Frequently Asked Questions

By conducting the Hewitt Best Employers in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Study, Hewitt has developed a deep understanding of how the best organisations attract and engage talent to establish high performing businesses, and importantly, how they can maintain this distinction in tougher economic times.

Hewitt's mission is to make the world a better place to work. Conducting the Hewitt Best Employers in ANZ Study has provided Hewitt and our Clients with significant insights into the people practices of organisations across the world to help us achieve this. Linking best practices to business performance has also increased the focus of executives on the impact that effective people management has on their ability to reach and exceed their businesses objectives.

This year signifies a major change from previous Hewitt Best Employers in ANZ with a move away from the traditional research–based approach to the study. In 2009 Hewitt Best Employers in ANZ has been relaunched as an accreditation process

In past years Hewitt's focus for Best Employers has been on gaining research insights which can be used to help organisations become great places to work. This meant there was less flexibility for those organisations participating in terms of the timing of the survey and the complexity of the survey tools.

In 2009 we have made changes to the process in response to participants' feedback. The focus is on providing organisations with a simple and flexible approach to participation. This will be facilitated by the introduction of an accreditation process.

The accreditation process is a series of stages through which organisations need to pass before they can be awarded Best Employer accredited status. Organisations need only participate in the stages that they are specifically interested in, and for which they meet eligibility criteria (see What does the accreditation process look like?)

The criteria for each stage in the accreditation process will be communicated to organisations so they can clearly identify what they need to do to achieve Best Employer accreditation. Hewitt will provide feedback to organisations at each stage of the accreditation process to support them on their journey to becoming a Best Employer.

The accreditation process makes participating in the Hewitt Best Employers in ANZ a very flexible and insightful process for organisations. This will provide a framework for acknowledging organisations as Best Employers throughout the year.

This change will allow many more organisations the opportunity to participate in the study and benefit from being able to:

• Gain feedback from their staff in a cost effective way;
• Compare their practices to the Hewitt Best Employers; and
• Have the opportunity to be publicly acknowledged as a Hewitt Best Employer.

With this move towards an accreditation process, the following changes to Best Employers have been implemented:

• One of the key changes is to streamline the content of the Employee Opinion Survey (EOS) and People Practices Inventory (PPI). Without compromising the robustness of our well established engagement methodology, we have removed questions from these surveys that in previous years have been included purely as a means of collecting business information for Hewitt's research purposes. This year, the surveys will be completely focused on measuring engagement and the drivers of engagement, and for the assessment of organisations against Hewitt Best Employer criteria;
• The completion of the PPI will be voluntary and only required should a company successfully pass the initial hurdles on the way to Hewitt Best Employer accreditation;
• Fortnightly survey periods will be implemented, providing the opportunity for organisations to conduct their EOS at a time that best suits them during the survey period;
• Hewitt Best Employer acknowledgements will be awarded throughout the year on successful achievement of a pre–determined and transparent set of criteria;
• The ‘Best of the Best’ will be announced at a gala event on 11 March, 2010 and published by our media partner on 12 March, 2010.
• Participants will receive comprehensive reporting, in both Tabular and PowerPoint format. This will include Positive Perception Scores, Engagement scores by key demographic groups and impact modeling (identification of priority areas for action);
• All participants will receive two hours of consulting support, as part of the process, to assist them in understanding and interpreting the information;
• The cost of participation is AUD $4,365 / NZ $5,300 (+ country GST). Organisations using a standard / 'off the shelf' employee survey, with the equivalent level of survey questions, reporting, and consulting support, would normally expect a cost of AUD $15,120 (+ GST).

As with previous years your organisation's participation is confidential. Many organisations know they are not yet close to being a Hewitt Best Employer but choose to participate for two reasons:

• To gain feedback from their staff in a cost effective way; and
• To benchmark themselves against Hewitt Best Employers and other organisations.

This allows them to focus their people agenda on those activities which are going to have the greatest impact on their employee's Engagement levels and on their businesses performance. This year the increased transparency around what makes a Hewitt Best Employer and more insightful reporting will provide greater guidance and focus for you on your journey.

Hewitt's research has demonstrated time and again the relationship between employee engagement and business performance: organisations that have a highly engaged workforce consistently see better financial results, as well as reductions in their human capital spend through higher retention and ease of attraction. With budget cuts and heightened focus on efficiency and productivity, it has never been more important for organisations to derive maximum value from their people. Understanding what is required to improve engagement should therefore be a key priority for organisations in the current climate.

Being a Hewitt Best Employer during times of change not only provides your organisation with the inner strength to face the challenges head on, but sends positive messages to stakeholders about your capacity to rally during times of hardship.

Participating in the Hewitt Best Employers in ANZ study is not just about becoming a Best Employer. The changes made to the study this year makes it an ideal option for organisations looking for a cost effective employee engagement survey; be it a survey to take a temperature check of a sample of your entire workforce or a tool you use to understand the engagement of a specific, business critical component (e.g., your sales force). If this use of the study is of interest to you, we would be happy to discuss your options in more detail.

The Hewitt Best Employers study is the benchmark for organisations because of the quality and integrity of its methodology. Having conducted these studies around the world for almost a decade, and being a global HR consulting and outsourcing firm, Hewitt brings credible expertise as well as valid and proven methodology to the research. Hewitt's diagnostic tools have been used for the data collection and analysis phase. This consistent methodology will allow for benchmark comparisons to be made with Hewitt Best Employers lists in other regions as well as with the previous Australia/New Zealand studies.

Through the Hewitt Best Employers research conducted since 2000, Hewitt has developed a sound understanding of what it takes to be a Hewitt Best Employer in ANZ. It has shifted organisations away from the gimmicks that can be mistaken for Best Employer practices and focused them on the fundamentals which truly impact the motivation and Engagement levels of their employees.

The Accreditation Process

After registering for Hewitt Best Employers you can conduct the Employee Opinion Survey (EOS). Within two weeks of completing this survey you will receive reports with your results. At this point you can then decide if you want to proceed to the next level of accreditation by completing a short People Practice Inventory (PPI). This inventory can be completed by HR and covers questions around the people practices and philosophies in the organisation. Based on Hewitt's assessment of the EOS and PPI, Hewitt would then conduct an on–site Audit which would include an interview with the CEO, an interview with HR and an employee focus group.

If you meet the criteria through all these processes you will be accredited as a Hewitt Best Employer and go into the pool to be assessed for the 'Best of the Best' by an independent judging panel in early in 2010.

This year the criteria for selection of Hewitt Best Employers will be based on five factors identified as being consistent to Hewitt Best Employers over the eight-year history of this study:

• High levels of employee Engagement (65% or above);
• Leadership commitment to people;
• A compelling promise to Employees that is delivered upon;
• Connecting employees to the company and strategy; and
• A culture focused on high performance.

Using the EOS, PPI and Audit data Hewitt will assess your performance in each of these areas. Based on the findings from previous years, there will be preset standards in each area which must be met to become a Hewitt Best Employer.

When we speak with organisations who have been awarded Hewitt Best Employer status in the past they identify a number of benefits to being publicly acknowledged as a Hewitt Best Employer. These include:

• The ability to attract the best talent in the market;
• Increased customer confidence in their ability to deliver great products and services;
• Increased employee trust in the organisation's commitment to look after its employees;
• Increased employee pride and motivation as a result of the achievement; and
• Increased employee retention.

Once you've completed an EOS, you can decide whether to proceed to the next stage and complete a PPI. To make this decision here are some guides:

If you have an Engagement score of 65% or more we would encourage you to complete the PPI. Our research shows that organisations with Engagement of 65% have significantly higher revenue, profitability and Total Shareholder Return. It signifies that your organisation is creating an environment where employee Engagement is driving performance and this is critical to being a Hewitt Best Employer.

It is also worth looking at your positive perception scores. If scores in critical areas such as Leadership, Career Opportunities and Recognition are below 50% you may still wish to complete the PPI but it is unlikely that the outcomes of further assessment will be sufficient for you to be accredited as a Hewitt Best Employer.

Whilst organisations with Engagement below 65% will not be acknowledged as a Hewitt Best Employer, they may choose to complete a PPI for developmental purposes, to receive feedback on how they are performing against the Hewitt Best Employer accreditation criteria. They can complete this and purchase a report which will outline their areas of strength and weakness against Hewitt Best Employers.

There will be four key components to an audit:

• An interview with the HR director or study coordinator to review and verify the people practices offered by the organisation;
• An interview with the CEO or most senior executive to clarify their perspective on people strategy within the organisation and the challenges facing them as a business;
• Focus groups of employees to validate the Employee Opinion Survey, including a site tour of the premises; and
• Time observing the organisation and employee interactions as part of the audit process.

Yes, an independent panel of judges will determine the Best of the Best list at the end of the year. This is necessary as the Best of the Best will be a comparative analysis of the organisations that have objectively been awarded Hewitt Best Employer status against the preset accreditation criteria. See the comments below on the Best of the Best List.

There will only be a Hewitt media release for the Best of the Best list. Publicity for recipients of the Best Employer status will be initiated by organisations receiving the award. Hewitt will provide a Best Employer Media pack for organisations awarded Best Employer accreditation (e.g., plaque, press release template, logos, and tips on making the most of their status) along with appropriate guidance to help them optimise the opportunities that the award will bring.

No, whilst the 2008 list includes more small than large organisations, this is an unusual result and Hewitt's research shows that both large and small organisations are able to achieve high levels of employee Engagement. Hewitt's global Engagement research indicates a low correlation between Engagement and organisation size (r = 0.07).

Business Units can participate in the EOS element of the study independently from their overall organisation. However, only Business Units fulfilling the following criteria can progress along the Accreditation Pathway and have the chance of becoming a Best Employer:

1. Have a separate Board of Directors;
OR
2. Have a separate brand identity AND have at least 500 permanent employees.

The 'Best of the Best' Awards

The Best of the Best will be assessed by an independent judging panel as per previous years. The judging panel will evaluate the information on a 'blind' basis and will be unaware of the participating organisations' identity until after the final decision is made. This process will be a comparative analysis that looks at innovation around people practices, the overall business performance over time, and some of the critical scores from the EOS.

Hewitt will not be involved in this judging process. Hewitt's responsibility is to prepare all the materials required for the judges to review and make their decisions, i.e., we will summarise analysis reports for each of the short–listed companies, and relevant quantitative statistics generated from the study. Before the judges' meeting, Hewitt will also provide background information regarding the study to them so that they have a clear understanding of Hewitt's objectives, approach, and methodology.

Participation, Costs and Reporting

All dates for the 2010 study are yet to be confirmed. If you would like to receive information about the 2010 study when it becomes available please Contact us

For small organisations to receive any reporting they must have at least 15 people respond to the employee (EOS) survey. Based on typical response rates we would recommend organisations have at least 25 employees to participate. To proceed through the accreditation process and have an opportunity to be accredited you must have had at least 50 responses as this is the minimum number of people for our analyses to be conducted.

For organisations over a certain size, participation in the Employee Opinion Survey stage of the Hewitt Best Employers Accreditation Process is only possible for a sample of your organisation. The sampling criteria are detailed below.

* If your organisation is unable to submit the minimum number of EOSs as outlined above, your organisation will not be able to progress along the Accreditation Pathway. However, as a participant in the EOS you will receive all associated reporting and consulting deliverables.

** It is a condition of entry into the study that where participating organisations are surveying only a sample of their workforce, employees will be randomly selected. During the auditing phase, a selection of organisations will be asked to provide evidence of how the random sample was selected. Details of how to select a random sample will be provided to participants upon registration into the study.

*** Hewitt will accept a maximum of 2,000 EOS surveys per organisation.

If you have more than 500 employees in your organisation and would like all of your employees to participate in the Employee Opinion Survey, this is possible but we would need to develop a customised survey for you. More information about this and the associated costs can be obtained by contacting us.

Any organisation with more than 25 people can complete the EOS. For those interested in completing the rest of the Accreditation Pathway, the following conditions apply:

• The organisation must have been in business/operation in the market for at least two years and had their people practices in place for at least 12 months.
• Only one questionnaire response per organisation will be considered eligible for Hewitt Best Employers Accreditation.
• Subsidiaries are eligible only if they are publicly traded separate from their parent company.
• Subsidiaries of non publicly–traded parent companies are eligible only if they have a separate Board of Directors (or equivalent governing board) OR they have a separate brand identity and have more than 500 permanent employees.

In 2009 the cost for participation was AUD $4,365 / NZ $5,300 (+ country GST). The majority of the organisations participating in Hewitt Best Employers go on to purchase additional reports to give them insight and some direction around where to focus their people initiatives. We looked at the type of reports and information requests we've received over the years and packaged this up to provide more information for less cost than in previous years.

This year participants will receive more information and have more flexibility around when they conduct the survey. Participants will receive:

• Administration of the Hewitt Best Employers standard survey (Participants can customise 3 demographics)
• An Excel participant report (Tabular Report) with positive perceptions scores and Engagement scores. This year this has been improved to include: external benchmarks from Hewitt Best Employers 2008 and the highest and lowest scores from 2008 for each question).
• A PowerPoint participant report including engagement dashboard, engagement by demographics and an Impact Model (Hewitt analysis that highlights priority areas for action). In previous years this was considered an additional report.
• Comments report containing verbatim responses to the open response question, themed by the topic to which each comment relates.
• Two hours of consultant time to interpret and understand the reports and build insights.
• The cost of participation is AUD $4,365 / NZ $5,300 (+ country GST). Organisations using a standard / 'off the shelf' employee survey, with the equivalent level of survey questions, reporting, and consulting support, would normally expect a cost of AUD $15,120 (+ GST).