Aon Hewitt Launches Global Best Employers Program to Measure and Recognize Employer Excellence

- Four Organizations Recognized as Aon Hewitt Best Employers™

LINCOLNSHIRE, Illinois, Oct. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health solutions business of Aon plc (NYSE: AON), today announced the launch of its global Aon Hewitt Best Employers^™ program, which measures and recognizes organizations that create a competitive advantage through their people by becoming employers of choice. Marriott International, Inc. is the first and only organization to be certified globally under the new Aon Hewitt Global Best Employers program; they were also recognized at the country and regional levels. Three additional companies, Mary Kay, Inc., Sodexo and Teleperformance Group were assessed in 2014 and have achieved best employer status at the regional or country level.

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"We have built on our existing Aon Hewitt Best Employers studies, which have been conducted for more than 15 years in 36 different countries around the world, to create a global program that now offers organizations the opportunity to be recognized as employers of choice in every country where they operate. Our current local and regional Aon Hewitt Best Employers studies will align under our global methodology in the year ahead, creating a sustainable global program that will recognize best employers at the global, regional and country levels for years to come," said Ken Oehler, Global Engagement practice leader at Aon Hewitt. "Aon Hewitt Best Employers are organizations that empower business success through high employee engagement, a compelling employer brand, outstanding leadership and a strong performance culture. Our research demonstrates that best employers outperform other organizations on a range of business metrics."

To become global Aon Hewitt Best Employers, organizations are assessed on four measures:

1. Engagement Index: Employees speak positively about their employer, intend to stay and are motivated by their employment experience to do their best work every day.
2. Leadership Index: Leaders clearly define the vision for the future, recognize employees' critical importance and lead them to success.
3. Performance Culture Index: Employees are aligned to company goals and are rewarded and recognized for their contributions.
4. Employer Brand Index: Employees are proud of the company they work for and know what makes their employer distinctive as a place to work.

These four indices are calculated and compared against Aon Hewitt's pre-determined thresholds, which vary by country. Organizations can be assessed and recognized as Aon Hewitt Best Employers on a local, regional or global level as long as they employ a minimum of 5,000 employees globally and have at least 30 percent of employees located outside of their headquarter country.

Aon Hewitt congratulates Marriott International, Inc., Mary Kay, Inc., Sodexo and Teleperformance Group for their achievements.

"Marriott International is thrilled to achieve recognition as a best employer at the global level through the Aon Hewitt Best Employers program," said David Rodriguez, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Marriott International, Inc. "The most important reason for our business success is the passion and commitment of our associates to deliver exceptional experiences to our customers. This recognition is a testament to the company culture we nurture at our locations around the world.  We are honored by this great feedback and committed to keeping Marriott International a great place to work."

"Teleperformance is honored to be recognized by the Aon Hewitt Best Employers program throughout 10 countries and one region, especially because the program bases its results on one of the most important measures possible—the opinions of our employees," said Paulo César Salles Vasques, worldwide CEO at Teleperformance Group. "I congratulate all of the Teleperformance countries and regions awarded for their success in creating and maintaining high employee satisfaction through effective leadership and a strong company culture." 

"Sodexo is and always has been a people company. As the world leader in Quality of Life services, we naturally understand that the engagement of our employees is central to our mission and a driver of performance, both for Sodexo and our clients," said Michel Landel, chief executive at Sodexo. "We are extremely proud that Sodexo is among the first global organizations to be part of the Aon Hewitt Best Employers Program, with 17 entities already certified the first year. This shows that in the service industry, we are world leaders in creating the quality jobs of today and tomorrow, and ensuring that our workforce is motivated, recognized, supported and proud to serve our 75 million consumers every day."   

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About Aon Hewitt Best Employers Global Program
The Aon Hewitt Best Employer global program measures and recognizes leading employers worldwide. It is based on more than 15 years of experience in Best Employers Studies across the world, backed with more than 20 years of experience in global employee engagement research. It focuses on the measures that lead to sustainable business results: Engagement, Leadership, Performance Culture, and Employer Brand and uses the most objective measure possible: employee opinion. For more information about Aon Hewitt Best Employers, please visit www.aon.com/bestemployers.

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.

Media Contact:
MacKenzie Lucas, +1-847-442-2995, mackenzie.lucas@aonhewitt.com
Maurissa Kanter, +1-847-442-0952, maurissa.kanter@aonhewitt.com