Best of the Best Employers in ANZ revealed

SYDNEY, 30 July 2018 – Aon Best Employers 2018 has announced the top 15 employers in Australia and New Zealand. Results show that this years’ top performers have an increased focus on employee engagement, communication and strong leadership.

In its eighteenth year, the Aon Best Employers program is Australia and New Zealand’s leading accreditation and research program looking at the people practices of high performing organisations. In 2018, 15 organisations across Australia and New Zealand have been recognised as Aon Best Employers, from a total of 143 organisations.

Organisations in healthcare, property and delivery services were among a variety of other sectors identified as Aon’s Best Employers.

The 2018 Aon Best Employers are (in alphabetical order):
BPAY Group
Coca-Cola Amatil New Zealand
Colliers International
Eden Brae Homes
Employsure
FedEx Express (New Zealand)
Four Square (Foodstuffs North Island Ltd)
Geeves Scaffolding Ltd
Peoplecare Health
Plush Sofas
Prospa
SEEK Limited
Wood & Grieve Engineers
Woods
Z Energy

On a global level, Marriott Australia has gained Best Employer status under the Aon Best Employers global programme.

The 2018 Aon Best Employers results has revealed new trends and initiatives in companies that set Best Employers apart from the rest.

Organisational agility has proven to have a significant impact on employee engagement, retention and the bottom line. Best Employers have a constantly evolving future focused culture, enabling agile work practices. Such organisations also demonstrate an open mindset to Innovation and technology, and equip leaders to be successful in continuously changing environments.

According to the results, team members and frontline employees of Aon Best Employers have seen notable benefits as a result of making the workplace environment more agile. This has led to 29 per cent more employees in Aon Best Employers embracing cross-functional collaboration, and 18 per cent more employees sharing knowledge. Furthermore, perception of organisational agility in employees of Aon Best Employers is 21 per cent higher compared to other organisations. 

“We are seeing companies placing increasing value on empowering their employees with the relevant skills to adapt to changing workplace environments. We really value the people-first approach Aon Best Employers are taking as they continue to make their talent more engaged by understanding what is important to them and enabling agile working environments,” said Gerhard Diedericks, Head of Talent Practice at Aon.

As companies across all sectors continue to evolve and adapt to advancements in technology, the survey shows Best Employers understand the value of their digital capabilities and equip employees with the capabilities to be ‘digital literate’. Interestingly, Best Employers’ IT departments are 30 per cent more engaged in comparison to other organisations.

“For any organisation operating in the digital age, a customer-centric experience is critical for its success. In fact, employee experience is the key lever that creates a more customer centric organisation. Aon Best Employers see a higher level of customer focus as a major benefit for having an engaged workforce. When employees are engaged, they naturally put more effort and care into their work and in customer interactions - a notable characteristic that sets Best Employers apart from the rest,” added Mr Diedericks.

Another common characteristic among Best Employers is recognising employees in meaningful non-monetary ways. Examples of this include extra annual leave, top up allowances for maternity leave, study assistance, superannuation bonuses and enabling flexible and remote working.

Aon Best Employers also demonstrate a culture of committed and open leadership to drive performance with Best Employers prioritising the relationship between senior leadership and employees. Aon has identified that Best Employers have senior leaders who make the effort to be accessible and visible to employees, and employees in these companies trust their capability and direction. Further to this, employees in Aon Best Employer organisations are equally happy with their managers and the senior leadership team (both 77% respectively).

Steven Gaffney, Chief Executive Officer, Pacific, Aon Retirement Solutions, said, “Aon Best Employers provides crucial insights into effectively engaging employees, retaining good talent and, ultimately, increasing productivity. As agility in the workplace becomes all the more common in Australian businesses, it appears employers that adjust the workplace to the needs of their employees are the most successful in maintaining a highly engaged and robust workforce.”

The full insights from the Aon Best Employers research is available upon request.

 

About Aon

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is a leading global provider of risk management, insurance brokerage and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 69,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative risk and people solutions. For further information on our capabilities and to learn how we empower results for clients, please visit: http://aon.mediaroom.com/