Top Employers Institute is the global HR authority on certifying excellence in people strategies and practices, helping companies elevate their status as an employer. Africa’s Top Employers 2023 Certification programme saw 274 organizations in 31 African countries and 26 industry sectors achieve the coveted Top Employers Africa Certification, with 129 organisations from South Africa and 140 from other African countries.
By Nathier Jappie, Top Employers Institute, Regional Manager: Africa
Headquartered in the Netherlands, Top Employers Institute is the global HR authority on certifying excellence in people strategies and practices. On its 32nd operating year, our organisation has been dedicated to accelerating the impact of people strategies to enrich the world of work through certification, benchmarking, aligning and connecting Top Employers around the world. Through our HR Best practices survey, we enable organisations to objectively assess and improve their workplace environment. We believe employees make the organization and when they are empowered by excellent people strategies and practices, they thrive. Recognition through our programe helps companies elevate their status as an employer of choice.
We certify organisations in single countries, different continents and globally. We recognise Top Employers based on a global four-stage programe, governed by a strict standardized process. The leading-edge international research conducted by Top Employers Institute each year determines whether an organization meets the required standard of excellence for certification as a Top Employer.
Top Employers Institute CEO, David Plink says: “Reflecting on the demanding year that has, like the year before it, impacted organizations across the world, Africa’s Top Employers continue to show that they prioritise maintaining excellent people practices in the workplace. They continue to meet the challenges of the changing world of work while working tirelessly to make a positive impact on the lives of their workforce. We are pleased to celebrate and applaud the organizations that have been certified as Top Employers in their respective countries this year.”
It gives me great pleasure to share an overview and some of the main research highlights from Africa’s Top Employers 2023 Certification programme:
- A record of 274 organizations in Africa officially registered to participate in the Certification programe for 2023. A total of 269 organisations spanning 31 African countries and 26 industry sectors achieved the Top Employers 2023 Certification. A total of 129 certified organisations will carry the South African certification, while a total of 140 certified Top Employers from other African countries outside of South Africa have been certified.
- A total of 17 organisations made up of 146 affiliates have earned the right to carry their continental certification with the prestige in recognition. The coveted Top Employers Africa Certification is earned when an organisation is certified in a minimum of 4 or more African countries in the same audit period. These international organisations have proven they are able to offer a consistent and best in class experience for their employees, regardless of their geographic location on the African continent.
- The Top five countries with the most certified organisations are: South Africa (129), Egypt (23), Morocco (13), Kenya (13), Nigeria (12) and Ghana (9).
- The industry sectors in Africa with the greatest representation are: FMCG, Transport & Logistics, Telecommunications, Manufacturing, IT, Financial Services, Food and Beverage, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare.
- Excluding non-certified organisations, the average overall score achieved by this years group of Top Employers is 84%. This impressive score doesn’t come as a surprise based on the high calibre of brands certified. The Top three best performing topics in our HR Best Practices Survey are Ethics and Integrity, followed by Business Strategy and thirdly, Organisation change while the three topics requiring improvement on were Offboarding, rewards and recognition and lastly well-being.
- According to our research, Africa’s top three business priorities are: Costs (reducing unnecessary expenditure), Business resilience (Additional strategies to ensure that the business is robust) and thirdly Business continuity.
- Based on the research, the Top three People Strategy priorities are: 1. Tailor working models for employees, 2. To improve the flexibility of the workforce, 3. Manage the integration of technology in the workplace.
- The negative impact of a high absenteeism rate can be detrimental to a business and have a direct correlation to the bottom line, this is a sign of engagement and wellness issues, more so if it persists. The research during this audit has shown that the average absenteeism rate is 3.34%. The most important HR metric and impressive statistic proves that employees at these reputable organisations have high levels of productivity, which can be attributed to the world class people strategies and practices used to drive employee engagement and well-being.
- Taking a comparison over the last two years, these Top Employers have indicated the following: Revenue Growth has shown a strong improvement, from 38.32% to 45.42%. The Market Share analysis has shown a strong improvement from 26.61% to 28.41%. The Profitability index represents a phenomenal improvement in this period, from 31.22% to 35.28%. The Customer Satisfaction index indicated a slight improvement, starting at 30.57% compared to this years results at 31.04%. Based on these results, its is clear that this employee-centric strategy plays an important role in achieving successful business results over a sustained period, driven by a highly engaged and motivated workforce.
- Perhaps the most interesting and meaningful statistic to share in this years outcomes, is the amount of lives that have been directly impacted as a result of the survey. We are delighted to share that 625 542 employees across the African continent was impacted. The lives of these individuals will be impacted by means of exposure to the best strategies and people practices for their organisations to use as a benchmark and make improvements to ensure that they are on track to supporting a better world of work.
The impact of various global issues, geopolitical unrest, Covid 19 and others have accelerated organisations’ need for robust strategies and people practices, the ever changing landscape has shone a light on areas of development. Top Employers the world over continue to respond and adapt with such speed, proving their ability to blend people and technology in the most dynamic ways.
I would like to Congratulate Africa’s Certified Top Employers for 2023. The recipients of this prestigious award have become part of an exclusive global “Employer of choice” community and they will claim this achievement at the certification celebration event in January next year. The achievement with be celebrated and awarded in the presence of fellow Top Employers, whom have invested in developing and enhancing their people practices to create the most effective workforce. Top Employers have proven to provide an outstanding workplace experience, empowering employees and play a significant role in creating a better world of work.
DISCLAIMER: Brand Voice is a paid program. Articles appearing in this section have been commercially supported.
DISCLAIMER: Brand Voice is a paid program. Articles appearing in this section have been commercially supported.