Employee Opinion Determines Best Employers in the Greater Toronto Area in Aon Hewitt / Queen's School of Business Research Study

TORONTO, Nov. 19 - The 64 organizations identified as 2011's Best Employers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) vary widely in terms of industry and workforce size. Nevertheless, research conducted by Aon Hewitt, the human capital consulting and outsourcing solutions business of Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON), in conjunction with the Queen's University School of Business, indicates that they all share the key requirement to be named as one of the Best Employers in the GTA - high employee engagement. Organizations that have achieved this status for 2011 (see attached lists) will be profiled in tomorrow's Toronto Star.

"The human resources practices and programs that engage employees are as different as the Best Employers themselves," said Neil Crawford, Aon Hewitt's study leader. "However, when engaged, employees speak positively about the organization, want to stay with the company, and go 'above and beyond' to help their employer meet its business objectives."

According to Aon Hewitt's global research into employee engagement, investing in measures to boost employee engagement results in a positive return for employers. "The benefits of high engagement include lower turnover, less absenteeism, greater employee productivity, and higher customer satisfaction," stated Crawford.

Those eligible for the GTA list are drawn from participants in either the 2011 national Best Employers in Canada or Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada study. They are headquartered in the GTA and/or have a significant employee population working there. Twenty-six organizations appear on the GTA list for small to medium-sized employers (50-399 employees), while 38 organizations with 400 or more employees are recognized on the list for larger GTA employers.

"It's as much a challenge for small organizations to engage their employees as it is for large ones," said Einar Westerlund, director of project development at the Queen's Centre for Business Venturing. "Nevertheless, the number of Best Employers in the GTA grew from 50 to 64 organizations this year. More employers of all sizes took part and many of the new participants met the Best Employers high standard. We hope to see even higher participation in the future as more great employers seek recognition for all their hard work."

To learn more about the Best Employers studies and register online to participate, please visit the Best Employers Web site at www.hewitt.com/bestemployerscanada.

About Queen's Centre for Business Venturing (QCBV)
Based at Queen's School of Business, Canada's leading business school, QCBV's mandate is to become the leading and definitive source of knowledge and expertise in the creation, leadership and management of new ventures. It will accomplish this by developing innovative curriculum, providing access to pools of capital to fund new ventures, conducting applied research, brokering and being a hub of SME and new venture knowledge, and by playing a key role with decision-making bodies.  Its focus is to increase the odds of success for Canadian new ventures.

About Aon Hewitt
Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human capital consulting and outsourcing solutions. The company partners with organizations to solve their most complex benefits, talent and related financial challenges, and improve business performance. Aon Hewitt designs, implements, communicates and administers a wide range of human capital, retirement, investment management, health care, compensation and talent management strategies. With more than 29,000 professionals in 90 countries, Aon Hewitt makes the world a better place to work for clients and their employees. For more information on Aon Hewitt, please visit www.aonhewitt.com.

About Aon
Aon Corporation (NYSE:AON) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital solutions and outsourcing. Through its more than 59,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to deliver distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Aon's industry-leading global resources and technical expertise are delivered locally in over 120 countries. Named the world's best broker by Euromoney magazine's 2008, 2009 and 2010 Insurance Survey, Aon also ranked highest on Business Insurance's listing of the world's insurance brokers based on commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage revenues in 2008 and 2009. A.M. Best deemed Aon the number one insurance broker based on revenues in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and Aon was voted best insurance intermediary 2007-2010, best reinsurance intermediary 2006-2010, best captives manager 2009-2010, and best employee benefits consulting firm 2007-2009 by the readers of Business Insurance. Visit http://www.aon.com for more information on Aon and http://www.aon.com/unitedin2010 to learn about Aon's global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.

Best Employers in the Greater Toronto Area 2011
(400 or more employees)

Best Small & Medium Employers in the Greater Toronto Area 2011
(50-399 employees)

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