Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers (2022)

20

CANADA’S TOP SMALL & MEDIUM EMPLOYERS 2022

Education is a core value at Crown Property Management ported to try out new ideas, even if they sometimes don’t take off. The most challenging part was overcoming my own mental barriers and understanding that I could do different things.”

Les Miller, managing partner and CEO, says education is extremely important at Crown.

Ongoing learning is a part of everyone’s goals, no matter what level they’re at. The belief is so ingrained that all employees have an education component incorporated into their annual bonus structure.

If you’re always learning, you’re always challenging yourself.

— Les Miller Managing Partner and CEO

 Crown Property Management team having a meeting in the lunch room at their head office in Toronto.

M

onica Di Zio understands the power of taking a leap and trying something new.

From the time she joined Crown Property Management Inc. in Toronto seven years ago, she’s been encouraged to embrace career opportunities as they arise. The company acquires, leases, manages and redevelops commercial real estate assets across Ontario.

Initially hired for a role in

marketing and communications, Di Zio soon switched over to the leasing team and sales, completing her real estate licensing along the way. Currently, she’s back in marketing as the company’s director of marketing and innovation.

“It was pretty amazing to have an opportunity to pivot like that in my career and be able to try something new,” says Di Zio. “Ultimately it gave me the opportunity to learn a lot more about the company from so many different perspectives. Creativity

and continuous learning are woven into the culture at Crown.”

The company supported Di Zio’s real estate licensing, as it does for all employees looking to expand their skillset, paying for it and giving her time off for the exam. She also credits her mentors at Crown for giving her the courage to have confidence in herself to take on new roles and not be afraid of failing.

“A lot of my work involves big picture thinking and idea generation,” says Di Zio. “I feel sup-

“People need that foundation of wanting to learn in order to be creative and entrepreneurial,” says Miller. “If you’re always learning, you’re always challenging yourself.

It’s my belief that if you don’t have that mindset of learning, you can’t be creative. You have to be willing to try and experiment with things.”

The company’s definition of education is very broad, including learning best practices from people in the industry, Miller explains.

Since the company has people in a variety of different roles, education is not necessarily as formal as postsecondary programs.

“It doesn’t have to be that you’re signing up for university courses,” says Miller. “Education can come in a number of forms such as participating in industry conferences