Aon Hewitt: Best Of The Best

Photo (above): Group photo for Aon Hewitt Best Employers Malaysia 2015

Going behind the scenes

Aon Hewitt Best Employers – Malaysia is back again! In the 2015 Malaysia study, Aon Hewitt recently recognised 10 companies as best employers.

The Best Employers in Asia-Pacific study started in 2001 with a three-fold aim:

• to provide insights into how to create real competitive advantage through people.
• to explore what makes a workplace of choice.
• to identify the best employers in the region.

Research from the study has shown some interesting common traits between organisations that are deemed best employers.

Comparatively with other organisations, they:

• achieved double the growth in profit.
• achieved 20 percentage points higher employee engagement levels.
• observed lower employee turnover levels.
• observed higher percentage of employees being internally promoted, particularly managers.

The ‘hows’

The 2015 study offers a professional, data-driven approach to recognising the best employers through the use of three data sources, an external judging panel and larger coverage in Asia-Pacific.

Aon Hewitt identifies four measurable factors as vital in contributing to a best employer recognition (See Figure 1).

Methodology

The best employer study process is rigorous, conducted over a nine-month period (See Figure 2).

Special recognition awards

The study also featured three special recognition awards to acknowledge organisations with best practices in these areas:

• Engaging Gen-Y

  The millennials is increasingly in search of careers that are able to cater to higher needs: opportunity for development, purpose, alignment of personal and company values, and work-life balance.

• Engaging women in the workforce

  With diversity and inclusion practices being key on many organisations’ agenda, it was important that the study highlighted what organisations are doing to attract, engage and retain women in the workforce.

• Commitment to engagement

  Consistent engagement and credible people initiatives are key features on the journey to be a best employer, as employee engagement becomes a continuous process not to be taken for granted in the long-term.

The judging panel

Johan Mahmood Merican was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of Talent Corporation Malaysia Bhd (TalentCorp) since its establishment on Jan 1, 2011. TalentCorp focuses on building partnerships, particularly between leading employers and relevant public agencies to address the talent needs of Malaysia’s economic transformation.

Johan was previously the principal private secretary to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and he has 20 years of experience in policy development, corporate finance and accountancy in both the public and private sectors in Malaysia and the United Kingdom.

He holds a first class honours degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Roshan Thiran is CEO of Leaderonomics – as social enterprise dedicated to democratising leadership development for the masses. Prior to this role, he was the director of global talent management with Johnson & Johnson overseeing global talent programmes.

He was also with the General Electric Co for more than 13 years, working in a number of roles in various cities in the United States, Europe and more recently across Asia. He started his career with Exxon-Mobil in the United States.

He writes various business columns on leadership and hosts a number of leadership TV and radio shows.

He engages with the public via Facebook at www.facebook.com/roshanthiran.leaderonomics and via LinkedIn.

Jenny Ooi is the head of human resource for USG Boral. She champions its people as USG Boral’s competitive advantage to impact and improve the way the world lives.

She brings with her over 20 years of diverse working experience in the field of finance, supply chain, business development and human resources (HR). Under her leadership in her past role as the senior HR director of Agilent Malaysia, the organisation has garnered accolades as an employer of choice, including as a Aon Hewitt Best Employer 2013.

Ooi has also been recognised by various organisations for her role as a HR leader and HR professional.

Ooi is a graduate of the Royal Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK).

Sajith Sivanandan is managing director of Google Malaysia, where he oversees sales, partnerships and business development operations in the country.

Previously he was the head of travel vertical sales for Google South-East Asia, where he looked after the growth of online advertising in the travel sector for the region.

He has also held key sales and management positions at Affle UK Ltd (a mobile media startup), the Gallup Organisation and Star TV.

Sajith holds a Master’s degree in Business Management with Distinction (majoring in Finance) from the Asian Institute of Management in Manila, an MBA (majoring in Marketing) from the Fore School of Management in New Delhi, and a Bachelor’s degree (majoring in History) from Delhi University.

A. Wahab Bakar has more than 35 years of corporate experience in the airline, oil and gas, mining, financial institution and food and beverage industries.

He is currently vice-president of Malaysian Employers Federation, and serves as a board member of a few companies, such as HRDF of MoHR and GEMS Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of TalentCorp. He represents the International Organisation of Employers, a Geneva-based organisation for Asia-Pacific on the Policy Forum for European Development Corporation.

He is a graduate in Economics (Applied Economics) from Universiti Malaya, alumni of International Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland and London Business School.

Wahab is also the co-author of the book Your Dream Job published in 2009.

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Published in English daily The Star, Malaysia, 21 March 2015