The launching ceremony of the first PSHRM Graduate Employer Awards was held here on Tuesday. The evening was organised by Engage Human Resources and Pakistan Society of Human Resources Management (PSHRM), and was sponsored by Mobilink.
Results of the First Most Preferred Graduate Employer 2007 study were announced amid an elite gathering of top business and industry professionals. The study was conducted by Engage Human Resources by interviewing 550 graduating MBA students from leading universities in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. These included LUMS, IBA, Szabist, lqra University, Lahore School of Economics, CBM, University of Lahore and Quaid-e-Azam University.
Shaukat Tarin, Chairman of Karachi Stock Exchange, presented the PSHRM Most Preferred Graduate Employer Award to Unilever Pakistan. According to the results, the ten Most Preferred Graduate Employers in Pakistan were Unilever Pakistan, Procter & Gamble, Standard Chartered Bank, ABN Amro, Citibank, Nestle Pakistan, Shell Parcistari, GiaxoSrnithKline, Telenor and HSBC.
Pakistan State Oil won the PSHRM Most Preferred Local Company Award with its perceived attractive compensation package as the main reason. The Financial Sector was identified as the most interesting industry to work for with 'challenging and interesting work' as the driving force behind its attractiveness.
Standard Chartered (Banking), Unilever Pakistan (Consumer Goods), Telenor (Telecom), Geo TV (Media), Shell Pakistan (Oil and Gas) and GlaxoSmithKline (Pharma) were identified as the Most Preferred Graduate Employers in their respective industry sector.
Compensation was cited as the most important factor by graduating MBA students in choosing an employer, followed by 'future career growth' and 'development opportunities' as the 2nd' and 3rd most important factors respectively.
Khurshid Hadi, Chairman of Engage Human Resources in his address of welcome stressed need for employer branding perspective, and said, "Now, more than ever, companies in the dynamic Pakistan need to understand what it takes to attract, motivate and retain the talent.
The Most Preferred Graduate Employer study provides invaluable insights not only into how Most Preferred Employers achieve this but also how other organisations can achieve similar status."
Navroz Surani, President of PSHRM, said: "This was the first time that we conducted a Most Preferred Graduate Employer study in Pakistan. At PSHRM, we hope that the study encourages more and more companies to apply innovative and leading HR practices with the objective to become Employer of Choice and, in doing so, help the advancement of Human Resources Management in Pakistan."
According to the Economist, attracting and retaining talent is seen by 75 percent of CEOs as their number one priority.
Paul Keijzer, CEO of Engage Human Resources, noted that "becoming the most preferred employer is not about advertising. The top ranked organisations have all been able to create an aspiring employee promise with leading HR practices that deliver that promise. Having built that internal credibility, a focused communication effort then helps to spread the word making these companies stand out for graduating MBA students as the most preferred places to work."
The evening also witnessed some light entertainment and was a crisp and powerful affair. Being the PSHRM Most Preferred Employer is well positioned to have a significant impression on attracting and retaining the most preferred talent and will have an immediate and dramatic impact on the financial results for any and every organisation.
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