25 Top Companies for Leaders

How the top companies were selected: Fortune, Aon Hewitt Consulting, and the RBL Group invited human resources executives from around the world to participate in the Top Companies for Leaders study. Participation was open to organizations of any type (for example, public, private, nonprofit), size (employee and revenue), and location. From those invitations, 478 companies from around the world joined the study. They completed a detailed questionnaire examining the factors influencing both the depth and quality of leadership. Aon Hewitt identified 182 global finalists based on these questionnaires. Aon Hewitt researchers conducted in-depth interviews with HR personnel and senior executives from all the finalist companies. We also interviewed CEOs in a majority of the finalist companies. Aon Hewitt scored company survey data by assigning points to questions and responses. In addition, Aon Hewitt screened all finalist companies for financial performance relative to their industry. An esteemed panel of judges -- composed of authors, academics, and journalists -- gathered in each region to select and rank the regional lists. Finally, a separate panel, composed of one representative from each regional panel, gathered to select the Global Top Companies for Leaders list.