TORONTO, February 17, 2012 – The 30 organizations identified as 2012’s Best Employers in Quebec vary widely in terms of industry and workforce size. What they share, however, is high employee engagement, according to research conducted by Aon Hewitt, the global human resources consulting and outsourcing business of Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON), in conjunction with the Queen’s University School of Business. The first annual list of the Best Employers in Quebec (attached) appears in today’s issue of La Presse. 

Those eligible for the Quebec list are drawn from participants in the 2012 national Best Employers studies. These organizations are headquartered in Quebec and/or have a significant employee population working there.

“The best judges of whether an organization is a Best Employer are employees themselves," said Andrée Mercier, a senior vice president with Aon Hewitt in Montreal. "Our research goes beyond measuring satisfaction (how much I like things here) and commitment (how much I want to be here) to engagement (how much I want to and actually contribute to improving our business results). Focusing on improving engagement helps organizations to achieve sustainable success.”

The average engagement score for Quebec Best Employers is the same as the national Best Employers average of 78 per cent. However, when survey responses from Quebec-based workers are compared to those from Canadian employees overall, employees in Quebec are more engaged: the average engagement score in Quebec is 69 per cent versus 63 per cent nationally. “We believe the reason that Quebec employees are generally more engaged has a lot to do with the engagement of all levels of management in Quebec,” stated Mercier. “Engagement scores for both senior and middle management, as well as supervisors, in Quebec surpass the national average for employees in these positions.”

“When all levels of leadership are highly engaged, that enthusiasm and commitment is bound to have a positive impact on other employees in the organization,” said Mercier. 

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 be the leading and definitive source of knowledge and expertise in the creation, leadership and management of new ventures. Further, it strengthens and helps build Canadian SMEs by focusing its efforts on serving the broader SME community through research, providing advisory services and support, and creating and delivering innovative curriculum. QCBV administers the annual Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada study. We are dedicated to increasing the odds of success for Canadian organizations and their leaders. Please visit www.bsmestudycanada.com.

About Aon Hewitt
Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human resource 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, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 61,000 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 http://www.aon.com for more information on Aon and http://www.aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon's global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.

The 30 Best Employers in Quebec of 2012

Media Contact: 
Stephen Barrigar
416-868-5724
stephen.barrigar@aon.ca