ORC International presents AutoZone with top award for employee engagement

NEW YORK--May 29, 2013:  Global market research firm ORC International, today announced it has awarded leading automotive retailer AutoZone Inc. a top prize for its achievements in employee engagement. The annual award, given to the organization which achieves outstanding results among ORC International's North American employee research clients, is a testament to AutoZone's commitment to employee engagement. AutoZone's engagement score measured their employees' commitment to their work and their organization. It is their enthusiasm, dedication and willingness to go above and beyond for their organization. AutoZone achieved an index that was notably above other retailers according to ORC International's global benchmarks.

AutoZone, a Fortune 500 company with 70,000+ employees spread across more than 5,100 stores in the US, Mexico and Brazil, attributes its success to its strong culture which defines how AutoZoners take care of customers. AutoZone reinforces its culture through its values, which include: putting customers first, caring about people, striving for exceptional performance, energizing others, embracing diversity, and helping teams succeed. As a result, the culture is instrumental in motivating AutoZoners in the different regions and districts.

Michael A. Womack, AutoZone's Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Customer Satisfaction, said: "We are a very customer-focused organization and it's important that employees on the front line are fully engaged."

"We've looked at AutoZoner satisfaction before but didn't have the expertise to understand how engagement led us to improve business results. We wanted to ensure we measure the right areas and understand how that leads to improved customer satisfaction, sales and business results," Womack said. "We are honored to be chosen for this recognition."                                         

Matt Roddan, Head of Employee Research US at ORC International, said: "AutoZone's results are incredibly impressive, and reflect the strong focus that the organization places on engaging their employees and leveraging those employees to enhance greater customer loyalty and achieve impressive business results."

Other global winners of ORC International's Employee Engagement Award this year include Pizza Hut, major UK grocery supermarket Iceland, and Australia's Future Fund Management Agency.

ORC International is a leading global research firm with offices across the US, Europe and Asia Pacific. The firm combines of cutting-edge technology, skilled researchers and in-depth industry experience to provides clients with the insight to help solve their most pressing business challenges. ORC International has more than 25 years of employee research experience and manages some of the largest employee-related research surveys worldwide. The firm offers a large array of employee research offerings from employee lifecycle management and employee surveys to customer-employee linkage solutions.