Chase Bank Kenya has been named this year’s Best Company to Work for, thanks to its efforts at engaging its employees.
Chase Bank topped the large company category while the US-based logistics firm DHL Express Kenya was named the employer of choice in the medium company category.
According to the survey, a large company is one with more than 500 employees while a medium company is one with less than 500 employees.
The survey, which was organised by audit firm Deloitte East Africa also saw Proctor and Gamble (P&G), Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT), Vivo Energy and ICEA Lion Group feted.
P&G were the winners in the manufacturing category; KWFT won the financial services-general category while ICEA Lion topped the financial services-Insurance category. This was the fourth edition of the survey, whose objective is to help organisations align their talent strategies towards bridging the yawning gap between people and business.
According to the organisers, the winners distinguished themselves in the market place by making work meaningful and fostering great management.
The winners also stood out for establishing a flexible, supportive inclusive workplace; creating ample opportunities for growth and establishing trust, vision, purpose and transparency in leadership.
Organisations were urged to engage their employees more. “The bottom-line is that companies don’t succeed, people do. People are the only source of sustainable competitive advantage,” said Debbie Hollis, Senior Manager, Deloitte. “The balance of power has shifted from employer to employee, which has been precipitated by the looming crisis in staff engagement and retention, fuelling talent wars evident in the increased number of headhunting and poaching for top talent,” she added.
Chase Bank Director and Organisation Development Hellen Okello attributed their performance to the fact that the organisation has continuously improved their work environment for millennials who she noted comprise about 80 per cent of the bank’s 1,400-strong workforce. A millennial is a person reaching young adulthood around the year 2000. He or she is of the age around 30.
Although millennials are talented and innovative, they can also be frivolous and take exception at being micro-managed. Millennials are also futuristic.
“We look at how we can make career opportunities interesting for the millennials, because that is what matters to them most,” said Ms Okello.
The survey measured 10 parameters including leadership, operational effectiveness, inclusion, relationship with manager/supervisor, fairness and equity and overall job satisfaction. Others included learning and development, values and culture, performance and recognition as well as remuneration.
Kimani Njoroge, Partner Deloitte East Africa reckoned that while money is critical in retaining employees, it is not the main thing. “What we have seen companies do in the past is use money to retain staff. Though money is a good thing, it does not enable an organisation to win the war on talent. But if you keep employees engaged and happy, they will produce more,” he said.
Of the 43 companies that were surveyed, 21 participated competitively while the rest were virtual participants, who did not want to be mentioned.
Companies that scored 3.7 points and above out of 5, which is 74 percent, also got Deloitte’s Standard of Excellence seal. In addition to the winners in the various categories, M-Kopa Solar Kenya, Safaricom Limited, UAP/Old Mutual, Tata Chemical, Crown Paints, EABL, Liberty Life and Unga Holdings were also feted.
