Allstate Insurance Co. of Canada, Federal Express Canada Corp. and Marriott Hotels are among the best employers in Canada, according to Aon’s annual benchmark and study, which recognizes 49 companies across the country.
This year, the study found that organizations with high levels of employee engagement create a strong and compelling employment brand, excel at fostering a high-performance culture and have engaging leaders. An emerging differentiator for these best employers, noted Aon, is their ability to effectively respond to increasing organizational disruption and to help employees manage through a rapidly changing work environment.
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“The rapid advancement of technology is disrupting organizations and creating challenges that have the potential to stand in the way of realizing the full benefit of this technology on their business results, and this year’s study demonstrates organizations that can effectively respond to those challenges also achieve high employee engagement,” said Todd Mathers, partner and culture and engagement consulting leader at Aon in Canada, in a press release.
“Technology is fundamentally changing the nature of jobs and the work that many employees do. But the need for the human element to drive organizational success is more important than ever. The vital question for employers is, ‘How do we maintain a highly engaged workforce through these changes so that our employees can continue to contribute to our success as a business and to be a competitive advantage for us?’.
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For employers listed at the platinum level, average employee engagement stood at 78 per cent this year, down very slightly from 79 per cent last year, according to the study. A similar drop was recorded by gold-level employers, from 73 per cent last year to 72 per cent this year.
The study also found Canada’s best employers are more agile than other organizations, scoring much higher in supporting new ideas (78 per cent versus 55 per cent) and investing in them quickly (68 per cent versus 43 per cent), and supporting employee learning and development (83 per cent versus 62 per cent). As well, the best employers allocated talent more effectively, scoring higher in having the people resources to get work done (66 per cent versus 44 per cent) and in attracting the right people to achieve business goals (73 per cent versus 51 per cent).
Aon’s best employers also help employees feel valued, scoring higher than others in performance feedback (69 per cent versus 47 per cent), recognition beyond pay and benefits (67 per cent versus 46 per cent) and senior leaders’ treatment of employees as the organization’s most valuable asset (73 per cent versus 51 per cent). And the best employers live up to a compelling employer brand, scoring higher in delivering on the employee experience they promise (73 per cent versus 50 per cent) and reputation as the best place to work (78 per cent versus 58 per cent).
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The 2018 platinum-level employers are:
- Allstate Insurance Co. of Canada
- Alterna Savings and Credit Union
- ATB Financial
- BBA
- BC Automobile Association
- Bennett Jones LLP
- Birchwood Automotive Group
- Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust
- CIMA+
- Davis Auto Group
- Dilawri’s Crown Auto Group
- Edward Jones
- Equitable Bank
- Farm Credit Canada
- Federal Express Canada Corp.
- Innovation Credit Union
- Intact Financial Corp.
- Keg Restaurants Ltd.
- Libro Credit Union
- Maritime Travel Inc.
- Marriott Hotels
- Meridian Credit Union
- SAP Canada
- Stikeman Elliott LLP
- The Co-operators Group
The 2018 gold-level employers are:
- Cintas Canada Ltd.
- Clark Builders Group of Companies
- Colliers International
- LoyaltyOne
- MNP LLP