KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach - 17 December 2020 - Kincentric, a Spencer Stuart Company, has named five organizations as Best Employers Malaysia for 2020, an acknowledgement of its leading employer benchmarking program which measures and recognizes extraordinary employers demonstrating workplace excellence.

For 20 years, the Kincentric Best Employers program has recognized leading employers across the world, backed by over 50 years of employee research and a global database of over 15 million employees.

Kincentric's analysis uncovered three key organizational traits from this year's Best Employers - purposeful efforts in demonstrating care and concern, continued investment in people despite challenges from the pandemic, and empowering people to creatively find new or different business opportunities.

Best Employers in Malaysia were evaluated and benchmarked across four critical differentiating factors -- employee engagement, agility, engaging leadership and talent focus.

Findings from this year's study indicated:

• Best Employers in the Malaysia continued to invest in creating a highly-engaged workforce, with an employee engagement score of 83%, compared with a market average of 70%  
• While the unprecedented circumstances of 2020 created pressure on Best Employers, leaders at Best Employers differentiated them through humility and creating hope for future, with Best Employers at 79%, compared to market average of 69%
• Compared to 65% market average, 80% of Best Employers invested in having the right technology to improve productivity and invested in ideas that could drive future success

Kincentric Best Employers Malaysia for 2020 (in alphabetical order):

• American Express (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd
• edotco Group Sdn Bhd
• Hartalega Sdn Bhd
• Kulim (Malaysia) Berhad
• Roche Services (Asia Pacific) Sdn Bhd. 

American Express (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd was also named "Best of the Best 2020", and has been inducted into Malaysia's Hall of Fame, having won the accolade for the 10^th consecutive year. Integrated telecommunications infrastructure services company, edotco Group Sdn Bhd also received a special recognition for 'Commitment to Engaging Leadership' in this year's honor roll.

"Our Kincentric Best Employers have found new and innovative ways to empower and motivate their people throughout a very challenging year, producing results that truly speak for themselves. Today, we celebrate and recognize these companies who have excelled in creating a work environment where people feel appreciated, are highly connected and inspired to do their best, every day. On behalf of Kincentric, I congratulate all the Best Employers in Malaysia on their remarkable achievements," said Ridhima Khanduja, Malaysia's Country Head.   

Acknowledging efforts by organizations to create and drive employee experience amidst unprecedented challenges this year, Kincentric also introduced a special COVID Resilience Award. The recipients for this Award utilized opportunities presented by the pandemic to create valuable and meaningful employee experiences in support of the organizations' survival and road to recovery throughout the year.

Kincentric COVID Resilience Award (in alphabetical order):

• Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad
• Telekom Malaysia Berhad

Best Employers program is supported by an independent panel of judges with this year's committee composed of industry-leading HR and business professionals Dato' Hamidah Naziadin, Independent Non-Executive Director of Maxis Berhad and Nestlé; Chong Chye Neo, Independent Director of Bursa Malaysia, Hong Leong Financial Group and Hong Leong Bank; and Dato' Tharuma Rajah, Founder & CEO of Garage Analytics.

Commenting on this year's winners, Dato' Hamidah Naziadin said, "The new-normal thrives on care and emotional wellbeing of employees, and these people-centric approaches would in consonant towards a sustainable business strategy. This year's Best Employers in Malaysia demonstrated trust, open communication and top team alignment, with clear differentiators of having a continuous approach undertaken in an agile manner across employee experience initiatives. With the mantra "Define Reality, Give Hope & Communicate", American Express (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd initiated a notch up through the playbook for People Leaders, in support to deliver great colleague experiences in these unprecedented circumstances."

Stephen Hickey, Culture & Engagement Global Practice Leader at Kincentric, added, "This year, Kincentric recognizes the Best Employers from Malaysia for their outstanding efforts in minimizing the impact that COVID-19 had on their workforce, while empowering employees to remain excellent in their efforts. Whilst not an easy feat, the Best Employers from Malaysia have found new ways to overcome their challenges and we want to congratulate all of them and wish them even greater success in the years to come."