Shanghai, June 6, 2013 - Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health solutions business of Aon plc (NYSE: AON) announced its 2013 Best Employers Study results. Novartis Group (China) topped this year’s roster as “Best of the Best” in China.

The first Aon Hewitt Best Employer Study was conducted in China in 2001. This study enjoys the longest history and is recognized as the most comprehensive employer engagement and employer branding study conducted in Asia. The purpose of this study is to gain insights into companies that are creating real competitive advantage through their people, to explore what makes a workplace of choice, and to identify the Best Employers in China. This year, Aon Hewitt launched its upgraded study methodology in China. The 2013 study includes a survey of job seekers’ preferences to gain a more comprehensive understanding of job seekers’ perspectives and other external influences on employer branding.

After more than a decade of experience conducting Best Employers research, Aon Hewitt has fine-tuned its approach and methodology based on changing HR trends in Asia. The 2013 study differentiates itself from previous runs and other offerings in the market by means of its professional, data-driven approach that collects data from three distinct sources: employees, HR and the CEO. In addition, an external, independent judging panel composed of reputable business, academic and media leaders is appointed to blindly deliberate and decide on each year’s list of Best Employers. The study is built on a clearly articulated framework of four key themes, identified as critical for today’s HR agenda:

“After years of rapid development, China's talent market is already the most competitive market in the world. In addition to the strong competition already existing among job seekers, there is also a talent war going on among employers. Consequently, in order to attract, motivate and retain high quality talents, employers have started to place more focus on the ways skillful human resources management can foster positive employer branding and employee engagement,” Klaus Liu, Aon Hewitt CEO of Greater China, said.

This year, seventeen organizations received nineteen Best Employers awards in China:

Three special recognition awards were introduced this year: the Best Employer for Generation Y was awarded to Intel China Ltd.; Baxter (China) Investment Co., Ltd. was singled out as Best Employer Commitment to Engagement; and the Best Employer for Women went to Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd.

The most notable trends that emerged in this year’s Best Employers Study in China were:

Employer branding needs to better align external customer branding and corporate vision. Business managers with full awareness of their enterprise brand need to connect both parts - external consumer branding and internal employer branding. A strong linkage between the two brings more value to companies. Combining employer branding and the long-term corporate vision enables employees to better recognize enterprise values and focus their efforts to more advantageously support sustainable enterprise development. Companies lacking in good employer branding will gradually erode the bonds that sustain high engagement, which ultimately results in poor performance and low customer satisfaction.

Employer branding should balance and reflect increasingly diversified employee needs. Generation Y is becoming the major workforce in the labor market. Career demands from this generation are very different from those expressed by older generations. Generation Y places much more emphasis on recognition and personalized work experience. More and more enterprises are focusing on employee health management, employee wealth accumulation, and establishing distinct career paths and fair development opportunities. All of these contribute to building up a unique employer branding.

Yet, many enterprises still articulate employer branding via simple slogans that are primarily geared to employee recruitment. This is risky in today’s world, where information and opinions spread quickly over the web, especially when employees find that the realities are not as good as advertised. On a wide scale, such disenchantment results in high turnover rates, and even worse. Hence, Aon Hewitt suggests, “Employer branding is not just advertising rhetoric, but calls for the internal enhancement of management. Companies should align all of their human resource policies and programs with their employer branding”, as expressed by Frankie Shao,project manager of this year’s Best Employers study in China.

While the Best Employers study recognizes organizations that display standards of excellence, the journey to get there is one that Aon Hewitt recommends for every organization to embark upon. “For organizations that don’t make it to the Best Employers list, but are aspiring to become Best Employers, we want to reinforce that becoming a Best Employer doesn’t happen overnight,” says Gabriela Domicelj, Asia Pacific engagement practice leader and Best Employers Study lead at Aon Hewitt. “It is possible for everyone to become a Best Employer, if you’ve articulated the destination you want to reach and have planned your journey wisely.”

Participation in Aon Hewitt’s survey brings a wide range of benefits for organizations, such as finding out how employees perceive and rate their employer, the reasons why they are attracted to certain employer brands, and the type of organizational culture they value sufficiently to “stay and strive.”  The study also provides a benchmark against company competitors in the market. Participating organizations gain access to Aon Hewitt’s latest market research insights, along with the best and most innovative people practices of Best Employers.

To find out more about the Aon Hewitt Best Employers Asia 2013 Study, please visit http://www.bestemployersasia.com.

To find out more about Aon Hewitt Best Employers China 2013 Awards or to inquire about the next edition of the Best Employers Study starting in July 2013, email: frankie.shao@aonhewitt.com

About Aon Hewitt

Aon Hewitt empowers organizations and individuals to secure a better future through innovative talent, retirement and health solutions. We advise, design and execute a wide range of solutions that enable clients to cultivate talent to drive organizational and personal performance and growth, navigate retirement risk while providing new levels of financial security, and redefine health solutions for greater choice, affordability and wellness.  Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human resource solutions, with over 30,000 professionals in 90 countries serving more than 20,000 clients worldwide.  For more information on Aon Hewitt, please visit www.aonhewitt.com.

About Aon

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 65,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative and effective risk and people solutions and through industry-leading global resources and technical expertise. Aon has been named repeatedly as the world’s best broker, best insurance intermediary, reinsurance intermediary, captives manager and best employee benefits consulting firm by multiple industry sources. Visit www.aon.com for more information on Aon and www.aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon’s global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United. 

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