CAIRO: Want to be a better employer? Remember to motivate your employees and fulfill their expectations while meeting your business demands. "Best employers are those organizations that have managed to capture the hearts and minds of their people, said Debabrat Mishra, regional consulting business leader at Hewitt Associates. "Employees are typically driven by a fundamental set of factors, and organizations that understand which are their key levers are the ones with the highest levels of 'Employee Engagement'. While business executives are usually jittery about beating competition in the market place and achieving better corporate results, Mishra pointed out they should not overlook their human talent because that will be their edge going forward. "Best employers have a high level of alignment between their people practices, strategic vision and employee engagement, which results in very clear expectations from both the employer and employee. This clarity helps create true meaning for the employee as they know what is expected of them, as well as how their employer will deliver on his promise to them. Needless to say that better employers are those who have better financial results and are more successful in business, but equally important have strong reputation that attracts talent as well as have higher employee engagement, he added. Stressing on importance of employees' satisfaction to the health of a business, Hewitt Associates - one of the world's largest of HR outsourcing and consulting services - has put together a survey ranking employers based on employees' assessment. For more than eight years, Hewitt's survey - named "Best Employer - has ranked more than a thousand corporations in countries including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Asia. Next year, Hewitt will take its survey to the Middle East for the first time ever. "This will be the first study of its kind in the Middle East, Mishra stated. "The Middle East has seen a significant amount of growth and is strongly integrating into global economy. While most business corporations in the region lack access to international HR practices, the Best Employer survey will benchmark their HR skills on a global as well as a regional scale, he added. "The survey aims to make the Middle East an outstanding place to work . look at employee requirements and challenges they face [in a bid to] make improvements in the workplace, Mishra explained. "We seek to make business organizations much more aware of managing talent and therefore making the world a better place to work. Registration process opened September for regional business and will close end of October. Data collection, analyses, and comparison processes will then take place till year-end. Results will are due in March 2009. "So far, 100 business organizations have applied, and we expect more than 150, making it the largest HR research in the Middle East, said Mishra. He explained that survey results are largely based on how employees perceive their corporations. Sample questions for employees are somewhere along the line of: Does your employer motivate people? Do you receive communication from leadership? Based on previous survey findings, "One of the best employers enables employees to stand out in the market place, he emphasized. "This is how an organization is distinguished from the rest. The Middle East Best Employer survey will target corporations across the region, but will focus on markets that are keen on improving HR skills such as the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt and Jordan. "This survey will show how many organizations are willing to be better employers, raise awareness of HR practices, and enhance desire to become better employers, Mishra pointed out. In today's global financial turmoil - that hammers major corporations one after the other - remaining a better employer proves more than just a walk in the park. For Mishra, it lies in managing human talent. "When organizations continue to invest in their people, despite economic downturns, they continue to rise to the top of our list in other markets.
