IHG Achieves “2017 Aon Global Best Employer” Accreditation

by Aon Hewitt

Hotel group also received country-level accreditation in 46 countries, including The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has announced its “Aon Global Best Employer” accreditation by Aon Hewitt. The acclaimed accolade comes in the company’s first year of participation in the global survey and is complemented by country-level accreditation in 46 out of the 64 countries assessed by the professional services firm, representing 97 percent of its workforce.

The accreditation is part of the “Aon Best Employers” programme which evaluates an employer’s effectiveness in creating a workplace environment that engages and enables its people to deliver competitive advantage. Assessment is done from survey data collected directly from colleagues based on four indices: Engagement, Leadership, Performance Culture and Employer Brand.

IHG participated in the global survey for the first time this year, contributing more than 126,000 responses from colleagues around the world. The survey results were then benchmarked amongst the industry by Aon Hewitt to determine whether it qualifies for the “Aon Best Employer” accreditation.

Deborah Woollard, Vice President, Human Resources, Asia, Middle East and Africa, IHG, said: “At IHG we always say our brands represent our promises to our guests, but it is our people who deliver on those promises. And we are absolutely committed to helping our colleagues grow into their full potential. It is this commitment that has earned us the trust and loyalty of our people and being named “Aon Global Best Employer” in the industry is a huge testament to that. Achieving the “Aon Best Employer” status in so many counties in which we operate in our first year of participation is also a great achievement and we will continue to invest in our people and towards building a great workplace culture across both our corporate offices and our hotels.”

IHG places strong emphasis on growing, developing, and retaining its people by creating an inclusive culture where people are encouraged to be true to themselves. In recent years, the company launched industry-leading programmes to help colleagues grow in their roles and develop personally and professionally.

These include the IHG Future Leaders programme where young individuals with potential to be leaders are trained to lead a function in the hotel within two years; and the GM Express programme which focuses on accelerating the development of individuals with potential to be a General Manager of a Holiday Inn Express hotel within 18 months. 

Amongst the 46 countries IHG achieved country-level accreditation in, more than half sit in the company’s Asia, Middle East and Africa region. In the Middle East, IHG was named “Best Employer” in 8 countries including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.

IHG was recently also named amongst the top five companies to work for in Asia in Great Place to Work’s ‘Best Workplaces in Asia 2017’ list.

IHG® currently has 80 hotels operating across five of the company’s brands in the Middle East region, including InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express®, and Staybridge Suites® with a further 27 in the development pipeline**.

**Figures as of June 30th