tasman study, Jon Williams, managing director of Hewitt Associates, Australia and New Zealand, said this year’s list of best employers represents a wide cross section of companies across a range of industries.

The study recognised American Express, Bain & Company, Bayer Healthcare ANZ, Blackmores, British American Tobacco, Carson Group, Dell, Golder Associates, Medtronic, Nokia, Select Australasia and Westaff as best employers.

Now in its fifth year, the study is jointly managed by Hewitt Associates, The Australian Graduate School of Management and BOSS magazine. More than 160 organisations and 40,000 employees took part this year.

Williams said the gap between best employers and other organisations, which participated in the 2005 study, but did not make the list of winners, on the key measure of employee engagement has widened since Hewitt first commenced the study five years ago.

“Organisations who are best employers typically demonstrate high levels of employee engagement and a strong alignment of their people practices with their strategy and brand,” he said.

On average, more than 80 per cent of best employer workers are engaged, compared to only around 50 per cent of employees at other organisations.

Similarly, there is a widening gap for organisations that deliver on the promises made to their employees.

For best employers, more than 70 per cent of employees feel their company delivers on its promises, compared to just over 40 per cent for other organisations.

“Best employers understand that a vital ingredient in the execution of their business strategy is the passion and commitment of their people,”Williams said.

“Highly effective leaders in these organisations work hard to connect employees to the business through effective communication, offer employees challenge and growth through their day-to-day work and future opportunities, and build a differentiated high-performance culture that harnesses the power and passion of employees.”