Survey reveals employee engagement at an all-time high among winners

Kingston, ON – Fifty organizations from across the country have been selected as the Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada in a study released today by Queen’s Centre for Business Venturing (QCBV) at Queen’s School of Business in conjunction with Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting and outsourcing company. Canadian organizations with between 50 and 399 permanent employees are eligible to participate in the ranking.

“Despite the challenging economy over the past year, employee engagement among the fifty organizations selected as the best rose to the highest level seen in the study’s six-year history,” said survey co-ordinator Einar Westerlund, director of project development at QCBV. “This reflects employers’ attention to the ‘people side’ of their enterprises during both the good and the not-so-good times. The best continue to achieve success by paying disciplined attention to the basics of effective human resources management, with special strength shown in how their people’s performance is managed.”

The Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada study focuses on measuring employee engagement, and allows employers to discover the degree of intellectual and emotional commitment employees have in their workplace. Each organization’s results are benchmarked; this allows companies to gauge their strengths against others in their specific industry or overall.

“The businesses and public service institutions selected for this year’s list provide a reflection of the true diversity of the SME sector in Canada — a community which by far includes more employees than any other sector in the country,” said Westerlund.

50 Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada of 2010:

While this year’s list of the Best Small & Medium Employers has just been released, the next study is already underway with registration now open. For more information or to register for the upcoming survey, please visit: business.queensu.ca/bsme

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.
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For more information please contact the Centre for Business Venturing at 1.877.955.1800 or business.queensu.ca/bsme

The results are in for the 16th annual Queen’s Undergraduate Exit Survey and, once again, Commerce students have the highest level of satisfaction of all faculties across the University.

Overall, undergraduates University-wide continue to be very satisfied with their Queen’s experience, with 80 per cent of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing with the anchor statement, “Overall, my learning experience at Queen’s was excellent.”

Queen’s School of Business students had the highest level of satisfaction, with 94 per cent rating their experience as excellent, up from 91 per cent in 2008.

The Exit Poll is designed to provide annual insights into the University’s overall performance at the undergraduate level, and into each faculty and school based on students’ perceptions of their education as they graduate. Questions focus on three main areas: the quality of the learning environment, the contribution of Queen’s education to learning and development in key areas and student satisfaction with services and facilities.

“The exit poll is an important metric for future decision making,” University Registrar Jo-Anne Brady told Senate. “Past results have been invaluable to the university, allowing faculties and schools to learn from students’ feedback and help with planning.”

For the full report, visit http://www.queensu.ca/registrar/aboutus/reports/exitpoll.html

QSB Commerce student Jeff Batchelor

QSB Commerce student Jeff Batchelor secured his spot on the Canadian Snowboard Olympic team with a silver medal performance at a World Cup snowboarding event in Stoneham, Quebec in January.

Jeff scored 44.3 in his final run, giving him in second place behind Finland’s Janne Korpi. It was Batchelor’s second straight podium finish at Stoneham, after winning gold there in 2009.

Batchelor has turned in two top-5 finishes in Olympic qualifiers, earning him priority selection for the Canadian Olympic Snowboard team.

Jeff’s journey on the Olympic qualifying circuit can be seen on the popular MTV/CTV reality show “Over the Bolts” where he is a featured fan favourite. This 21-year-old student athlete constantly challenges himself and is a strong contender for an Olympic medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Cheer on our own Commerce Olympian by visiting Jeff’s Facebook page and sending him your best wishes!