So often, the commercial success of an organisation correlates with a first-rate performance as an employer.
Today at the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel, a select number of these well-run companies will see their efforts recognised at the Aon Best Employers - Hong Kong 2017 Awards.
In the Asia-Pacific region overall, 550 organisations and over 700,000 employees, active in a range of economic sectors, took part in the Aon Best Employers programme.
Based on the research data collected, the Hong Kong winners have now been selected by a quintet of judges: Theresa Lai, general manager, human resources, Modern Terminals; Ginn Fung, editor of Classified Post; Derek Wu, vice-president, global human resources, Lee Kum Kee International Holdings; Jodi Koon, general manager, Employers Federation of Hong Kong; and Professor Jinyu He of the HKUST Business School.
Reflecting on the qualities that separated the award winners from other very impressive employers, the judges highlighted commitment, consistency and the ability to link business goals with individual aspirations.
“I think it’s the consistency in the implementation of their programmes,” said Lai. “Also, the outstanding employers have targeted programmes which address specific needs within the organisation.”
These needs, she explained, could be those of distinct groupings, such as female employees or young people, or could be concerned with boosting retention rates or orienting new employees.
“I see the best employers putting a lot of time and effort into making these programmes work.”
Fung saw the commitment the award-winning companies make to their staff as a key factor in their success.
“Without a detailed and well-established HR policy and practice, no company can retain and motivate staff in a sustainable way,” he suggested. “What makes the winning companies unique is their holistic HR approach. Instead of focusing only on pay and benefits, they provide tremendous opportunities for every employee, at all levels, to grow, learn and have fun.”
The skilful manner in which the very best employers align their business strategy and people practices was highlighted by Wu.
“They relentlessly develop the right talent and harness high-performance culture. The winners also consistently cultivate corporate culture, which has to dwell in the hearts and minds of the people charged with delivering its mission.”
Pointing to the changing expectations of employees, Lai cited the way in which younger staff, in particular, now look for more work-life balance. Koon noted the steps employers have taken to respond to these evolving expectations.
“We see more employers recognising the importance of implanting a caring culture within the organisation,” Koon said. “The related programmes, or projects, are not limited only to occupational safety and health, but extend to the wellness of the whole person. That’s why we see more and more programmes facilitating work-life integration.”
And, according to He, it’s not only changing employee expectations the best employers have to prepare for.
“There are new challenges emerging on the horizon, such as those around technological disruptions and societal sustainability,” he said. “Whether the company is preparing itself and its employees to face these challenges becomes a critical factor when selecting the best employers.”
Tzeitel Fernandes, managing director of Aon Hewitt Hong Kong, pointed to some figures from this year’s programme that underline the way in which organisations build a competitive advantage through higher performance on Aon’s Best Employer Indices.
“We observed that best employers have a 21 per cent higher level of performance on employee engagement than the Hong Kong market average. They filled 39 per cent more openings internally; had a 10 per cent lower attrition rate; and they are able to retain 5 per cent more of their newly hired employees.”
But behind the very best, there are encouraging signs. The Hong Kong market average for levels of employee engagement has increased - up 3 per cent from last year, according to Mary Yu, head of talent Hong Kong at Aon Hewitt. Yu sees several possible reasons for this improvement.
“From our Best Employer research, improving employee engagement has been consistently listed as one of the top three priorities for all organisations. Companies seem to be fully aware of the importance of driving an engaged workforce and are proactively developing a more disciplined approach to building the ‘culture of engagement’.”
As well as simply measuring employee engagement, she added, more companies are following up with action based on the results, and then tracking the effectiveness of these actions. “A more robust and sustainable engagement governance model is in place to oversee the journey of employee engagement,” Yu said.
But the pre-eminent employers are maintaining their advantage, when it comes to measuring levels of employee engagement.
“The main gap we see in terms of engagement practice is the linkage of engagement results to other business metrics,” Yu said. “Best Employers link their employee engagement to wider metrics such as customer satisfaction, productivity and efficiency gains, quality improvement, sales per year, and absenteeism - and trend data over years to uncover predictive analytics factors.”
Moreover, she added, best employers engage their leaders, build a bench of leaders who excel at engaging others, and use them to drive a more engaged workforce and better business performance.
“Culture alignment also has a positive impact on the people in the organisation. We looked at culture alignment data from 25,600 employee respondents, working for 38 Asian companies, and found that employees from organisations with high culture alignment have significantly higher engagement levels,” Yu said.
Best Employers - Hong Kong 2017
AIA International
American Express International
DHL Express Hong Kong
DBS Bank (Hong Kong)
McDonald’s (Hong Kong)
Best Employer for Women
American Express International
Best Employer for Commitment to Engagement
DBS Bank (Hong Kong)
Best Employers – Global
InterContinental Hotels Group, Hong Kong
Marriott International, Hong Kong
Tata Communications (Hong Kong)
