BUDAPEST – Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting and outsourcing company, today announced the results of its annual Best Employers Study for Central and Eastern Europe. The study, which surveyed nearly 123,000 employees and 2,700 senior leaders across the region, shows that organisations will become more vulnerable as the economic situation improves due to the increased risk of losing talent.  However, the study also shows that the Best Employers with highly engaged and motivated people can create competitive advantage.

This year's Hewitt Associates Best Employers Study shows that despite the positive signs in the economy, senior leaders are still very cautious about the future of their organisations.  42% of senior leaders still expect to downsize in the coming years and 64% also believe that their companies are likely to experience reduced economic resources and budget cut backs.  But it is the human factors that are the likeliest causes of concern for organisations.

Rita Veres, Engagement practice lead for Hewitt in Europe, said:

"Essentially, the recession will no longer serve as a retention vehicle, with employees reluctant or unable to move jobs.  Organisations now need to think about how to engage and retain their employees - and in particular, their top performers.

"As the economy improves and throws up more opportunities, employees are reconsidering their career options and are also taking stock of how much extra effort they want to contribute to their organisations. They are reflecting on the actions taken by their organisation over the past year and in some cases reconsidering their loyalty."

The Hewitt study shows that in Central and Eastern Europe, it is not only the senior leaders who do not burst with optimism. Employees still do not fully trust the positive economic signs; generally they are even more worried about losing their job than they were last year, with a -4% decrease in job stability.  This is especially true in Bulgaria (-12%), Ukraine (-17%) and Hungary (-6%).  But this does not mean that they are truly engaged with their organisations.

Furthermore, the gap in engagement is growing.  There is a large separation between organisations.  Those with high engagement and better results continue to improve their engagement and are poised to do well and to recruit top talent from others who may be struggling. This gap will continue to grow, and Best Employers with a highly engaged team can gain significant competitive advantage and get well ahead of the market.

Rita Veres said:

"The good news is that even in turbulent times it's possible to produce positive business results. Our global research proves that high performing organisations with highly engaged teams still managed to offer above average return to their shareholders. Many of the most successful companies in this year's Study are proof of that."

This year the Central and Eastern European Study's list of large companies was topped by Ceva Logistics Turkey, with Intel Technology Poland heading the list for medium size companies and Superlit Turkey for small size companies. A listing of Hewitt's Best Employers for small, medium and large scale companies follows in this news release.

The Study also identified some of the miracle business recipes that the Best Employers insist on during turbulent times: increasing leadership visibility and communication, greater transparency, maintaining good dialogue with employees and demonstrating clarity about the future. The Best Employers never stopped listening to their employees in order to understand their viewpoint, and they continued to connect with them to reinforce key messages and to stress the importance that employees have in the organisation.

About the Best Employers Study
Methodology
Hewitt surveyed 123,000 employees, 2,700 top leaders, and employees out of 700 companies joined the Study seven Central and Eastern Europe. The survey covered workplace quality, with organisations eligible if they employed more than 50 people, with operations in the given country for at least two years.

The ranking is based on an objective, independent scoring methodology. 60% of the score depends on employees' opinion and 40% comes from the "alignment score" (showing how closely the leaders' perspective, employees' needs and HR practices are aligned). The study examines three aspects:

• Hewitt Employee Engagement Survey: completed by a representative sample of employees. 80 questions on: the work environment, career and development, salary and compensations, top management, internal relations, work/life balance, HR practices and company processes. Opinions are measured on a six-level scale with the opportunity to explain opinions. 
• Leadership Team Survey: completed by the business leader (CEO) or equivalent to indicate his/her opinion on the companies' HR strategy and philosophy, and their companies as employers. It focuses on: leadership engagement, internal conformity of leadership, company strategy and business priorities, HR priorities, and leadership communication.
• HR Audit Questionnaire: completed by the HR manager plus department. It focuses on: employer branding, talent management, HR activity and practice efficiency, compensation/perks, performance management, work/life balance, HR strategy, HR effectiveness.

About Hewitt Associates 
Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW) provides leading organisations around the world with expert human resources consulting and outsourcing solutions to help them anticipate and solve their most complex benefits, talent, and related financial challenges. Hewitt works with companies to design, implement, communicate, and administer a wide range of human resources, retirement, investment management, health care, compensation, and talent management strategies. With a history of exceptional client service since 1940, Hewitt has offices in more than 30 countries and employs approximately 23,000 associates who are helping make the world a better place to work. For more information, please visitwww.hewitt.com.