Aon Hewitt Research Identifies Canada's Best Employers of 2011

Canadian Organizations Re-Focus on Employee Engagement as Recession Ends

TORONTO, Oct. 28 /CNW/ -The end of last year's economic downturn appears to have brought employee engagement back to the forefront for many Canadian organizations, according to the 2011 Best Employers studies, conducted by Aon Hewitt, the human capital consulting and outsourcing solutions business of Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON), in conjunction with the Queen's University School of Business. As a result, participation in the annual Best Employers studies increased by 20 per cent over last year. The 2011 lists of the Best Employers in Canada and the Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada (attached) appear in the November 8 issue of Maclean's magazine, available on newsstands today, and the November 4 edition of La Presse.

"Even though participation in the studies increased this year, a number of the organizations that appear on the 2011 Best Employers lists have achieved this status before," said Neil Crawford, Aon Hewitt's national Best Employers studies leader. "These employers didn't waiver in their commitment to sustaining and improving high employee engagement, even during tough economic times. They weathered the recession thanks in large part to a highly productive workforce focused on organizational success. The fact that these employers appear again on the 2011 lists indicates that their employees are still very committed to the organization, despite having more options available to them in a post-recession economy."

There are also close to 20 organizations that have been named Best Employers this year for the first time. "Some of these employers have participated in prior years and have been on the journey to high employee engagement," stated Crawford. "By using the study results to pinpoint exactly where they needed to make changes to their human resources policies, programs and practices, these organizations have been able to boost their employees' engagement. They're now enjoying the benefits of high engagement, including lower turnover, less absenteeism, greater employee productivity, and higher customer satisfaction."

Defining Employee Engagement

Two hundred and fifty-one Canadian employers took part in the 2011 Best Employers studies. Organizations are selected as Best Employers based primarily on survey responses from more than 134,000 Canadian employees at these organizations that gauge their level of engagement.

According to Aon Hewitt's definition, employees are engaged when they "say, stay and strive": they speak positively about the organization to others, are committed to remaining with their current employer, and are motivated by their organizations' leaders, managers, culture and values to go "above and beyond" to contribute to business success. The average engagement score for Best Employer organizations of all sizes was 80 per cent; the average for other organizations participating in the two studies was 59 per cent.

Size, Industry, Location No Barrier to Best Employer Status

Those organizations that appear on the two 2011 Best Employers lists represent a wide range of employers. They come from software, banking, hospitality, retail, pharmaceutical and 25 other industries. They are headquartered across the country, from Charlottetown to Nanaimo. They range in size from as few as 50 employees to more than 50,000. 

"Even though the two studies are geared towards larger and small/medium organizations, our research has determined that size really isn't a factor when it comes to employee engagement," said survey co-ordinator Einar Westerlund, director of project development at the Queen's Centre for Business Venturing. "It's as much a challenge for small organizations to engage their employees as it is for large ones. The approach may vary by company size, but driving employee engagement is still very much related to factors such as frequent, two-way communication with leaders, learning, development and career opportunities, strong performance management, and human resources programs that are not only competitive, but also meet the needs of individual employees and align with the organization's values."

To learn more about the Best Employers studies and register online to participate, please visit the Best Employers Web site at www.hewitt.com/bestemployerscanada.

About Queen's Centre for Business Venturing (QCBV)

Based at Queen's School of Business, Canada's leading business school, QCBV's mandate is to become the leading and definitive source of knowledge and expertise in the creation, leadership and management of new ventures. It will accomplish this by developing innovative curriculum, providing access to pools of capital to fund new ventures, conducting applied research, brokering and being a hub of SME and new venture knowledge, and by playing a key role with decision-making bodies.  Its focus is to increase the odds of success for Canadian new ventures.

About Aon Hewitt

Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human capital consulting and outsourcing solutions. The company partners with organizations to solve their most complex benefits, talent and related financial challenges, and improve business performance. Aon Hewitt designs, implements, communicates and administers a wide range of human capital, retirement, investment management, health care, compensation and talent management strategies. With more than 29,000 professionals in 90 countries, Aon Hewitt makes the world a better place to work for clients and their employees. For more information on Aon Hewitt, please visit www.aonhewitt.com.

About Aon

Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital consulting and outsourcing. Through its more than 59,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon delivers distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Aon's industry-leading global resources and technical expertise are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Named the world's best broker by Euromoney magazine's 2008, 2009 and 2010 Insurance Survey, Aon also ranked highest on Business Insurance's listing of the world's largest insurance brokers based on commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage revenues in 2008 and 2009. A.M. Best deemed Aon the number one insurance broker based on brokerage revenues in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and Aon was voted best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary and best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007, 2008 and 2009 by the readers of Business Insurance. Visit http://www.aon.com for more information on Aon and http://www.aon.com/unitedin2010 to learn about Aon's global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.

The 2011 List of the Best Employers in Canada

Rank	Organization	Headquarters	Industry
1	Cisco Canada	Toronto ON	Communications Equipment
2	EllisDon Corporation	London ON	Construction & Engineering
3	PCL Constructors Inc.	Edmonton AB	Construction & Engineering
4	CIMA+ Partner in Excellence	Laval QC	Construction & Engineering
5	McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Limited	Toronto ON	Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
6	OpenRoad Auto Group Ltd.	Richmond BC	Specialty Retail
7	Marriott Hotels of Canada Ltd.	Mississauga ON	Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
8	Bennett Jones LLP	Calgary AB	Professional Services
9	Wellington West Holdings Ltd.	Winnipeg MB	Diversified Financial Services
10	Farm Credit Canada	Regina SK	Diversified Financial Services
11	Chubb Insurance Company of Canada	Toronto ON	Insurance
12	Edward Jones	Mississauga ON	Diversified Financial Services
13	OMERS Administration Corporation	Toronto ON	Diversified Financial Services
14	Delta Hotels & Resorts	Toronto ON	Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
15	Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. (Canada)	Toronto ON	Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
16	Graham Group Ltd.	Calgary AB	Construction & Engineering
17	Stikeman Elliott LLP	N/A	Professional Services
18	BBA Inc.	Mont-Saint-Hilaire QC	Commercial Services & Supplies
19	The Co-operators	Guelph ON	Insurance
20	GlaxoSmithKline Inc.	Mississauga ON	Pharmaceuticals
21	Flight Centre	Vancouver BC	Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
22	LoyaltyOne	Toronto ON	Diversified Consumer Services
23	Scotiabank Group	Toronto ON	Diversified Financial Services
24	Federal Express Canada Ltd.	Mississauga ON	Air Freight & Logistics
25	Aecon Group Inc.	Toronto ON	Construction & Engineering
26	TD Bank Financial Group	Toronto ON	Commercial Banks
27	Canadian Western Bank	Edmonton AB	Commercial Banks
28	Co-operators Life Insurance Company	Regina SK	Insurance
29	Amex Canada Inc./Amex Bank of Canada	Markham ON	Diversified Financial Services
30	Earl's Restaurants Ltd.	North Vancouver BC	Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
31	Meyers Norris Penny	Calgary AB	Commercial Services & Supplies
32	Dillon Consulting	Toronto ON	Professional Services
33	ATB Financial	Edmonton AB	Commercial Banks
34	Island Savings Credit Union	Duncan BC	Diversified Financial Services
35	Clark Builders	Edmonton AB	Construction & Engineering
36	Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP	Toronto ON	Professional Services
37	G&K Services Canada Inc.	Mississauga ON	Commercial Services & Supplies
38	Conexus	Regina SK	Diversified Financial Services
39	ING DIRECT	Toronto ON	Commercial Banks
40	Ivanhoe Cambridge Inc.	Montreal QC	Real Estate Management & Development
41	Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics	Vancouver BC	Personal Products
42	Novotel Canada	Mississauga ON	Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
43	Keg Restaurants Ltd.	Richmond BC	Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
44	BC Biomedical Laboratories Ltd.	Surrey BC	Health Care Providers & Services
45	Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.	Dorval QC	Pharmaceuticals
46	Bentall LP	Toronto ON	Real Estate Management & Development
47	HATCH	Mississauga ON	Construction & Engineering
48	National Bank Financial Group	Montreal QC	Commercial Banks
49	Coastal Community Credit Union	Nanaimo BC	Commercial Banks
50	Cintas Canada Limited	Mississauga ON	Commercial Services & Supplies

The 2011 List of the Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada

Rank	Organization	Headquarters	Industry
1	Protegra	Winnipeg MB	IT Services
2	I Love Rewards	Toronto ON	Internet Software & Services
3	Booty Camp Fitness Inc.	Toronto ON	Diversified Consumer Services
4	RL Solutions	Toronto ON	Software
5	ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd.	Edmonton AB	Construction & Engineering
6	EPIC Information Solutions Inc.	Winnipeg MB	IT Services
7	CBCI Telecom	Lachine QC	Diversified Telecommunication Services
8	Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Canada	Mississauga ON	Diversified Financial Services
9	O.C. Tanner Canada	Burlington ON	Commercial Services & Supplies
10	Phonak Canada Ltd.	Mississauga ON	Health Care Equipment & Supplies
11	Nintendo of Canada Ltd.	Vancouver BC	Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components
12	Windsor Family Credit Union	Windsor ON	Diversified Financial Services
13	Habañero Consulting Group	Vancouver BC	IT Services
14	Bioniche Life Sciences Inc.	Belleville ON	Life Sciences Tools & Services
15 (tie)	Teshmont Consultants LP	Winnipeg MB	Energy Equipment & Services
15 (tie)	Gibraltar Solutions	Mississauga ON	IT Services
16	Peel Senior Link	Mississauga ON	Health Care Providers & Services
17	Unisync Group	Mississauga ON	Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods
18	beerbistro	Toronto ON	Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
19	Mennonite Savings and Credit Union	Kitchener ON	Commercial Banks
20	Wakefield Canada Inc.	Toronto ON	Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels
21	Birchwood Automotive Group	Winnipeg MB	Specialty Retail
22	Greater Edmonton Foundation: Housing for Seniors	Edmonton AB	Health Care Providers & Services
23	The CWB Group	Milton ON	Commercial Services & Supplies
24	iQmetrix Software Development Corp.	Vancouver BC	Software
25	Maple Reinders Constructors Ltd.	Mississauga ON	Construction & Engineering
26	Benefits by Design Inc.	Port Coquitlam BC	Professional Services
27	Cruickshank	Kingston ON	Construction & Engineering
28	DJ Galvanizing	Windsor ON	Industrial Conglomerates
29	Concept Electric Ltd.	Calgary AB	Construction & Engineering
30	Terracon Geotechnique Ltd.	Fort McMurray AB	Construction & Engineering
31	National Leasing	Winnipeg MB	Commercial Services & Supplies
32	Forensic Technology WAI Inc.	Côte St-Luc QC	Software
33	Halogen Software Inc.	Ottawa ON	Software
34	TIC Travel Insurance Coordinators Ltd.	Toronto ON	Insurance
35	Vista Projects Limited	Calgary AB	Construction & Engineering
36	StarTech.com	London ON	Computers & Peripherals
37	Furlani's Food Corporation	Mississauga ON	Food Products
38	Wish Mobile Inc.	Toronto ON	Wireless Telecommunication Services
39	Cybertech Group of Companies	Edmonton AB	IT Services
40	Holland College	Charlottetown PE	Diversified Consumer Services
41	Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc.	Toronto ON	Diversified Financial Services
42	Getinge Canada Limited	Mississauga ON	Health Care Equipment & Supplies
43	The Personnel Department	Vancouver BC	Commercial Services & Supplies
44	The WORKS Gourmet Burger Bistro	Ottawa ON	Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
45	Desire2Learn Incorporated	Kitchener ON	Internet Software & Services
46	MKS Inc.	Waterloo ON	Software
47	Scott Construction Group	Vancouver BC	Construction & Engineering
48	SEMAFO Inc.	St-Laurent QC	Metals & Mining
49	Kingston Ross Pasnak	Edmonton AB	Professional Services
50	Innovation Place	Saskatoon SK	Real Estate Management & Development

For further information:

Media Contacts: 
Marcia McDougall, 416-227-5713, [email protected]
Autom Tagsa, 416-542-5659, [email protected]
Sandra Olszowka, 613-533-3119, [email protected]