In a poll conducted across industries to judge those companies offering the best employee reward programmes, BHP Billiton ranked third in its genre of mining companies. The poll was conducted by Fortune Magazine and management consulting firm Hay Group. The criteria for ranking was based on basic HR best practices, a cultural understanding and recognition of the value being imbibed in the respective organisations. %% BHP Billiton employs 39,000 individuals engaged in 100 various operations across 25 countries. The company delves in mining activities for diamonds, aluminium, energy coal & metallurgical coal, copper, manganese, iron ore, uranium, nickel, silver, titanium minerals and owns the Ekati diamond mine in Canada.