Businesses with high levels of employee engagement are better prepared to weather tough economic times than others, achieving 50% higher Total Shareholder Return.
Businesses with high levels of employee engagement are better prepared to weather tough economic times than others, achieving 50% higher Total Shareholder Return, according to the 2013 Aon Hewitt Best Employers study.
Aon Hewitt’s study has been conducted every year since 2001; this year it incorporated survey data from 100,000 employees and 125 organizations.
“All employers are confronted by the same set of economic circumstances, but our Best Employers are able to do a substantially better job of leading and managing the workforce to create high levels of engagement. This mitigates many of the economic issues they face – leading to better results,” Stephen Hickey, employee engagement lead at Aon Hewitt, said.
The current economic uncertainty does not distract the Best Employers from focusing on engagement, according to Hickey. “It is the decisions that an organization’s leaders are making about how to lead it when times are tough that can dictate the levels of engagement,” he said.
Examples of such leadership that differentiate the Best Employers include, a focus on people leadership capability, a drive to connect middle managers to the broader business strategy, and the willingness to identify and single out for rewards an organization’s best performers.
Other key findings from 2013 Aon Hewitt Best Employers study:
- Best Employers achieve four times higher profit growth than other organizations
- Organizations with high employee engagement achieve 50% higher Total Shareholder Return outcomes than other organizations
- In 2012 and 2013, 38% of organizations improved their level of employee engagement
- 83% of Best Employers have an explicit employer brand, compared to only 39% of other organizations
