Best employers focus on engagement

“We use employee engagement as the standard for determining which organizations are the ‘best’ employers,” said Einar Westerlund, director of project development at the Queen’s School of Business Centre for Business Venturing. “In this study, feedback directly from employees about their workplace and their work experience enables us to measure how engaged they are.”

According to Aon Hewitt’s definition, employees are engaged when they “say, stay and strive.” That means, they speak positively about the organization to others, are committed to remaining with their current employer and are motivated by their organization’s leaders, managers, culture and values to go “above and beyond” to contribute to business success. The average engagement score for this year’s top employers was 83%; other participants in the study had an average score of 61%.

“Achieving high engagement isn’t easy at the best of times,” said Westerlund. “It’s even more challenging in an improving economy when the demand for workers increases and employees have more options. Unless employers have been able to gain a strong level of commitment from their workforce, they will see employee turnover begin to increase.” The survey’s research indicates that, in addition to greater employee retention, organizations with high engagement have decreased absenteeism, better employee health and lower job stress, enhanced customer service and better business results.

According to the survey, these are the Top 10 employers in Canada for employee engagement in 2012:

1. Imaginet, Winnipeg
2. Arrow Group of Companies, Scarborough, Ont.
3. Achievers, Toronto
4. Habañero Consulting Group, Vancouver
5. Solvera Solutions, Regina
6. RL SOLUTIONS, Toronto
7. Protegra, Winnipeg
8. Vigilant Global, Montreal
9. Nurse Next Door Home Care Services, Vancouver
10. iQmetrix, Regina