Aon Hewitt – Mint Study 2012 recognizes company’s strong culture of governance
INDIACSR News Network
NEW DELHI: Tata Steel has been awarded as the ‘Best Managed Board’ by the Aon Hewitt – Mint Study 2012 at an event held yesterday in Mumbai. Aon Hewitt, the global human resources solutions business of Aon plc, today released the results of its 2012 Corporate Governance of Global Employee Benefits Study, conducted in partnership with the American Benefits Institute.
Mr HM Nerurkar, MD, Tata Steel received the award. Shri Sachin Pilot, Hon. Minister for Corporate Affairs was the Guest of Honour and he handed over the winning companies their awards for corporate governance.
The 2012 “Corporate Governance of Global Employee Benefits” Study reveals that the individual members of the Tata Steel board have a very high personal and professional reputation for capability and integrity. The composition of the board is diverse with experiences across multiple aspects of businesses and geographies. The board processes and constitution are robust and have the potential required for a global board.
Mr. HM Nerurkar, MD, Tata Steel on receiving the award said “We are appreciative that Aon Hewitt saw our potential to be a robust and ethical board and awarded Tata Steel as the Best Managed Board in India. Tata Steel board has constantly demonstrated continuous commitment to the core values of Corporate Governance by maintaining transparency and taking forward the legacy of the Tata brand. It is one of our priorities to abide by fair policies and we look forward to maintaining this excellence in the coming years.”
According to the Aon Hewitt study team, “The board structure represents a strong focus on driving good governance and ethical management. Tata Steel is one of the few companies that have a multi-tier governance structure for its international as well as local business reporting”
The Study team further emphasized, “The board maintains high focus on compliance as well as structured reporting and communication with all the stakeholders which helps self-percolate the good culture of governance to the lowest levels in the organization. It is one of the two Indian companies on the list of World’s Most Ethical Companies released by the Ethisphere Institute and also one of the first companies to implement social accountability standards,”
2012 Corporate Governance of Global Employee Benefits Study is the first of its kind study to explore corporate governance of employee benefits within multinational companies.
In addition to this, Tata Steel’s has been recognized by other prestigious awards like Businessworld-FICCI-SEDF Corporate Social Responsibility Award 2009, Best Corporate Social Responsibility Practice Award at the 6th Social and Corporate Governance Awards 2010 by the Bombay Stock Exchange, CNBC Asia’s Corporate Social Responsibility Award at CNBC-TV 18’s India Business Leader Awards, and the Corporate Social Responsibility award at the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2012. It has also been rated amongst the most ethical companies in the world by the Ethisphere Institute of USA in 2011.
Study & Methodology: The 2012 Corporate Governance of Global Employee Benefits Study was jointly conducted by Aon Hewitt and the American Benefits Institute (ABI) and was shaped by global benefits directors at over 140 of the largest multinational companies based in the US and Europe.
The study finds that multinational companies are aiming to significantly increase the corporate control and oversight of their employee benefit programs worldwide with the intention of countering rising costs and financial risks.
Over a six month period, the Study evaluated board governance practices of approximately 100 companies that together represented over 70% of total market capitalization in India.
The Study covered a four stage Process and uses five measures of global benefits management to test execution effectiveness: Only 20 out of 140 companies rated themselves as effective under all five measures. The findings across all of the stages were presented to an eminent Jury chaired by Mr Y H Malegam (Chairman, National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards). The Jury went through a detailed evaluation process to identify the six Best Managed Boards for FY 2012.
