Aon Hewitt, the global human resources business of Aon plc (NYSE: AON), has brought employee engagement agenda into the spotlight with the launch of its bi-annual study Best Employers Middle East 2013. The accreditation programme, conducted by the world's leading HR consultancy, provides participating organisations from across the Middle East with a chance to not only measure their employees' engagement levels, but to also understand next steps on the path to higher employee engagement. Launched globally over 10 years ago, Best Employers has become an international benchmark for business, reflecting the opinions of an unprecedented number of employees and providing organisations with a unique opportunity to assess and understand the impact that engagement has on workforce performance. Samir Mardini, Head of Talent at Aon Hewitt Middle East, said: “Over a decade of research shows that Best Employers are consistent across national culture, economic conditions and political situations because they put a high value on employees' needs. This results in particularly high levels of employee engagement which in turn creates positive brand advocates, reduces staff turnover, improves customer satisfaction and, ultimately, increases business performance and profitability. “With this in mind, it is no surprise that organisations are placing an increasing emphasis on introducing effective measures to maximize employee engagement and gain a competitive edge over other organisations." To take part in the study, organisations need to complete three diagnostic tools which have been developed by Aon Hewitt to provide comprehensive insight into organisational behaviours: Employee Opinion Survey: Identifies employee perceptions across a comprehensive set of people, organisation and process related areas; Human Resources Survey: Collects information from HR leaders on business performance, organisational structure, people/HR strategies and practices, programmes and policies; Leadership Team Survey: Questionnaire designed to collect feedback from the leadership team on strategic business direction and people-related actions to enhance business performance.
