TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - November 10, 2016) - Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health solutions business of Aon plc (NYSE: AON), today released the results of its 2017 Aon Best Employers in Canada Study, which found that 40 small and medium-sized enterprises set the mark for engaging employees, demonstrating effective leadership, building a performance culture and leveraging the strength of their employer brand. The results are based on the opinions of almost 680,000 employees across approximately 200 Canadian organizations.

The organizations on this year's Aon Best Small and Medium-sized Employers in Canada list are noteworthy not just for being named Best Employers -- the country's premier benchmark for assessing the quality and performance of workplace excellence using global standards -- but also for achieving exceptional results among their Canadian counterparts.

"Small and medium-sized business owners understand the link between employee engagement and business success," says Todd Mathers, Partner, Talent, Rewards and Performance at Aon Hewitt. "Engaged employees want to stay to be part of the company's success. They know where the company is going; they trust their leaders and their key needs are being met. They are doing work that is a good fit for them and are being appreciated for what they do."

On average, less than two-thirds of Canadian employees are engaged and fully committed to staying with their employer and contributing to their success, but the average engagement is over 86% for Platinum-level and 78% for Gold-level Best Small and Medium-sized Employers. While smaller organizations often focus more on customer retention and growing the business, employee performance and productivity is one of the few levers that can drive better organizational success, serving as a competitive differentiator and providing longer-term business sustainability.

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority -- or CIRA -- has been an Aon Best Small and Medium-sized Employer for three years. Based in Ottawa, CIRA manages the .CA domain on behalf of all Canadians. "CIRA works in a knowledge-intensive industry, and our success is rooted in our ability to attract and retain employees that can handle the challenges of our work," says Byron Holland, President and CEO of the Canadian Internet Registration Authority. "We have built a company that is home to some of the best and brightest technology minds in Canada and we are focused on ensuring that our people have the freedom and resources to do their best work. We will not succeed in building a better online Canada without having first assembled the best possible team."

Our research has shown that employees at Aon Best Employers are much more likely to believe their leaders are open and honest in communication (79% versus the Canadian average of 64%) and act in alignment with company values (82% versus 67%). Aon Best Employers focus on developing leaders who can engage teams, they create growth opportunities for leaders and, most importantly, they have a clear vision for leaders' desired behaviours.

First-time Gold award recipient Sentry Investments is a family-owned, family-run and fully independent financial services firm. "We are thrilled to be recognized as a 'best employer' in Canada. We will proudly celebrate this achievement with our employees because they have played a critical role in building our company and creating a culture of excellence at Sentry," said Sean Driscoll, Chief Executive Officer, Sentry Investments. "We have some of the best employees in the investment business. It is incredibly rewarding to know that they are engaged and appreciate what we're doing to foster a positive and rewarding work environment where we can grow and succeed together."

For the list of our Aon Best Employers in Canada award recipients (organizations with more than 400 employees), read the media release. The Aon Best Employers and Aon Best Small and Medium-sized Employers in Canada lists are also published in the December issue of Canadian Business magazine, PROFITguide.com, and in the upcoming December 7 edition of La Presse.

About the Aon Best Employers in Canada Study
The methodology behind the Aon Best Employers in Canada Study reflects more than 20 years of learnings and best practices from Aon Best Employer and employee engagement studies conducted all over the world, relying on data collected in more than 150 markets from over 5,000 organizations in 68 industries, including over 735,000 employees and more than 600 companies of all sizes in Canada. Using the stringent global standards developed for Aon's Global Best Employer Program, each participant's employee survey scores on engagement, leadership, performance culture and employment brand were assessed against Aon Hewitt's Canadian Survey Database and the opinions of Canadian employees. Small and medium sized employers (organizations with between 50 to 399 employees) who score in the top 25% of the Canadian database achieved the Platinum level, while those who score in the top third achieved Gold level.

About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) is a leading global provider of risk management, insurance brokerage and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 72,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative risk and people solutions. For further information on our capabilities and to learn how we empower results for clients, please visit: http://aon.mediaroom.com/

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