Canada's Top Employers for Young People (2016)

JOEY RESTAURANT GROUP

2016

CO-PUBLISHED BY

MEDIACORP

p The Chef Apprenticeship Program at JOEY Restaurant Group, one of this year’s winners.

2 q Young staff from EPCOR Utilities Inc. volunteering at an Edmonton food bank.

2016 14th Annual Edition

EPCOR UTILITIES INC.

CANADA’S TOP EMPLOYERS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

INTRODUCTION

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p with millennials! The most popular of the special interest competitions, Canada’s Top Employers for Young People sends out a message of confidence in today’s students and recent grads just starting their careers. The 95 winning companies for 2016 not only welcome young people into their ranks, but also offer unique opportunities for them to develop their knowledge and skill sets through a variety of paid internships, educational support, job shadowing, rotational programs and the chance to travel and work abroad.

These employers also profit by giving young talent a voice, allowing them to put forward ideas that add value and bring fresh energy to the workplace.

For example, KPMG manages the National Boardroom Skills Challenge, which provides interns with an opportunity to recommend a solution and strategy to a real-life business case on an issue the firm is currently facing. Other creative initiatives include Canadian Tire’s “Dragon’s Den for Digital,” which provides IT employees with a chance to pitch their ideas to senior leadership, and L’Oréal’s “Brandstorm,” a marketing competition wherein groups of students present case study analyses to

L’Oréal judges who then reward regional winners with a trip to Paris to participate in the international competition at the company’s head office.

Additionally, these organizations understand that young people expect their employers to recognize the importance of corporate social responsibility and giving back to the community. “The desire to make a contribution remains a unique characteristic of this generation, and one that employers continue to tap into,” says Kristina Leung, a senior editor at Canada’s Top 100 Employers at Mediacorp Canada Inc. Socially conscious initiatives remain an integral part of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People and is a key connection in attracting and retaining younger workers. There are numerous examples of these endeavours, such as Accenture’s Intern National Day of Service, RBC’s Career Launch Program, which includes a work assignment at a local charity, and Ecclesiastical Insurance Office’s Business Intern Program, which provides a placement within a charity, museum or non-profit organization.

– Diane Jermyn

2016 Magazine Anthony Meehan, PUBLISHER

Karen Le,

VICE-PRESIDENT

Editorial Team:

Richard Yerema, MANAGING EDITOR

Kristina Leung, SENIOR EDITOR

Advertising Sales:

Kristen Chow,

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Sheetal Lala,

CLIENT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

Sponsor Content Writers:

Berton Woodward, SENIOR EDITOR

Michael Benedict Brian Bergman Ann Brocklehurst Sheldon Gordon D’Arcy Jenish Bruce McDougall Michael Schiniou John Schofield Barbara Wickens

© 2016 Mediacorp Canada Inc. and The Globe and Mail.

All rights reserved. CANADA’S TOP EMPLOYERS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE is a trade mark of Mediacorp Canada Inc.

HALOGEN SOFTWARE INC.

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2016 p Employees from Halogen Software raising money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

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CCENTURE INC., Toronto. Management consulting; 3,476 employees. Provides an online app to job candidates to help them prepare for their interview.

AGRIUM INC., Calgary. Fertilizer manufacturing; 3,560 employees. Offers a four-year rotational engineer-in-training program to help new graduates combine their knowledge from university or college with on-the-job training.

ALBERTA-PACIFIC FOREST INDUSTRIES INC., Boyle, Alta. Pulp mills; 435 employees. Provides internships to power-engineering students to help them obtain the required steam-time hours over three consecutive summer work terms.

ALDO GROUP INC., Saint-Laurent, Que. Retailer, 2,619 employees. Gives recent graduates the opportunity to participate in tours of the company’s head office and distribution centre.

ALTAGAS LTD., Calgary. Natural gas distribution; 964 employees. Created

a two-year new-graduate development program to provide recent grads with full-time employment.

ATB FINANCIAL, Edmonton. Credit unions; 4,674 employees. Maintains a millennials-focused employee resource group to discuss issues that impact millennials in the workplace, as well as networking and community building.

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AYER, Mississauga. Pharmaceutical manufacturing; 1,639 employees. Oversees the Summer Student Facebook Bloggers, a blog site for students to share their experiences with other students and potential recruits.

BC HYDRO, Vancouver. Hydroelectric power generation; 5,048 employees.

Created a graduate technologist-in-training program to provide employees with structured career development and onthe-job experience.

BENNETT JONES LLP, Calgary. Law firm; 861 employees. Produced a guide entitled “What We Wish We Had Known” for legal assistant practicum students.

BIG VIKING GAMES INC., London, Ont. Software publishers; 66 employees.

Provides opportunities for internal and external mentoring, including reverse mentoring between older and younger employees.

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ACTUS RESTAURANTS LTD., Vancouver. Restaurants; 1,008 employees. Offers one of Canada’s largest in-house apprenticeship programs for employees pursuing Red Seal chef certification.

BOEING CANADA OPERATIONS LTD., Winnipeg. Aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment manufacturing; 1,805 employees. Partners with Tec Voc High School and the University of Manitoba’s engineering program to provide mentoring to students.

CAMECO CORP., Saskatoon. Uranium mining; 3,030 employees. Manages a chapter of North American Young Generation in Nuclear, a group that offers development opportunities for young professionals in nuclear science and technology.

BRITISH COLUMBIA AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION / BCAA, Burnaby, B.C. Professional organizations; 860 employees. Hosts apprenticeships for students and hires them as full-time auto technicians upon completion of the program.

CANADA REVENUE AGENCY / CRA, Ottawa. Federal government; 40,007 employees. Established an Aboriginal Student Employment Program for high-school and postsecondary students.

BRUCE POWER LP, Tiverton, Ont. Nuclear power generation; 4,059 employees.

Manages a student development program to provide training and work experience to full-time college and university students.

CANADIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE / CSIS, Ottawa. Federal government; 3,299 employees. Staff attended over 100 recruitment events in the past year, including 10 networking sessions, and hosted 11 career information sessions.

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CANADIAN TIRE CORPORATION LTD., Toronto. Retailer; 85,000 employees. Manages the Next Generation Talent Rotational Program for aspiring IT professionals.

CAPGEMINI CANADA INC., Toronto.

Information technology; 389 employees.

Established the Millennial Innovation Council with the objective of strengthening cross-generational collaboration and fostering innovation in younger employees.

CARGILL LTD., Winnipeg. Agricultural products; 7,741 employees. Offers interns a one-day job-shadowing opportunity with the business unit of their choosing.

CIBC, Toronto. Banking; 35,438 employees. Created the GenNext@CIBC program for younger employees to cultivate leadership development by providing them with community engagement opportunities.

CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA CO., Toronto. Computer and equipment manufacturing; 1,633 employees. Offers 10 mentoring programs for employees’ diverse needs, including reverse mentoring for senior leaders.

CITCO (CANADA) INC., Toronto.

Portfolio management; 1,112 employees.

Recently established a two-year Global Graduate Program, piloted at the company’s Halifax office.

COCA-COLA CANADA, Toronto.

Beverage and food manufacturing; 5,388 employees. Manages a University Talent Program featuring two streams: a Region Sales Summer Program and a Region Sales Leadership Program.

CONNECT HEARING, Victoria. Audiology and physical, occupational and speech therapy services; 298 employees.

Offers paid internships for hearing-instrument practitioner students.

CORUS ENTERTAINMENT INC., Toronto. Media production and broadcasting; 1,525 employees. Created the Innovative Storytellers Award, a $20,000 five-year educational initiative.

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2L, Kitchener, Ont. Custom computer programming; 707 employees. Offers its student employees the opportunity to meet with executives once per term to share their experiences and projects.

DELTAWARE SYSTEMS INC., Charlottetown. Custom computer pro-

gramming; 106 employees. Manages a development seminar program that offers technical and non-technical courses and “lunch and learn” sessions.

q Enbridge employee at Blackspring Ridge wind farm, Vulcan County, Alberta.

DENTONS CANADA LLP, Toronto. Law firm; 1,253 employees. Maintains a professional development committee, which ensures that training at each Dentons office is current, consistent and relevant.

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE CANADA, Ottawa. Federal government; 748 employees. Organizes the Job Shadowing Sweepstakes event to provide employees the opportunity to share a day with a senior official.

DESJARDINS GROUP / MOUVEMENT DES CAISSES DESJARDINS, Lévis, Que. Credit unions; 38,873 employees. Maintains the Desjardins Young Executives Network for managers under the age of 35.

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CCLESIASTICAL INSURANCE OFFICE PLC, Toronto. Insurance; 66 employees. Manages the threeyear rotational Business Intern Program geared to recent university graduates pursuing the Chartered Insurance Professional designation.

EDMONTON, CITY OF, Edmonton.

Municipal government; 9,681 employees.

Maintains the NextGen Committee, which provides employees between 18 and 40 with a voice on how to shape the city.

EF EDUCATIONAL TOURS, Toronto.

Travel tour operators; 167 employees.

Created a global finance program offering an 18-month internship that includes placements at various EF offices around the world.

ENBRIDGE INC., Calgary. Natural gas distribution; 6,014 employees. Established Connect, an employee resource group that focuses on the shared interests and challenges of Enbridge’s young workforce.

ENMAX CORP., Calgary. Electric power distribution, 1,863 employees. Manages a nine-month engineer-in-training program for recent electrical engineer graduates.

EPCOR UTILITIES INC., Edmonton.

Electric power distribution, 2,167 employees. Created a job rotation program tailored to employees’ individual interests, career accomplishments and long-term career goals.

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EDNAV LTD., Montreal. Deep sea freight transportation; 163 employees. Offers scholarships to encourage young people to consider a career in the marine industry.

ENBRIDGE INC.

2016 WINNERS ( CON T. )

GROUPE DYNAMITE INC.

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2016 WINNERS ( CON T. ) FIDELITY CANADA, Toronto. Portfolio management; 765 employees. Introduced a rotation program for high-performing co-op students working at Fidelity to return in a different position.

FLATIRON CONSTRUCTION CORP., Richmond, B.C. Construction; 901 employees. Maintains an active presence on school campuses, participating in career fairs, serving as alumni contacts and hosting information sessions.

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ENERAL ELECTRIC CANADA / GE, Mississauga. Diversified technology and equipment manufacturing; 7,213 employees. Offers scholarships to female students and students of aboriginal descent who are studying engineering or business.

GREAT-WEST LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY, THE, Winnipeg. Insurance; 10,224 employees. Manages a scholarship and work placement program in partnership with the University of Winnipeg.

GROUPE DYNAMITE INC., Montreal.

Retailer; 1,714 employees. Manages the Innovation Program, which encourages employees to submit creative ideas to improve the business.

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p The President of Groupe Dynamite Inc. awarding a business competition prize to students from Lasalle College’s Enterprise Project.

ALOGEN SOFTWARE INC., Ottawa. Software publishers; 418 employees. Hosts a five-day Halogen Olympics competition for employees to participate in activities like Capture the Flag and trivia contests.

HEALTH CANADA / SANTÉ CANADA, Ottawa. Federal government; 9,140 employees. Organizes Mega-ConnEX, a networking event that brings together senior management and young employees.

HOLLAND BLOORVIEW KIDS REHABILITATION HOSPITAL, Toronto.

Hospitals: 544 employees. Manages a summer student research program that provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to conduct research alongside leading scientists in the children’s rehabilitation sector.

HOME DEPOT OF CANADA INC., Toronto. Retailer; 12,000 employees. Hosted its first “New Grad Hiring Day” at the company’s head office.

HYDRO OTTAWA, Ottawa. Electric power distribution; 642 employees. Partners with Algonquin College to provide training to students enrolled in the two-year Powerline Technician Diploma Program.

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NFUSION, Toronto. Custom computer programming; 200 employees.

Established the Air Infusion program, which allows employees to work in an international Infusion office for a year.

LABATT BREWERIES OF CANADA, Toronto. Breweries; 3,000 employees. Manages a 16-week internship program for university students, including participation in a “beer school” to learn how beer is made.

AZZ AVIATION LP, Dartmouth, N.S. Air transportation; 4,362 employees.

Manages the Jazz Award program, which provides select students with interviews and simulator assessments.

LAFARGE CANADA LTD., Calgary.

Concrete manufacturing; 3,166 employees. Maintains “knowledge transfer days” for employees from various locations and product lines to meet and tour different Lafarge offices and factories.

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JOEY RESTAURANT GROUP, Vancouver. Restaurants; 277 employees. Hosts company-wide competitions to foster employees’ ongoing development, such as “Top Apprentice” and “League of Extraordinary Chefs.”

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PMG LLP, Toronto. Accounting; 6,165 employees. Manages the National Boardroom Skills Challenge, providing interns with an opportunity to recommend a solution and strategy to real-life business cases.

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’ORÉAL CANADA INC., Montreal.

Cosmetics manufacturing; 1,200 employees. Created the Beauty Shaker Awards competition to encourage staff to submit ideas and a presentation to improve efficiency at the company.

LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD., Brampton, Ont. Supermarkets; 28,580 employees.

Created the 15-month grad@Loblaw rotational program for new graduates who receive full benefits and pay throughout its duration.

LOYALTYONE CO., Toronto. Marketing consulting services; 1,230 employees.

Manages a co-op program to help students develop professional skills through workshops, “lunch and learn” sessions and networking opportunities.

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ANITOBA HYDRO, Winnipeg.

Hydroelectric power generation; 6,031 employees. Maintains an engineer-in-training program as well as a number of in-house apprenticeships.

JAZZ AVIATION LP

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p Passenger jet operated by Halifax-based Jazz Aviation LP, one of this year’s winners, at the airport in Mont-Tremblant, Que.

2016 WINNERS ( CON T. ) MANITOBA, GOVERNMENT OF, Winnipeg. Provincial government; 14,320 employees. Created an 18-month management internship program for graduates with an interest in the public sector.

MANULIFE, Toronto. Insurance; 11,195 employees. Established a nation-wide internship program offering employment opportunities in a broad range of disciplines.

METROLINX, Toronto. Public transit; 3,011 employees. Created the annual Rob MacIsaac Fellowship Program, which allows students to conduct research in a public-sector environment.

MORGAN STANLEY SERVICES CANADA CORP., Montreal. Secondary market financing; 605 employees. Initiated a technology analyst program, a 15-week global training initiative for students in their final year of school.

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TT DATA CANADA, INC., Halifax. Computer systems design; 915 employees. Offers the Internal Moves Process to provide employees with guidance to change their career direction or advance in a current sector.

NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS CANADA INC., Montreal. Software publishers; 741 employees. Hosts an Executive Lunch & Learn series as an opportunity for interns to meet the senior executive team.

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NTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE / OPS, Toronto. Provincial government; 61,698 employees. Created the Northern Ontario Internship Program for recent grads in Northern Ontario to help them launch their careers.

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EPSICO CANADA, Mississauga.

Beverage and food manufacturing; 9,163 employees. Manages an Emerging Leadership Program to help graduates transition to the workplace.

POTASH CORPORATION OF SASKATCHEWAN INC., Saskatoon. Fertilizer manufacturing; 2,788 employees. Created twoyear engineer-in-training and geologistin-training programs for young employees.

PROCTER & GAMBLE INC., Toronto.

Consumer product manufacturing; 1,729 employees. Maintains several employee networks to help new staff integrate into the organization.

PROVINCIAL HEALTH SERVICES AUTHORITY / PHSA, Vancouver. Hospitals; 10,028 employees. Hosted an open house for students in perinatal and neonatal nursing programs as part of its celebration of National Nursing Week.

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.F. BINNIE & ASSOCIATES LTD., Burnaby, B.C. Engineering services; 110 employees. Maintains a Young Professionals Committee, which hosts company-subsidized monthly meetings for breakfast or lunch.

RBC, Toronto. Banking; 52,026 employees. Maintains a NextGen employee resource group geared to staff in their 20s and 30s.

READ JONES CHRISTOFFERSEN LTD. / RJC, Vancouver. Engineering; 420 employees. Acknowledges exceptional mentors through the Rick Banman Mentorship Awards, as nominated by mentees.

RICHTER LLP, Montreal. Accounting; 464 employees. Manages a comprehensive summer student program featuring team building activities and Friday

training sessions on accounting, auditing, taxation and IT. ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC., Toronto. Communications, cable publishing and subscription programming; 23,325 employees. Created the “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” program, which allows employees to work in different roles within the company.

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AP CANADA INC., Toronto. Custom computer programming; 2,625 employees. Offers the Early Talent Ambassador Program, a two-year training initiative for young talent in a variety of departments with job-shadowing opportunities.

SASKATCHEWAN ABILITIES COUNCIL, THE, Saskatoon. Services for the elderly and persons with disabilities; 321 employees. Sponsors two-year paid residency positions for students in orthotics and prosthetics.

SASKATCHEWAN GOVERNMENT INSURANCE / SGI, Regina. Insurance; 1,850 employees. Created the President’s Youth Advisory Council in 2005 to provide support to younger employees.

2016 WINNERS ( CON T. ) SASKATCHEWAN PUBLIC SERVICE, Regina. Provincial government; 8,453 employees. Hosts an annual “Show and Sell Your Summer Job” contest, providing students with an opportunity to showcase their work.

SASKPOWER, Regina. Hydroelectric power generation; 3,394 employees.

Manages the SaskPower Youth Network, a resource group for employees under 29.

SASKTEL, Regina. Telecommunications; 3,147 employees. Created the SaskTel YOUTHnetwork program, providing long- and short-term strategies to improve employment issues facing youth and to encourage them to pursue technology-based postsecondary education.

SHELL CANADA LTD., Calgary. Oil and gas extraction; 9,194 employees. Currently developing a dedicated power engineering program to help employees achieve 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st Class certification.

SIEMENS CANADA LTD., Oakville, Ont. Engineering services; 4,967 employees.

Organizes “LeadOurLeaders” sessions

in which young employees teach senior-level staff social media best practices through hands-on interactive learning.

SODEXO CANADA LTD., Burlington, Ont. Food service contractors; 5,945 employees. Offers paid internships and co-op placements and hires promising participants into full-time entry-level management positions.

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL INC., Toronto.

Insurance; 8,607 employees. Manages a rotational leadership development program that provides an opportunity for young employees to work in three different roles over three years.

SUNNYBROOK HEALTH SCIENCES CENTRE, Toronto. Hospitals; 5,721 employees. Accepts up to 75 high-school students annually to work as part of Sunnybrook’s experiential learning co-op program.

SURREY, CITY OF, Surrey, B.C. Municipal government; 1,774 employees. Created a Future Leaders Program to help young people between 14 and 21 develop the skills and knowledge to become successful recreation leaders.

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ATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES CANADA INC., Mississauga.

Computer systems design; 2,215 employees. Hosts the CodeVita national competition for engineering and science students to hone and showcase their programming skills.

TELUS CORP., Vancouver. Telecommunications; 24,241 employees. Created the TELUS Innovation Challenge, a nationwide internal business case competition for employees in the leadership development program.

TETRA TECH EBA INC., Edmonton.

Engineering; 613 employees. Offers paid internships with a variety of job duties, such as field work of materials testing, junior project management and research.

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NIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA / UBC, Vancouver.

Universities; 10,524 employees.

Provides a variety of in-house training programs, such as the award-winning Coaching@UBC initiative.

UNILEVER CANADA INC., Toronto.

Consumer product manufacturing; 1,343 employees. Hosts “fireside chats” wherein

7 Unilever vice-presidents meet entry-level employees.

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ISION CRITICAL COMMUNICATIONS INC., Vancouver. Custom computer programming; 485 employees. Created the year-long Excel Internship program for new university graduates seeking work experience.

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HISTLER BLACKCOMB, Whistler. Skiing and resort operations; 2,987 employees.

Offers in-house apprenticeship and skilled trades training.

EROX CANADA INC., Toronto.

Computer equipment manufacturing; 3,061 employees. Manages Global Careers @Xerox, an online resource to global career opportunities at the company.

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MCA OF GREATER TORONTO, Toronto. Individual and family services; 1,528 employees. Organizes Youth As Change Agents conferences for young employees and volunteers between the ages of 19 and 29 to participate in local and international events.

– Diane Jermyn

q Employee at Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan organizing a fossil-finding expedition for kids.

METHODOLOGY 2016

The editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers evaluate each employer, based on the programs and initiatives it offers to attract and retain younger workers. Among these are tuition assistance, the availability of co-op or work-study programs, as well as mentorship and training programs, including benefits such as bonuses paid when employees complete certain courses or professional designations. The editors also review each employer’s career management program, looking for initiatives that can help younger workers advance faster in the organization. Lastly, the editors look at the average age of employees at each organization to better understand the composition and profile of its workforce.

Any employer with its head office or principal place of business in Canada may apply for this competition through the Canada’s Top 100 Employers application process. Organizations of any size may participate, whether private or public-sector. Employers complete a single application for the national, regional and special-interest competitions, including Canada’s Top Employers for Young People.

– Diane Jermyn

POTASH CORPORATION OF SASKATCHEWAN

What does it take to become one of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People?

BIG VIKING GAMES

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p On the first Friday of every month, employees at Big Viking Games hold a ‘Viking Feast’ which includes, among other activities, competitive axe-throwing contests.

Disruption: It’s a Good Thing

Top Employers value young people for their transformational ideas

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By Berton Woodward

f you’re a young person, you may not have liked being labelled “disruptive” when you were a kid. Now you’re being celebrated for it. “Disruptive” is the newest buzzword in recruitment circles. It’s not about having annoying people around. It’s all about transformational new ideas – and the most likely source of those ideas is young people.

Uber is often called a disruptive technology because the near-instant popularity the ride-sharing app has had a highly disruptive effect on the traditional taxi industry. Similarly, Airbnb Is challenging the

hotel industry with its online system for renting out people’s rooms and homes for short stays.

In short, she adds, “they’re natural disruptors because of their curiosity and their hunger to learn.”

Many of the companies and organizations on this 2016 list of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People say they, too, are looking for disruptive ideas. Not so disruptive that they ruin the enterprise, of course – but definitely ideas that challenge the status quo.

Anna Martini, President of the fashion designer and retailer Groupe Dynamite, has been involved in campus recruitment going back to her days as a senior executive with Deloitte. “There is something that young people bring to the party that is very different from what experienced people bring,” she says. That certainly includes new ideas and perspectives, says Martini. “And they keep everybody young!”

Take, for instance, what we heard from Minal Kamath, Vice President, HR Operations, at Canadian Tire Corporation. The company, which is bent on becoming the world’s most innovative retailer, champions the concept, as she notes in our profile. “Young people generate disruptive ideas,” says Kamath.

“They bring passion, energy, knowledge and curiosity to the workplace. They offer a diverse perspective on anything and everything. And they see things through fresh eyes.”

Today, she notes, their affinity for technology is helping to accelerate change in fields like retailing.

“Young people embrace disruption,” she says. “No one’s sitting there freaking out because, oh my god, what do you mean we’re going to be checking out of the store on a mobile phone instead of a cash register? They’re not afraid of it.”

9 The supposedly staid world of banking is also seeing the trend. “Disruptive is a word that gets discussed a lot,” says Susan Uchida, Vice President, Learning, at RBC, one of Canada’s largest employers. “What that looks like for us is that young people bring the ability to ask questions without the constraints of how things got done historically.

“For example, banking is very structured, with org charts and approval processes and so on. But young people look at an organization as just a network of people and very flat, and they’re confident to speak up and ask, ‘Why not?’

“So we’re starting to see that culture shift around it being encouraged to ask questions. We’re seeing it on a daily basis.”

RBC is one of many employers who want to ensure they have formal and informal venues for young people to make themselves heard and offer ideas, from NextGen programs to innovation challenges

to internal social networking platforms that allow people to connect one-to-one across an organization.

“At RBC, we also really encourage our managers to inspire new thinking, to ask your team, what do they think about a situation or a problem you’re trying to resolve,” says Uchida. “We assess it as well in our employee opinion surveys. We ask the question, does your manager solicit diverse perspectives as a way to uncover innovative ideas?”

Making sure people have a chance to speak up is important in recruiting young talent, because this generation is especially keen on being heard. “Millennials are looking for a place where they can voice their opinions and also incorporate what they’re passionate about in their work, whether they’re in sales or environmental work or technology,” says Danielle Fudger, 26, a software developer at Morgan Stanley in Montreal. “People in my field are looking for employers who are passionate about technology and open to change.”

The competition for young talent like Fudger is fiercer than ever. Mediacorp Senior Editor Kristina Leung, who was the lead editor on the Young People project, notes that this year’s list features a total of 95 employers, up from 90 last year. That is due to the rise in high-quality applications from companies keen to show potential recruits they are true Top Employers. “Young People remains our most popular special-interest competition,” says Leung.

And for those sought-after new grads, opportunities for fascinating and inspiring work have never been better. When we talked to Bill Morris, the Canadian President of Accenture and a 30-plus-year veteran of the firm, he was excited about the fast pace of innovation that young people now find themselves part of – and how it can change the way the world works and lives. As he told us poignantly, “It’s a great time.

I wish I was just starting with the company.”

And if he was, he would surely be a disruptor. The good kind.

RICHTER LLP

q Employees at Montréal-based Richter LLP celebrating another successful year at the accounting firm’s annual holiday party.

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Accenture attracts smart people from many fields

he three young employees from Accenture’s vast Financial Services practice are gathered around the boardroom table in a downtown Toronto skyscraper.

They all have very different educational backgrounds, but they also have one important thing in common. During their university years, before they had ever considered consulting as a career option, they all connected, through volunteer work, with Accenture employees, who opened their eyes to the possibility of a job they didn’t know existed.

Now, all three work at Accenture, which counts among its clients four-fifths of the world’s top banks, all of the top 10 investment banks globally, and 30 of 35 insurers in the Fortune 500.

All three employees live in Toronto, the second largest financial centre in North America and a ‘Top Ten’ global financial centre, according to the Toronto Financial Services Alliance. And all three have also recently been promoted.

“You can innovate fast.

That’s really exciting for us and our people because they want to change the way the world works and lives.”

– Bill Morris, President and Senior Managing Director, Canada

After learning about Accenture, Jegan, now a manager-level employee, came to see it “as an extension of school in many ways, an opportunity to try different industries.”

Justin Scaini’s “aha!” moment happened when he was volunteering on a youth mental health project after switching his minor from drama to economics.

His major was life sciences but his interests shifted to the efficiency and economic sides of industry, and helping organizations sharpen their focus on high priority opportunities.

Talking to an Accenture employee he met through volunteering convinced him to apply for an entry-level job.

In his current Financial Services Consultant role, he says, “I learn about big problems in big industries. I’m interested in the efficiency side of the practice. I’ve become much more analytical since joining Accenture.”

In Galina Kashkina’s case, her current position as a Financial Services Consultant seems more of an obvious fit. Yet, despite the fact she studied business and has been interested in money management since a grade school project, she says, “I didn’t know consulting existed. Business school exposed me to this world.”

During her first two years with Accenture, she worked with the products and financial services practices. Now she’s part of a team occupied with a large digital transformation in retail banking. She likes the variety and different experiences. “You can be switching assignments every three to six months,” she says. “You can’t compare it to anything else.”

Jegan Kanaganayakam’s campus volunteer project, sponsored by Accenture, Kashkina also volunteers at Western came along just when he was realizing University, helping student volunteers that a career in engineering might not be to put their skills to use for charities for him. In his internships, he had felt and nonprofits, through Accenture’s pigeon-holed. “I didn’t get opportunities corporate citizenship program. It’s to use all my skills,” he explains. “I felt where she first made her Accenture if I went into engineering I’d never get 0912_9.25x1.75_FinServCan_AccAd_121515_copy.pdf 1 12/15/15 1:15 PM contacts so she’s come full circle. that true breadth of opportunities.”

Galina KashKina, Justin scaini and JeGan KanaGanayaKam discovered Accenture throuGh volunteer worK

Provides subsidies for professional accreditations

Offers paid internships for students and new grads

Offers formal mentorship program

Runs career counselling program for new grads

Since joining Accenture, Scaini has done 14 weeks of pro bono work with Progress Place, a mental health clinic. He did this as part of the Skills to Succeed global initiative where Accenture employees help charities to achieve the company’s goal of equipping 3 million people around the world with the skills to get a job or build a business by the end of fiscal 2020.

Bill Morris, the Canadian President of Accenture who’s been with the company for more than three decades, says

Accenture is proud to be one of Canada’s Top Employers For Young People.

younger employees want to contribute to causes they’re passionate about – something that wasn’t a workplace core value when he first joined up.

Another thing that’s changed, he says, is the sharp reduction in time and cost required for innovation. “You can innovate fast. That’s really exciting for us and our people because they want to change the way the world works and lives. It’s a great time. I wish I was just starting with the company.”

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Vibrant young workforce makes its mark at Bayer

s you walk around the offices of Bayer, a life sciences company headquartered in Mississauga, Ont., you hear and feel the vibrancy of a youthful workforce. That’s because about one quarter of employees across Canada are from the millennial generation, aged 35 and under. Within the company’s Crop Science division, which is based in Calgary, it is even more – 40 per cent of the team.

What makes Bayer stand out is its attractive, high-tech work environment with areas to collaborate in person or online. In fact, recently the company hosted a social media event at its head office which was attended by staff of all ages and levels. Everyone was highly engaged and bought valuable skills and perspectives to the table, says Lynda Newcomb, Vice President, Human Resources.

“We have a strong summer program, hiring up to 200 students a year across Canada,” – Lynda Newcomb, Vice President, Human Resources

“Millennials in particular are a social media savvy generation,” she explains. “And social media and innovation will be an important part of our business going forward.”

The company offers a range of career development programs to help employees progress in their career. For example, Bayer’s LEAD program, a four-day course jointly developed with the Niagara Institute of Technology, aims to prepare employees for future leadership and

people management roles. This focus on training also reflects Bayer`s commitment to cultivating young talent.

“We have a strong summer program, hiring up to 200 students a year across Canada,” Newcomb says. “The program provides Bayer with the opportunity to introduce young people to our business straight from school and is an important way for us to scout for new employees.”

For instance, the company partners with the University of Toronto’s Master of Management of Innovation program to offer co-op placements in healthcare and marketing as well as internships.

Bayer also allocates a large number of students to its Crop Science division in field work. One of the perks of a student summer job in this division is that Bayer provides all fieldbased employees with a truck.

But there is a special caveat: a transponder is installed in the vehicle to check they are wearing seat belts and not speeding. And for every pay cycle in which students do not make an infraction, Bayer awards them a $100 bonus. If they remain infraction-free for the whole summer, students can increase their total pay by approximately $800.

Called Safety for LIFE, this initiative aims to encourage young employees to drive safely. According to Stephanie Lepage, a Principal Investigator at Bayer Crop Science, it shows the company cares about both personal and professional development.

“Retaining young employees is important to Bayer so there is a lot of investment in training for summer students. The company sees us as potentially valuable long-term employees,” she says.

Lepage is part of Bayer Crop Science’s environmental team, which operates out of Saskatoon. She spends most of her time at the company’s Rosthern Farm, which is 45 minutes north

STEPHANIE LEPAGE, A PARTICIPANT OF BAYER’S SUMMER STUDENT PROGRAM, WITH COMPANY VEHICLE

Offers tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

Offers numerous co-op and internship opportunities

200 student jobs available in the past year

Provides subsidies for professional accreditations

of the office, conducting trials on new crop production chemicals.

she took on a research assistant role in the environmental team.

Lepage came through Bayer’s student ranks. She was hired full-time, on a 12-month contract, in January 2015, following three previous years as a summer student. Her contract has just been renewed for a second term.

Bayer provides summer students with both office and field training. This on-the-job training, Lepage explains, helps to build the confidence of students and encourage them to support each other on the farm and stay safe.

The first summer Lepage was at the company in 2012, she worked as a customer care associate answering calls about crop chemicals across the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Then, in 2013 and 2014, after expressing an interest,

“There are many experienced people at the company to work with and mentor you,” she says. “We are encouraged to be accountable, take on more responsibility and build trust with all employees – permanent, contract and summer students.”

Explore Bayer Employment Opportunities at Bayer.ca and BayerCropScience.ca

12

Boeing lets its young employees soar

R

ecent Boeing Canada hire and millennial Rebecca Wroblewski wants to make something very clear: there’s one thing young people can’t stand when they start a new job. “People my age are looking for a chance to prove themselves,” says Wroblewski, an environmental specialist in the global aerospace giant’s Winnipeg-based Canadian operations.

“They don’t want to be baby-sat.”

When it comes to Boeing Canada, no need to worry. The company provides lots of opportunities for its younger employees to take on major responsibilities and grow while on the job. In Wroblewski’s case, she received a key role early on in developing and implementing a new office recycling program. “It’s great to get that kind of trust when you are just starting,” she says.

“The idea is to encourage people to excel.”

– Marc Groenewegen, Director of Engineering

Looking ahead, Wroblewski is eyeing one of several corporate management training programs designed to help younger employees develop to their full potential. And if the University of Manitoba graduate wants to continue her academic studies, Boeing Canada will foot 100 per cent of her tuition fees as well as the cost of all textbooks. Similar benefits are available for employees pursuing professional certificates or accreditation.

Wroblewski notes that there are plenty of other ways to continue learning while at work. “Boeing’s networking and mentorship programs can put you in touch with experts around the world,” she says. “All the resources are at your fingertips, if you have the initiative.”

One of those resources is Boeing Canada Director of Engineering Marc Groenewegen, who oversees some 170

engineers, technicians and aerospace designers. “We believe in empowering people, even at the lowest levels,” Groenewegen says. “If someone shows some abilities and talents, we not only reward them but we ask them to take on even more challenging tasks and responsibilities. The idea is to encourage people to excel.”

Groenewegen, a three-decade Boeing veteran, says young hires today above all want to be challenged.

“We provide that through innovative work in a high-tech field, all with its unique set of challenges,” he says.

There’s another perk that Boeing offers people starting their professional careers. “It’s the aerospace industry,” says Groenewegen. “It’s pretty sexy.”

Wroblewski agrees. “First and foremost, Boeing is a pioneering company,” she says. “The products are pretty exciting.”

Another way to keep new hires happy is by designing professional development programs suited to their desires. “The opportunities for growth are there,” says Groenewegen. “If you want to do

BOEING’S YOUNG EMPLOYEES APPRECIATE THE HIGH-TECH CHALLENGES

Offers tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

Provides subsidies for professional accreditations

Offers paid internships for students and new grads

Provides tuition bursaries for student interns and co-op students

something new every four months, we will try to find a way. And if someone is happy being challenged with new tasks in the same position, that’s fine, too.”

Young people valuing a work-life balance find much to like at Boeing’s newly renovated Winnipeg office, featuring the latest in ergonomic office furniture, including stand-up desks.

For just $1 per week, employees can use the onsite, fully equipped gym.

Nutritious meals are available in the 24-hour cafeteria for only $3.

Flexible working arrangements are a boon to employees with young families

and others.

Boeing, as one of Winnipeg’s largest employers with its 1,500-member workforce, is proud of its community engagement initiatives. Each year, the company supports some 30 local charities and employees volunteer thousands of hours. Says Wroblewski: “As a young person, I want to work for a company that I can believe in. When I see a global corporation going to bat for the community and making sure its employees are healthy and feel valued, I feel proud to be a part of that.”

The next 100 years Above the Clouds 737 MAX

Boeing.ca

13

F

Cameco mines the best from its young employees

or Stephanie Mawson, working at a remote mine site is an intense, but rewarding, experience – and one she believes is well suited for younger employees who can take advantage of the freedom and flexibility offered by fly-in, fly-out shift work.

“It’s definitely a lot different than a Monday to Friday, nine-to-five job,” says Mawson, 29, a mine engineer at Cameco’s Cigar Lake uranium mine site in northern Saskatchewan. “But at my age, that’s part of the appeal.”

Mawson currently works two weeks on site and then has two weeks off (home base for her is Saskatoon). When on site, she works 12-hour shifts, seven days a week. The work is innovative, challenging and, at times, stressful. But the workplace culture is informal and convivial (“there’s plenty of joking,” she says) – a way to counter the long hours and demands of the job.

“Everyone has been really welcoming and willing to help a young engineer out.”

– Stephanie Mawson, Mine Engineer

At the same time, the opportunity to have two weeks off every month (even more when combined with vacation days) provides a lot of time for a young person to pursue personal goals and interests.

“There are a number of young engineers who have been able to pursue a master’s degree while still working full time by scheduling classes and studies during their time off,” says Mawson. “In my case, it’s allowed me to do a lot of travelling, which is something that I love.”

Mawson spent four summers working for Cameco while pursuing a degree in geological engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. She worked at two of the three northern Saskatchewan mine sites operated by Cameco, one of the world’s largest uranium producers.

After completing her degree in December 2011, Mawson was hired into a new graduate position and automatically enrolled in Cameco’s Engineer In Training (EIT) Program. The program offers on-the-job experience and training to develop critical knowledge and skills, helping to prepare young engineers for technical or management careers.

As part of the EIT program, Mawson did work placements at Cameco’s head office in Saskatoon and in various roles at the Cigar Lake mine site.

She was recently promoted to the position of Mine Engineer, working in the area of ground control.

Mawson says her experience as a summer student and a member of the EIT program helped her make the transition from school to career. “I’ve worked with a wide variety of really experienced people from different backgrounds who have given me the benefit of their advice and knowledge,” she adds. “Everyone has been really welcoming and willing to help a young engineer out.”

Lynn McNally-Power, Cameco’s Vice President of Human Resources, says the company strives to provide training, leadership development and continuous learning opportunities for all of its young employees.

Each year, Cameco sends promising young employees to the World Nuclear University (WNU) Summer Institute, an intense six-week educational challenge aimed at inspiring the next generation of nuclear energy leaders.

“They come back with a new appreciation of our industry and the part we are playing in responsibly meeting global energy demands,”

Cigar Lake mine engineer Stephanie mawSon takeS an extenSometer reading in a produCtion tunneL with mine foreman martin JohnSon

Offers tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

Offers paid internships for students and new grads

Over 600 jobs available in the past year

Manages Engineer-inTraining and Geologistin-Training programs for new grads

observes McNally-Power. “They become ambassadors not just for Cameco, but for the entire industry.”

Cameco continues to put a strong emphasis on its summer student, co-op and apprenticeship programs.

“These programs are definitely a twoway street for us to try out potential employees and for them to try us out,” says McNally-Power. “It’s a wonderful way to get new talent in the door.”

A 27-year Cameco veteran, McNallyPower says today’s younger employees are taking charge of their own careers much more than their counterparts of a generation ago. She also credits them with keeping the company vibrant.

“They are constantly bringing new ideas to the table in areas such as social media, informal learning practices and emerging technologies,” she says. “They truly are our pipeline to the future.”

Canada’s #1 industrial employer of Aboriginal people Freddie & Michelle Throassie Black Lake, SK

cameco.com

14

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Canadian Tire Corporation looks for disruptive ideas

ecently, a group of Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC) executives attempted to whittle down a list of 12 candidates for three spots in an emerging marketers program for new grads. Participating in a case study challenge, the young candidates had each made a pitch to the executives based on a business scenario they were given. It turned out to be a tough choice.

“We had an exceptional group of applicants,” says Minal Kamath, Vice President, HR Operations. “We ended up hiring the top three candidates and now we’re looking at ways to grow the program so we can hire additional grads.”

That’s an indication of how much CTC values smart and creative young people these days. The Toronto-based company has recently been challenged by its CEO, Michael Medline, to become the most innovative retailer in the world. And for that, they need the fresh thinking that young people so often bring.

“It’s not just them courting us – we are courting them.”

– Minal Kamath, Vice President, HR Operations

“Young people generate disruptive ideas,” says Kamath, using the term often applied to Uber and other breakthrough technologies. “They bring passion, energy, knowledge and curiosity to the workplace. They offer a diverse perspective on anything and everything.

And they see things through fresh eyes.”

To attract post-secondary students, CTC has a large co-op program – it involved more than 200 people in 2014. “They have real jobs,” says Kamath. “And we try to rotate them from term to term so they can see the diversity of roles at Canadian Tire.”

The company is also expanding opportunities in other parts of the group.

The Canadian Tire family includes Calgary-based FGL Sports, which operates Sport Chek, Sports Experts and Atmosphere, as well as Mark’s, also headquartered in Calgary, and Canadian Tire Financial Services in Oakville, Ont. and Welland, Ont. Often the co-op students become candidates for the company’s New Grads program and other full time positions, which together brought in 32 young people in 2014 and will soon reach 50 and beyond – especially if the emerging marketers’ pattern is repeated. It is closely aligned with the company’s Next Generation Talent Program, which aims to attract top young talent to digital projects.

Kamath says that select new grads are often invited to the company to have a look around in a much more informal way than an interview. “Part of it is them interviewing our leadership,” she says. “It’s not just them courting us – we are courting them.”

The new grads often have a background in business studies – as well as engineering, communications, statistics and other specialties – and take on roles in supply chain management, marketing, data analysis or merchandising. Next

ONE OF CANADIAN TIRE’S YOUNG INNOVATORS PRESENTS NEW IDEAS TO THE TEAM

Offers paid internships for students and new grads

Manages the Next Generation Talent Rotational Program for aspiring IT professionals

Provides subsidies for professional accreditations

Offers a Marketing Rotational Program for new grads

Generation recruits, who rotate through a different position each year for three years, work on the website, app creation and other IT projects, often at one of the company’s digital labs in Waterloo, Ont., such as the Digital Garage and a partnership in the Communitech Hub. CTC also runs the Cloud Nine Digital Innovation Centre in Winnipeg.

Daniel Tyrala, who graduated from Ryerson University with a commerce degree in Business Technology, joined the Next Generation program in 2014.

“They really try to cater to our interests and what we want to grow into,” he says. “It’s very flexible. They even create new roles for us if need be.”

Tyrala has a mentor assigned to him to aid in his career development, and enjoys the monthly sessions the company holds with different leaders. He is also impressed with Canadian Tire’s charity, Jumpstart, which helps young people in financial need get involved in sports, as well as the regular events the company holds with major sports figures through its wide range of sponsorships.

“There is a strong sense of community and pride at Canadian Tire,” Tyrala says.

“I get a great feeling that this is a family company that supports all of its employees to strive and make themselves better, both as individuals and in their careers.”

Canadian Tire Corporation is proud to be one of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People.

15

I

At Citco, the real investment is in its people

t didn’t take long for Wendy Kang to realize that she made the right decision approximately two years ago when she moved from a financial services competitor to Citco Canada’s Toronto operations. Kang held her previous job, her first out of university, for approximately 18 months until a lack of professional growth opportunities became apparent, and she committed to making a progressive career change. “By that time, I had learned that Citco was the global leader in hedge fund administration and I wanted to be part of it,” she says.

Her first Citco position was in Investor Relations and within a year she transitioned into the newly created Due Diligence Analyst position for Citco’s Fund Services Division. “HR really helped me through the process,” Kang recalls. “They took a chance on me, and it shows the company is very open to lateral movement – if you work for it.”

“Work is fast-paced, and there’s lots of it, but at the end of the day you have learned more than you expected.”

– Wendy Kang, Due Diligence Analyst

Indeed, one of Citco’s Managing Directors, Kumi Somaskandan, says the company takes the development of its young employees very seriously. “Our people represent Citco to our clients,” Somaskandan explains. “Investing in their development creates success for our employees and, ultimately, our clients.”

To that end, Citco supports employees who want to enhance their

professional qualifications with a tuition reimbursement program. For her part, Kang intends to enroll in the company-sponsored Claritas Program (offered through the internationally recognized CFA Institute) that covers the essentials of finance, ethics and investment protocols. “I’m also looking at an MBA down the road, and it’s comforting to know that Citco offers a reimbursement cushion.”

Kang also appreciates Citco’s generous benefit packages such as gym membership. “They really want you to have a work-life balance,” she says.

Another way Citco reaches out to young people is through a highly successful co-op program with 10 universities to serve its Toronto and Halifax offices.

Many co-op students and summer interns become permanent employees upon graduation. Several have gone on to see significant career progression, including management appointments.

Another plus of joining Citco Canada’s growing workforce – from 50 people two decades ago to some 1,100 now – is the stimulation of being involved in a rapidly evolving industry. Says Somaskandan: “We have created a unique and innovative culture that services the cutting-edge international giants of the hedge fund industry. It is an exciting culture to be a part of. ” Another Citco cornerstone is its high degree of collegiality. “We build team spirit throughout the year with well designed social events largely driven by the employees,” says Somaskandan.

“As a result, while office year-end and other parties limp along elsewhere, we get a phenomenal turnout at our events.”

Kang is an enthusiastic participant. “It’s great working with young, energetic people who are very passionate about what they do,” she says. “Work is fast-paced, and there’s lots of it, but at the end of the day you have learned more than you expected.”

CITCO EMPLOYEES ENJOYING THE COMPANY’S ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY

Offers tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

Provides subsidies for professional accreditations

Offers paid internships for students and new grads

Offers extensive career opportunities

Another sign of employee commitment is participation in charitable activities.

“For example,” says Somaskandan, “we are committed to helping a downtown Toronto community centre, and our calls to action for volunteers are filled within minutes.”

Kang is testament to that commitment.

“I tried to sign up,” she says, “but all the slots had already been filled. Next time, I’ll have to reply sooner.”

Kang also appreciates management’s openness and confidence in younger

workers. “We all work in the same physical area, and it is easy to talk to someone senior without the hassle of making an appointment,” she says.

“While I don’t supervise anyone, I’m treated like a people leader. It’s great to know your work is being appreciated and that you are trusted.”

Most of all, Kang is happy about her future prospects. “Citco encourages growth and progression. That’s the reason I joined – and it’s the main reason I am still here. Citco really delivers.”

16

H

At Desjardins, young employees feel appreciated

yder Alwin was managing a retail electronics store in Mississauga, Ont., when he decided to pursue a career in the insurance industry. “I had a few friends in the industry,” he says. “I talked to them and looked at a few companies. But in the end, I chose Desjardins Group.”

The leading cooperative financial group in Canada and the fifth largest cooperative financial group in the world, Desjardins Group serves more than 7 million individual and business members and clients across Canada, specializing in wealth management, life and health insurance, property and casualty insurance, personal, business and institutional services.

Now 30, Alwin joined Desjardins three years ago as an insurance agent, but realized even before he’d finished his first year that he wanted to become a manager. He discussed his ambitions during his annual review and received encouragement and support not only from his own manager but from other areas of the company as well.

“We offer good benefits and a great RRSP program, and we’re strong on worklife balance. That was a big consideration for me.”

– Hyder Alwin, Section Manager, Mississauga Client Care Centre

“We believe in the next generation,” says Josiane Moisan, Senior VP of Human Resources. “So we invest in offering our youngest employees the tools they need to advance with Desjardins and enjoy a long, varied and rewarding career.”

As he continued working as an agent, Alwin joined Desjardin’s leadership support program, attending management training sessions and gaining experience by filling in temporarily for other managers when they went on vacation. The company also flew him to Calgary, where he conducted training sessions for newly recruited agents.

“After about a year, in November 2014, I applied for a position as a manager,” Alwin says, “and now here I am.”

As Section Manager of a Client Care Centre in Mississauga, Alwin manages a team of 16 agents who focus primarily on sales-related tasks such as quoting on auto or property insurance policies. With an average age of about 35, Alwin’s team includes several individuals who have worked for Desjardins for more than 25 years.

“We’re a Top 100 employer,” Alwin says. “We offer good benefits and a great RRSP program, and we’re strong on work-life balance. That was a big consideration for me.”

DESJARDINS GROUP ENCOURAGES YOUNG EMPLOYEES TO ADVANCE WITHIN THE COMPANY

The same factors that attracted Alwin also persuade other young people to join Desjardins. Using strong employer branding, the company recruits in more than 20 fields of employment, and it rewards employees for their loyalty by encouraging them to enhance their skills and qualifications as they advance through the organization.

“We’re in a very competitive industry,” says Moisan, “and we must be able to attract the best talent to meet future staffing needs. We invest a great deal to give our youngest employees the tools they need to advance. That’s one of the reasons that young people recognize us as a top employer.”

To encourage individual growth as they advance through the organization, Desjardins offers tuition assistance, subsidies for professional accreditation and programs that

Offers tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

Offers paid internships for students and new grads

Over 5,500 jobs available in the past year

Offers Desjardins Young Executives Network for managers under 35

enable young staff members to explore potential opportunities as managers and executives.

“We have a Career Ambassador program in our sector,” Alwin says, “so an employee can find out about the roles and responsibilities involved in other positions within the company before deciding to apply for it.”

In return for its support, employees stay with the organization. Altogether, more than 8,000 managers and employees change jobs within the

Adam Crooks

ALWAYS READY

company in the course of a year, helping Desjardins to achieve an employee retention rate of 96 per cent, an enviable record in any industry.

While career advancement, along with benefits and pension plans, appeal to Alwin, the details matter as well, like the staff barbecue every summer, the regular outings at a local pub and the fridge in the office stocked with ice cream. “They’re just small things,” he says, “but they make a difference. You feel appreciated.”

17

A

City of Edmonton meets young people on their turf

t the City of Edmonton, technology is helping turn the concept of mentoring on its head. As the City proceeds with an organization-wide transition from Microsoft to Google Apps, it is younger employees who are often guiding their elders through the digital thickets.

Howard, who lives in the Old Strathcona neighbourhood near the University of Alberta campus, finds Edmonton as a whole an exciting place to be. “The area around the university has a ton of young people on their individual journeys,” he says. “There’s a good cultural scene and always something going on.”

“For many young people, this is something they’ve already experienced and embraced,” says Jeff MacPherson, the City of Edmonton’s Human Resources Branch Manager. “So there is an element of them coaching and supporting some of the rest of us as we get used to these new technologies.”

Howard intends to do further work terms with the City as he completes his degree and hopes to become a fulltime employee following graduation – part of a long-term career goal to become a management consultant specializing in software solutions.

One of those young people is Stevie Howard, a University of Victoria software engineering student who is currently in the middle of an eight-month work term with the City of Edmonton.

“One of the things you want to build is a sense of community.”

– Jeff MacPherson, Human Resources Branch Manager

Along with a fellow co-op student, Howard has been providing one-onone support on Google Apps to City employees across several business groups and departments. At his own request, Howard is also starting to take on more technical responsibilities in areas such as software development and scripting.

“This is a great place to work as a young person,” says Howard. “Your work is judged on merit and not your age or perceived level of experience – and that’s something difficult to find.

If you do a good job, you can get a lot of responsibility quite quickly here.”

“I’ve been given the opportunity to develop my professional and interpersonal skills within a large, progressive corporation,” says Howard.

“The City has a respectful and very diverse workplace. I get to work with people ranging in age from their early twenties to 60-something. They encompass many different nationalities, ethnicities and languages.”

He also appreciates the efforts the City makes to help young people feel at home – including establishing an internal Google+ system that keeps him connected with fellow co-op students.

That’s just one of many ways the City strives to meet young people on their own terms.

“Our social media recruitment efforts are quite vibrant and won an international award for innovation,” says MacPherson. “We have about 90,000 followers on Facebook, which we use along with Instagram and other mediums young people are already tuned into. We refresh our information daily and there’s interactive opportunities to ask questions live of a recruiter. This year alone, we anticipate about 300 permanent hires coming through social media recruitment.”

Additionally, University of Alberta students have the opportunity to “job shadow” City employees twice a

SOCIAL MEDIA RECRUITMENT INITIATIVES AT THE CITY OF EDMONTON RECENTLY WON AN INTERNATIONAL AWARD

Offers paid internships for students and new grads Offers formal mentorship program

year. High school students interested in the trades can receive work experience and credit towards their diploma. Those interested in a career as a firefighter can earn high school credits while working as a cadet with the Edmonton Fire Department.

All recruits can take advantage of programs through which they get

NextGen Committee implements suggestions to develop the community Hosts Job Shadow Week with the University of Alberta specialized orientation, professional development and the chance to share experiences with their peers.

“We attract a lot of young people from across Alberta and across Canada,” says MacPherson. “So one of the things you want to build is a sense of community.

It helps position us as an employerof-choice and to retain top talent.”

18

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Fidelity’s recipe: hire young, add skills, promote

hris Roe’s office phone rings up to 25 times a day. When the stock markets fluctuate or there are new interesting products, it is likely to be financial advisors calling him for advice on what to tell their clients – investors in Fidelity mutual funds. Roe, a District Sales Associate at Fidelity Investment Canada ULC, has the resources and skills to provide context and reassurance.

Fully 25 per cent of Fidelity Canada’s employees are under age 30, and the proportion is likely to rise. “We are in the midst of a hiring blitz,” says Nancy Lupi, Vice President, Human Resources, “and many of the positions are junior ones that will be filled by younger people. We have openings for business development associates, processing roles and customer service representatives.”

“Fidelity puts a vast amount of research at our fingertips with perspectives and commentary from our investment professionals around the world,” he says. “We can provide perspective on what is happening in the market.

The most important thing is to let the advisors know that they’re not alone in this. We can help them. We can walk them through it. We can give them viewpoints to take back to their clients and answer their questions and, if necessary, ease their concerns as well.”

In the last decade, Fidelity Canada has shifted its hiring approach. Instead of recruiting experienced staff from other firms, the preference for experience has changed. It now prefers less experienced candidates joining at entry level, developing them in house and readies them for more senior posts.

“We are in the midst of a hiring blitz, and many of the positions are junior ones that will be filled by younger people.”

– Nancy Lupi, Vice President, Human Resources

Roe, 30, joined the Fidelity Canada sales team in March 2014. He already had a number of friends in Fidelity sales and had met others at investment industry events. “It was always my aspiration to work for the company, because it had a great reputation. So once the opportunity came up, I went through the interview process and within two weeks, I was on board.”

It is possible, for example, to rise from a summer student to a District VicePresident of Sales in three years.

“Today, we have a really strong talent pipeline as a result,” says Lupi. “In addition, we have more engaged employees, because they have had these opportunities not just to be promoted but to learn along the way.”

FIDELITY CANADA PEP RALLY AT FUND LAUNCH IN MAY 2015

Professional development is a priority at Fidelity. Roe, for example, recently took the Wholesaler Development Program, a four-week course for sales associates who are close to becoming wholesalers (i.e., the senior members of the sales teams; they go on the road and meet face to face with advisors).

Provides tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

Over 170 jobs available in the past year

Gives special bonuses for completing accreditations

Offers formal mentorship program

The program, which was offered to a select group of sales associates from across Canada, covered presentation skills, territory management, investment sophistication, sales techniques and team management. “This was an opportunity to meet with senior executives and experienced wholesalers,” says Roe. “The program gives you the tools and expertise so that you are ready for the day you become a wholesaler.”

costs for relevant courses taken at outside institutions. The company will pay not only for maintaining certain professional designations, such as the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), but even pays for preparatory courses for acquiring those designations.

It goes one step further in offering bonuses for successful completion of the designations as well.

In addition to providing in-house training, Fidelity reimburses tuition

Fidelity also runs a secondment program that is popular among young employees.

Outstanding young employees make our future even brighter.

Staff can apply to fill other positions that have temporarily come open due to sick leave or maternity leave.

“It allows the employee to try something different for a meaningful period of time,” says Lupi. “They then return to their existing role with a new set of skills. The program is evolving into a job swapping initiative, where two employees at the equivalent level can try each other’s role for a set period.”

19

J

GE Canada delivers world-class training opportunities

ennifer Hay-Roe earned a business degree from Western University in London, Ont. in the spring of 2013, and a day after convocation she went to work for GE Canada.

“I wanted to work for a technology company that was building things and solving problems,” she says. “There are examples wherever you look at GE. We build airplane engines to move people, locomotive engines to move freight and magnetic resonant imaging machines to heal people. It’s inspiring for an employee when you see everyday problems being solved.”

Hay-Roe, currently a Staff Financial Analyst with the company’s Energy Management division in Markham, Ont., has also been impressed with the training she’s received, which exceeded her expectations by a long shot. She started in the company’s Financial Management Program in which new graduates, generally with business or commerce degrees, serve six-month stints in four different divisions of the company.

“We’re hoping to attract talented and visionary thinkers who want to invent a faster, cleaner future for the world.”

– Sonia Boyle, Vice-President, Human Resources

In her case, she had the opportunity to work in the water and process technology division in Oakville, Ont., the lighting division in nearby Mississauga, GE Capital in Montreal and the oil and gas division in Calgary. The program provided a good overview of the diversity of GE’s operations and there were other equally valuable benefits.

She worked under four different senior leaders, each with a different management style, and found out what her strengths were and where she could best apply them.

“It was fantastic, a wonderful introduction to the company,” says Hay-Roe.

GE has been offering the Financial Management Program for over 100 years and it’s still going strong, but it is just one point of entry for new grads or other young, qualified people. The company hires over 270 interns and co-op students annually and provides them with real work experience as well as exposure to different aspects of GE’s diverse operations.

“We look to schools of business, engineering and finance,” says Sonia Boyle, GE Canada’s Vice-President, Human Resources. “We have a significant conversion rate in terms of bringing them on full-time once they’ve completed their education.”

GE is both a manufacturing and a service company. Besides making engines for aircraft and locomotives, and sophisticated scanning and imag-ing devices used by health care providers, the company designs and builds equipment used in a wide range of industries. The company also provides the expertise to ensure that all this hardware operates at peak efficiency.

GE is equally focused on the future and is on a mission to become the world’s leading digital industrial company, which means developing software to make all kinds of machinery and processes work better, conduct self-diagnostic tests and provide operators with information necessary to reduce downtime.

“That’s going to create some really exciting opportunities and new positions,” says Boyle. “We’re hoping to attract talented and visionary thinkers who want to invent a faster, cleaner future for the world.”

GE CANADA’S HAY-ROE FINDS THE CULTURE ON INNOVATION INSPIRING

Offers tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

Offers formal mentorship program

Over 1,200 jobs available in the past year

Offers paid internships for students and new grads

GE also offers employees the opportunity to grow professionally and expand their social networks through company-sponsored, but employee-run, affinity networks. Hay-Roe belongs to the Young Professionals Networks as well as the GE Women’s Network, both of which organize workshops, speaker events and recreational outings. She has joined some of her younger peers on social outings that included curling and axe-throwing

and enjoyed illuminating lunch-time talks by the likes of GE Canada Chief Executive Officer Elyse Allan.

Along the way, she’s also completed a number of company-sponsored online and in-class courses that have allowed her to hone her financial skills and develop her leadership abilities. “The amount of training I’ve received has been way beyond my expectations,” says Hay-Roe.

Explore a career with the world’s leading digital industrial company ge.com/ca/careers

20

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Great-West Life builds talent with student interns

hen opportunity knocked, Kim Fierback answered.

In 2011, Fierback was an accounting student at the University of Manitoba doing recruitment interviews with several potential employers when The Great-West Life Assurance Company came calling.

“What stood out with Great-West Life was the diverse range of experience I could have while still a university student,” Fierback recalls. “The training program offers optional rotations in a choice of nine different departments. Seeing accounting from multiple angles is pretty rare.”

Fierback began at Great-West Life as a CA student intern in 2011, and following graduation from university became a fulltime staff member in September 2014.

She continues to work toward completing her designation, now known as a CPA.

“Young people bring new skill sets and new perspectives that we are interested in learning from.”

– Cathy Weaver, Vice President of Human Resources, Canada

Great-West Life offers a variety of life, health and disability insurance, retirement savings and investment products, both to individual Canadians and to employees under group benefits plans. The company hired about 1,000 new employees across Canada last year, just over half of whom were under 30.

While many have actuarial or accounting backgrounds, a growing number are in IT and other non-financial professions.

“Approximately 15 per cent of our workforce is under the age of 30,” says Cathy Weaver, Vice-President

of Human Resources, Canada. “We want to continue to build that number.

Young people bring new skill sets and new perspectives that we are interested in learning from. They are also our succession planning pool for the future.”

As it did with Fierback, Great-West Life often makes its first connection with its future accountants and actuaries at the university level when they do co-op placements at the company. “We provide paying jobs while they are students and give them paid time off to study while they are employed here,” says Weaver.

The company also provides internships for students in human resources and IT. Once they’re members of the GreatWest Life team, new employees are encouraged to continue their education. The company offers inhouse training programs, such as leadership development, and also supports external courses on subjects such as insurance basics, group benefits and accounting management.

For other career-related external courses, each employee is eligible for a credit of up to $2,000 a year.

GREAT-WEST LIFE EMPLOYEES MEET IN THE COMPANY’S BRIGHT TWO-STOREY HEAD OFFICE ATRIUM

The company’s commitment to work/ life balance resonates with young employees such as Fierback. GreatWest Life offers part-time work arrangements as well as full-time with flexible starting times in the work day.

“During my rotation in the Human Resources Financial Management department, I did a compressed work week for a couple of months, working a bit longer each day in return for an additional day off every two weeks,” says Fierback. “It certainly helped me with my studies.”

Great-West Life gives employees the opportunity to do more than simply work. Employees can also receive paid time off to volunteer for worthy causes. Fierback and seven of her colleagues recently devoted a day to painting the offices and kitchen of

Offers tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

Gives financial subsidies to support professional accreditation

Offers co-op and summer positions for postsecondary students

Provides scholarships and work placements

Winnipeg’s Pregnancy and Family Support Services, a United Way agency.

The company promotes active lifestyles by sponsoring employee sports leagues, including hockey teams (for both men and women), regular curling bonspiels, and golf tournaments. Employees at three main locations benefit from nominal membership fees at on-site fitness centres, open seven days a week.

Employee wellness accounts, launched in January 2015, can be used to pay for a variety of recreational equipment and

Careers are growing here We’re committed to helping talented and engaged professionals grow their careers with us.

Discover your opportunity at Greatwestlife.com Londonlife.com Canadalife.com

activities. The program has reimbursed over $750,000 in employee expenditures so far. Exercise bikes, hiking boots and fitness class fees are typical of the more than 4,000 claims submitted to date.

“Our employees are at different stages of life, so we created a program that is flexible enough to fit their different needs,” says Weaver. “We value the contributions of our younger employees, and we’re working to make GreatWest Life an attractive employer for people at all stages of their careers.”

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Passion’s in fashion at Groupe Dynamite

manda Capano may have one of the greatest fashion jobs in Canada. She works as a Concept Designer and Stylist for Montreal-based Groupe Dynamite, which designs, produces and sells the Garage and Dynamite clothing brands for young women.

“What I love most about my job is collaborating, creating and travelling,” says Capano. She works for the Garage brand, which is aimed at teenage girls. Four times a year, she travels internationally, particularly to Europe, to see what trends are coming into view, whether on people in the streets or in art shows, music videos or other style tip-offs.

It’s known as trend forecasting, and she brings back her findings to help guide the Garage designers as they work on styles for new launches.

“This workplace is fun, it’s young, it’s creative, and super collaborative,” says Capano. “Not only do I work with the concept team, I’m involved with the marketing, visual and international groups. It’s a great team environment.”

“This workplace is fun, it’s young, it’s creative, and super collaborative.”

– Amanda Capano, Concept Designer and Stylist, Garage

Capano often travels on Garage photo shoots as well, to places as varied as Argentina, Mexico and Iceland. “From my first day at Groupe Dynamite, I felt there were lots of opportunities for me to explore in fashion,” she says. She started off as a marketing intern in 2011 for the Dynamite brand, which caters

to young working women, and was later hired for Garage concept design after managers noticed her creative spark.

“Even though I don’t come from a design background, I was always curious and always asked a lot of questions.” she says.

Capano is one of about 650 employees at Groupe Dynamite’s head office, where the design, production and corporate people are based. There are another 5,000 employees in its 265 stores across Canada, bearing the Garage or Dynamite banners.

The company has 76 more stores in the U.S. and 34 licensed internationally.

In fact, size is one of Group Dynamite’s attractions for new recruits. “We are very high on global expansion,” says President Anna Martini. “It’s compelling for young people to join a team in a growing business.”

The company hires about 30-40 student interns per year, working closely with universities in Montreal. It has another program for new grads where it rotates them through a series of head office functions for 12 weeks before they settle into their job. Fifteen young people were hired through the Grad program in 2015 and the company expects to hire another 40 in 2016. The stores, meanwhile, offer young people opportunities for both part-time and full-time retail work, with potential for development into store management, regional and ultimately executive roles.

Martini points to the brands themselves as a recruitment advantage. Each has a very clear guiding concept – Garage is aimed at a 16-year-old girl the company calls Alexia, “a good girl with good grades,” says Martini, while Dynamite is built around a 28-year-old professional woman named Rachel, “still single and looking for Mr. Right.”

“When you have strong brands like that, it certainly helps your ability to attract great people right out of the gate,” says Martini. The brand characters also keep everyone focused on who

New graduates at Groupe Dynamite eNjoyiNg a Night of celebratioN at their holiday party

Offers tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

Provides subsidies for professional accreditations

Offers paid internships for students and new grads

Offers a Graduate Rotational Program for new grads

the customer is, especially when such a wide range of people are involved.

“It’s like you have 10 businesses under one roof,” says Martini. “We have design, store operations, visual, marketing, social media, sourcing, distribution, allocation, planning, plus the corporate roles, such as HR, finance, IT, sales, leasing. There is so much breadth of opportunity. And if you come into Dynamite, you might start in one stream and navigate through several different roles and departments in your career.”

Who does Groupe Dynamite hire?

“Anybody who’s passionate about the fashion business,” says Martini.

“We love to hire people who have a certain intellectual curiosity, because it’s such a fast-paced industry.”

Capano and Martini agree on another aspect about life at Groupe Dynamite: just about everyone who works there has a flair for style. “All the women in accounting look good,” says Martini.

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Hydro Ottawa listens and learns from next generation

t Hydro Ottawa, youth engagement starts in Junior Kindergarten. For four- and five-year-olds, the company provides teachers with age-appropriate interactive units that demonstrate how to use electricity safely and wisely. The electricity distributor, generator and provider of energy management services continues its educational support through grade and secondary school with more of an emphasis on sustainability.

At the post-secondary level, Hydro Ottawa offers innovative and practical intern and co-op programs for university and college students, as well as award-winning apprentice training.

“We’re involved with every step of the educational journey,” says Chief Human Resources Officer Lyne Parent-Garvey.

“At Hydro Ottawa, you start as a student but quickly become a professional.”

– Ahsan Rai, Budget Officer

Indeed, Hydro Ottawa’s commitment to ongoing learning applies to young people even after they become employees.

Ahsan Rai, for one, first joined the company’s finance group as a summer student while in university. He was hired after graduation, and Hydro Ottawa invested in his development as he studied and qualified to become a Certified Management Accountant and Certified Treasury Professional.

Says Rai, now a Budget Officer: “At Hydro Ottawa, you start as a student but quickly become a professional. I’m very fortunate to work for a company with such strong support for professional growth opportunities. Your superiors really want you to succeed, and they help you along the way. For sure, that helps keep me engaged and encourages me to work even harder.”

Sasha McCulloch is another beneficiary of Hydro Ottawa’s educational support. She was hired as an engineering co-op student and then full-time after graduating.

Now, McCulloch is working toward fulfilling her professional engineering requirements, with the company providing the necessary hands-on experience and reimbursing the cost of her professional fees and any additional education.

While on that co-op assignment in 2012, McCulloch participated in Hydro Ottawa’s first Student Apprentice Program, a now annual all-day event when students present executive management, including the President and CEO, with solutions to business challenges as well as ideas for operational improvements. Several recommendations have been implemented as a result. “It’s encouraging that the company values the opinions of its students,” says McCulloch. “It shows they understand the need for young people to be heard and to respond to their views.”

For Parent-Garvey, the Student Apprentice Program can be a real eye-opener. “Young people see things differently,” she says, “and that can be very valuable. We hear suggestions that make us wonder, ‘Why didn’t we think of that?’ ” Clearly, Hydro Ottawa’s efforts to recruit and retain young people are paying off, critical especially over the next decade when the company projects a large wave of retirements. Currently, one out of every six of the company’s 700 employees is under the age of 30 and more than one-quarter are under 35.

Parent-Garvey, a two-decade HR professional, says young people today are attracted to Hydro Ottawa’s value emphasis on sustainability and community involvement. “Young people are looking for more than a job,” she says. “They want an opportunity to give back and be associated with a company that reflects their beliefs and concerns.”

To that end, all employees are given one day every year to volunteer for a

HYDRO OTTAWA ENCOURAGES YOUNG EMPLOYEES TO CONTRIBUTE IN A MEANINGFUL WAY EARLY IN THEIR CAREERS

Delivers Powerline Technician Diploma Program with Algonquin College

Offers paid internships for students and new grads

Offers in-house paid apprenticeship programs

Provides subsidies for professional accreditations

company-sponsored event or a charity of their choice. “I feel very fortunate that I had a chance to participate in a Fun Day for kids with cancer,” says McCulloch. “It gave them joy and had quite an impact on me.”

As well, Parent-Garvey says young people appreciate the genuine respect they receive at work. “We’re family sized, so

everyone can make a difference – and see the difference they make,” she says.

McCulloch agrees. “The transition from the classroom to the workplace can be quite intimidating,” she says. “At Hydro Ottawa, they smooth the path by giving you meaningful work and responsibilities from Day One. That really builds confidence and makes it a great place to work.”

POWERED BY PEOPLE Hydro Ottawa is passionate about being a great employer for great people. That’s because we rely on our employees to literally power the lives of our customers. Our employees are the kind of people who believe that service means putting our customers at the centre of everything we do, and that giving where we live is as important as sustaining the environment around us.

hydroottawa.com

23

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Education: JOEY Restaurants’ recipe for success

oung people often see restaurant work as a temporary stop on the way to a different path in life. But at JOEY Restaurant Group, it’s a serious career.

“In this industry, people can get to the point where they have to choose: do I stay here, or do I go back to school to get more education?” says Andrew Martin, VicePresident of Human Resources. “With us, you don’t have to make that choice.”

Vancouver-based JOEY is a group of 35 restaurants in North America, known for a globally inspired cuisine. It has nearly 4,000 employees, called partners, and an approach to staff relations more like a progressive corporation than a stereotypical restaurant.

“What’s unique about JOEY is that all our partners are seen as business people, coaches, mentors and leaders,” says Martin.

To support their development, the company offers on-the-job training, a three-year apprentice program for cooks, intensive one–on-one coaching, an eight-course Path to Mastery certificate program in partnership with Royal Roads University, and ongoing tuition support to complete a Master’s degree in the areas of Business, Leadership, Coaching or Culinary.

“This company has the strongest culture of any I’ve been in.”

– Andrew Martin, Vice-President of Human Resources

JOEY also weaves its mission, vision and core values into everything its people do, from hiring and training to the language they use with each other.

The JOEY Charter, as they call it, is visible in every store and is introduced to partners before they even accept the job.

All this for people who cook and wait on tables? “When you look at the experience

we try to give the guest, it’s very sophisticated,” says Martin. “It’s as if we have production, manufacturing, a showroom and entertainment. There are a lot of moving parts, and the experience for the guest should be seamless. We want to get things right the first time.”

Martin recalls addressing a group of young shift leaders and other workinglevel staff about leadership and management recently. “Somebody said, ‘What other organization does this – pulls you out of work and pays you to go have a conversation around leadership and your opportunities as an individual inside and outside the company?’

“It was a good feeling,” says Martin.

“Other organizations are not doing this. This company has the strongest culture of any I’ve been in.”

Many executives, including the current chief operating officer and six vicepresidents, have started at entry level positions in JOEY – often as a server in the front or a dishwasher in the back – and risen to leadership positions.

“People don’t stay servers for long unless they want to,” Martin says.

JOEY LEADERS JUMPSTART THEIR CAREER

Offers a formal mentorship and coaching program Provides professional management and leadership skills certificate in partnership with Royal Roads University Jesse Cera knows all about advancing within the company. At 34, he is general manager of a JOEY location in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam.

That means he is in charge of a 280seat restaurant with an 80-seat patio, and just over 100 employees. Having originally started as a server when he was 21, he did various stints on and off and returned for good eight years ago.

“What kept me coming back is who the company is,” he says. “JOEY supported me while I was pursuing other education and this definitely kept me loyal.”

Within JOEY, Cera recently completed the Path to Mastery program and is wrapping up his Associate Certified Coach credential.

Manages a three-year Culinary Apprentice program to support cooks in attaining their Red Seal Offers an accelerated Chef-In-Training program “We have a strong coaching culture,” he says. “I am a teacher and people developer as much as a restaurant manager.” Cera also recently completed an MBA level course through the JOEY scholarship program.

Beyond people development, there is also plenty of team building, fun and recognition, including group dinners, a VIP Referral program and staff outings. Cooks and servers can participate in culinary clubs, Journeymen skills sessions with their chefs and “Top Apprentice” competitions.

“You have to have fun in our business,” says Cera. “Things do get serious, of course, but for our people, fun is the constant theme.”

UNLEASH YOUR POTENTIAL.

Do you believe in a new generation of leadership? At JOEY, leadership starts with unleashing the potential in others. We are pioneers of a coaching culture that empowers employees to grow, learn, and discover their passion. We believe in constantly pushing the envelope of innovation, in challenging the status quo, and in developing leaders. www. joeyrestaurants.com/careers

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Career development is on tap at Labatt

S

ince joining Labatt Breweries of Canada fresh out of university in July 2010, Adam Coates has worked in four different Canadian cities in six different roles.

While some might view all that moving, meeting new co-workers and tackling unfamiliar assignments as disruptive, the 28-year-old sees only opportunity.

aimed at attracting and retaining bright young workers with diverse backgrounds and aspirations. Each program, whether its focus is on logistics, sales or beer craftsmanship, enables new hires to learn from the ground up and gain exposure to senior management, while developing critical leadership skills and obtaining business experience.

“Labatt is all about stretching yourself,” says Coates, currently working as Manager, Special Projects, at head office in Toronto. “I’ve already had the chance to do things way earlier in my career than I ever thought. Labatt offers roles that may be outside your comfort zone and then, with the right support and feedback, equips you to live up to your potential. At the same time, you’re also acquiring life skills, so you benefit personally as well as professionally.”

“These programs extend far beyond job skills and know-how,” says Lindsay King, Vice President, People.

“We immerse new graduates in our culture and ensure they have an enriching experience, where they gain a full understanding of our character and how we get things done.”

“We support our people with continual opportunities to grow beyond their current role.”

– Lindsay King, Vice President, People

Established by John Kinder Labatt in London, Ont., in 1847, Labatt is one of Canada’s founding businesses. It evolved to become the nation’s leading brewer, with over 3,000 employees and a portfolio of more than 60 beers. Facilities include six breweries, four Beer Institutes, 15 sales offices and 23 warehouses and distribution centres nationwide, as well as Mill Street Brewery.

Backed by its nearly 170 years of brewing tradition, Labatt has its sights set firmly on the future. With this in mind, the company has a wide range of programs

For Coates, his introduction to that culture started even before he was hired. The Winnipeg native was in his final year of an Honours BA program at the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario when the Labatt team visited the London, Ont., campus. He’d heard good things from former schoolmates already with Labatt and when the recruiters made clear the sort of challenges he could expect, Coates was sold.

Immediately upon joining the company, he entered its 10-month Global Management Trainee program, where recruits learn about Labatt and the global beer industry, while developing commercial and strategic skills. Graduates then rotate through roles such as sales rep, front line manager and brewery group manager.

Working in a variety of these roles took Coates to Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary, before Toronto.

Successfully completing a development program, however, does not signal the end of the chances to grow. “Our training programs for new graduates are just the beginning of our approach to winning the war for talented young people,” says King. “Just as important to millennials is our ongoing training and development. We support our

LABATT EMPLOYEE ADAM COATES JOINED THE COMPANY AS A GLOBAL MANAGEMENT TRAINEE

Over 800 jobs available in the past year across Canada

Maintains a 12-month Global MBA Program

Offers 10-month Global Management Trainee Program with formal mentorship

Manages a 16-week internship program for university students

people with continual opportunities to grow beyond their current role.”

This includes self-directed studies via online courses. Active, experiential on-the-job training, along with constant coaching, mentoring and collaborating, also help young employees to hit their stride early.

As a result, a large number of millennial workers have already earned responsible roles at Labatt. Today, the average age of salaried employees is 35, and 46

per cent of young employees received promotions over the past two years.

For those looking beyond Canada, Labatt is part of Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of the world’s top five consumer products companies, offering career possibilities in 25 countries.

With so much opportunity to learn, grow and advance his career, Coates, no doubt, is in the right place, at the right time.

“The sky is the limit at Labatt,” he says.

“I don’t see myself anywhere else.”

OWN YOUR FUTURE SHARE OUR DREAM The Best Beer Company Bringing People Together For a Better World

Proud member of the Anheuser-Busch InBev family

25

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Manulife offers a new culture focused on innovation

ver the past five years, Manulife has reshaped its corporate culture to emphasize innovation, accountability, empowerment, diversity and collaboration. Even suits and ties at the Toronto-based global financial services company have been traded for business casual attire.

“That is huge,” says Kristin Ezekiel, Director, Campus Recruitment & Strategic Sourcing – North America. “With an increased focus on our customers, we’re continuously looking for ways to improve what we do and how we do it, so we’re pushing outside our comfort zone, and we didn’t always do that.”

“Manulife is a company where young people can make a great impact. We value their input and ideas and we invest in their development through mentorship, networking, practical experience and global opportunities.”

– Donald Arthur Guloien, President and Chief Executive Officer

More than ever, the company is eager for new ideas and new energy. “Manulife is a company where young people can make a great impact,” says President and Chief Executive Officer Donald Arthur Guloien. “We value their input and ideas and we invest in their development through mentorship, networking, practical experience and global opportunities.”

The organization’s changing face is due in part to a shifting employee demographic.

“Today, 41 per cent of all our employees are under the age of 35,” notes Guloien.

“Many of them are socially conscious

and appreciate that our business, at its core, makes a contribution to society by offering great products and advice which helps people attain their personal goals.”

Manulife gives its young employees the flexibility, freedom and support to own their futures, says Ezekiel. “We want employees to feel empowered,” she says.

“We really have a commitment to our young people because many of them will go on to be our leaders of tomorrow.”

Through its extensive co-op program, Manulife offers exciting opportunities to students even prior to graduation.

Co-op students participate in a variety of activities, including job shadowing in different departments, special events involving company executives, and a practical co-op project, which often results in the creation of an actual business tool or the analysis of a real business problem.

DONALD ARTHUR GULOIEN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MANULIFE, MEETS WITH EMPLOYEES IN ONE OF THE COMPANY TECH LOUNGES

Offers tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

For new graduates, the company offers fast-track development programs in areas such as actuarial, finance, investments and information systems. Entry-level opportunities are also available across a broad range of disciplines, including human resources, information technology, operations, legal, marketing and communications.

Innovation is not just a buzzword at Manulife, and its Lab of Forward Thinking (LOFT) in Toronto and the RED Lab in Kitchener-Waterloo embody the company’s new focus on creativity and idea generation. LOFT Toronto launched in December 2015 with a “hackathon” (@innovateforward) that brought together 140 employees and external participants, who pitched new product and service ideas to a Dragon’s Den-style panel, all vying for a top prize of $10,000. The LOFT brings together a diverse group to work on innovative solutions for Manulife’s customers.

Wenwen Gao, Actuary, Group Risk, says it’s a great time for young professionals to work at Manulife. “Young people are

Provides subsidies for professional accreditations Offers a leadership development program to fast track highperforming MBA grads

Manages a nationwide internship program

With operations in North America and 11 countries in Asia, Gao says she was drawn, too, by the potential to pursue international opportunities. It helps, she adds, that Manulife managers support career growth.

That growth is aided by a multitude of networking events, professional development activities, mentorship programs and education subsidies. Taken together, they create an environment where challenging and diverse career paths are possible.

really encouraged to try new things, to question existing ways and improve how we do things,” says the 27-year-old actuary, who began working in the company’s Toronto head office in December 2013. “They don’t stifle suggestions.”

Gao, who studied actuarial science and computer science at the University of Toronto, also appreciates Manulife’s actuarial rotation program, which allows employees to transition to new roles every two or three years. “That’s something that really attracted me,” she says, “because it enables me to broaden my horizons and gives me wide exposure to different areas of the company.”

“As young people grow,” says Gao, “managers entrust them to take ownership of what they do. This encourages me to take on increased responsibilities and makes me feel motivated and challenged.”

BUILD YOUR CAREER, OWN YOUR FUTURE When you join Manulife, you’re starting an exciting journey that can take your career anywhere you want it to go.

Explore the possibilities at Manulife.com/careers

We operate as John Hancock in the U.S. and as Manulife in other parts of the world.

26

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In Montreal, Morgan Stanley is really a tech company

ow’s this for a work assignment?

Fly to New York City for a “technology boot camp” where you’ll collaborate with colleagues from offices globally during a 15-week orientation, all while experiencing everything the city has to offer? If you were one of the eligible grads who joined Morgan Stanley’s Technology Analyst Program, that would be your first task.

Morgan Stanley is known everywhere as one of the world’s leading global financial services firms. But Morgan Stanley in Montreal is really a tech company. Its over 800 software developers, engineers and architects form the bank’s largest pure technology centre, developing tools and applications for the global financial markets.

“These are many of the creative brains behind the platforms used by traders, investment bankers and financial advisors, such as proprietary trading systems, pricing engines, security and risk management platforms and end user tools,” says Melissa Ventura, Human Resources Manager – Technology Campus Recruiter.

“The Technology Analyst Program has been launching graduates to their full potential for the past 30 years, and it has provided a strong pipeline of future leaders.”

– Alan Vesprini, Managing Director and Regional Head

Competition is fierce for prospective employees with the required skills and talent. Morgan Stanley Montreal does extensive campus recruiting across Canada, with student programs bringing in interns and co-op students three times a year. “We are looking for people who are passionate about technology,” says Ventura. “Financial knowledge is not a hard and fast requirement as we will train people in what they need to be successful.”

MORGAN STANLEY GRADS ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE AS MENTORS DURING ON-CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY EVENTS

In February and in August, the Technology Analyst Program, or TAP, kicks off, bringing new grads into the company as full-time employees. “TAP has been launching graduates to their full potential for the past 30 years, and it has provided a strong pipeline of future leaders,” says Alan Vesprini, Managing Director and Regional Head.

Needless to say, there’s a lot to learn when you start out. So as part of TAP, Morgan Stanley whisks the new recruits off to New York for 15 weeks of intensive training and orientation at offices in Times Square where they are pushed to achieve their very best.

“It was so much fun,” says Danielle Fudger, a Technology Associate and Software Developer who did her stint in TAP in 2014.

“There were 90 of us in the program, from all over the world. From day one, there was a real sense of camaraderie. We train all day with brilliant instructors. And then, we spend time with all the other trainees in New York City! We had a blast.”

Now, as an application developer on a team in Montreal, she works on software used by traders, talking directly with users about how it would work best for them. “I develop the user interfaces

What will you create? morganstanley.com/people

Offers tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

Offers formal mentorship program and mobility opportunities

Provides paid internships for co-op students and interns

Offers 15-week technology analyst training program in New York for newly hired grads

to enable traders to find information fast and make decisions,” she says.

Fudger appreciates the strong mentorship she has received at Morgan Stanley and is now a mentor herself for incoming TAP recruits. She also joins in the company’s diversity committee events to meet other women in her field.

Her workplace, located in picturesque Old Montreal, has a high-tech feel to it.

The floors are totally open from one end to the other, Silicon Valley style, with big windows, lounges, activities like a foosball table and other typical industry features. It also has state-of-the-art presentation and video conference rooms as well as workstations that make

it easy to collaborate with teammates around the globe. There are options to work remotely, flexible work schedules and plenty of seminars, networking, workshops and pop-up lunches.

Ventura notes that one of the biggest attractions of working at the tech centre, apart from all the smart people, is the complexity of the tasks performed in the Montreal office. “The work is very cutting edge,” she says.

All of which pleases Fudger. “When I tell people I work for Morgan Stanley, everyone imagines a big bank,” she says. “But in reality, we’re closer to a high-tech company.”

27

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Nuance looks for people to help you talk to your car

f you have driven a late-model car recently, you’ve probably found you can talk to it. Depending on the system, you can safely dictate and send messages, tune your radio, check your tire pressure or launch the onscreen navigation, all with your voice.

But it’s not just the carmakers who produce these wonders. In many makes, you can thank the technologists at Montreal-based Nuance Communications Canada Inc. for helping to create these features.

And they’ve only just begun.

“The connected car is now the big battleground in technology,” says David Ardman, Vice-President, Engineering. “The car is the last place where we’re not fully plugged in.”

Now, as the Internet becomes more available in vehicles, the options for drivers are beginning to multiply.

Systems are able to take advantage of the cloud for more complex operations – all needing easy-to-use voice activation. “At Nuance,” says Ardman, “we’re here to humanize the interface between person and machine, to allow people to interact in a natural way.”

“The connected car is now the big battleground in technology.”

– David Ardman, Vice-President, Engineering

The next step, now in the R&D lab, is an Automotive Assistant, he says. In a connected car, the assistant would get to know the driver’s needs and be able to, say, find a parking spot in a lot near the destination, under cover if

it’s raining, less expensive if required, and pay for it with a credit card.

Given the fast pace of change in the industry, with self-driving vehicles on the horizon, the connected car is sure to be a major growth area for software engineers who join Nuance, notes Ardman.

A global company with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, Nuance has four major market areas – Healthcare, Enterprise, MobileConsumer and Document Imaging.

It draws on decades of experience in speech, natural language understanding and artificial intelligence to create seamless interactions with consumer electronics, apps, cars, IT systems and more. Most of its 730 staff in Canada are concentrated in Montreal, the global company’s second largest site, where more than 100 people work in the automotive section.

Among them is Dwijesh (Dean) Bhageerutty, who joined Nuance in January 2015 as a User Interface Developer in the company’s Automotive Professional Services team.

His job involves drawing on Nuance’s Dragon Drive technology to develop voice interfaces for information and entertainment units in cars.

“The number one advantage of my role is the impact of my work,” he says. “Millions of cars around the world use Nuance technology for voice recognition. It’s very gratifying to see somebody using our technology in their car and being able to say, ‘Ha! I worked on that!’”

That kind of pride seems to be a hallmark of Nuance employees.

“Nuance is a world leader in developing intelligent interaction systems,” says Lior Ben-Gigi, who joined three years ago as a Technical Product Manager.

“When I need to explain to my young kids what I do, I tell them that I am ‘teaching cars how to speak’.”

We’re proud to be one of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People

INTERNS AT NUANCE ARE MENTORED BY SENIOR EMPLOYEES AND ENJOY UNIQUE ACTIVITIES TAILORED TO THEIR INTERESTS

Offers tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

Provides online learning program through ‘Nuance University’

Offers paid internships for students and new grads

Hosts an Executive Lunch & Learn series for interns

The company runs an extensive internship program, bringing in 30 students per term, three times a year.

“It’s a wonderful way to experience our culture,” says Ben-Gigi. “The interns are mentored by senior employees in their specific roles while also enjoying organized activities tailored for them.”

He notes that many of them join in the firm’s popular Innovation Challenges,

in which Nuance people compete to show off new ideas and prototypes that are often developed further

by Nuance.

“Very few companies can match what we do here,” says Bhageerutty.

“For young people looking for a challenging and fun workplace, this is the place to be.”

Join us at jobs.nuance.com

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RBC helps break the ‘no experience, no job’ cycle

fter graduating from the University of Ottawa, Pierre Diop began his job hunt in the summer of 2013. By that fall, he was pretty discouraged.

“I had sent out dozens and dozens of resumes,” he says. “I had a few interviews, but they said I wasn’t experienced enough.” Then he saw an online posting for the Career Launch Program offered by RBC. “I was saying to employers ‘give me a chance’,” he says. “And that’s what Career Launch is all about. It gives you a chance.”

RBC’s Career Launch Program, unique in Canada, helps talented young people to gain valuable work experience at a time of high youth unemployment.

The program, which started with Diop’s cohort in early 2014, hires 100 young people annually from a wide variety of backgrounds and employs them at the bank for a oneyear paid internship, including three months at one of RBC’s charitable partners. After that, the next step is up to each person. Some apply for a position at RBC, while others return to the job market in their chosen field, hugely bolstered by their experience – and by RBC on their resume.

“We refer to it as breaking the ‘no experience, no job’ cycle.”

– Susan Uchida, Vice President, Learning

“We refer to it as breaking the ‘no experience, no job’ cycle,” says Susan Uchida, Vice President, Learning, at RBC. “The program focuses on university and college graduates up

to age 24 who are having difficulty transitioning from school to work.”

Uchida stresses that the program is not “a talent sourcing strategy” for RBC, although many from the first-year cohort – including Diop – ended up successfully applying for jobs with the bank after they finished in January 2015.

“The program is about giving the 100 associates experience,” says Uchida.

“Our goal is to help them develop the skills, the confidence and the network to pursue their chosen career path with greater success. In the latter half of the program we start working with them on their resumes, we support them in terms of their interests, and we really try to help them learn to effectively present themselves.”

In their year, associates rotate through a six-month period in a local RBC branch as a client advisor, or teller, where they learn the fundamentals of client service and branch banking as a foundation. This is followed by a three-month placement at a charitable organization which RBC arranges, and a final three months at RBC head office in Toronto, using professional skills from their original field of study.

SUSAN UCHIDA, VICE PRESIDENT, LEARNING, AND GABRIEL DIONNE, RBC CAREER LAUNCH ASSOCIATE, REVIEW HIS CAREER GOALS

Organizes annual Career Month in March

Created the Next Great Innovator Challenge to foster student innovation

Provides formal orientation program to all new employees, including mentorship for specific groups

Offers tuition & mandatory textbook assistance for eligible employees interested in further career-related education

Gabriel Dionne was selected for the program in January 2015, after studying management at Concordia University in Montreal. Working in the branch allowed him to meet people in a variety of banking roles, he says, and “I saw what the structure of a big company is all about.” His charity placement was with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, ideal for him due to his interest in arts marketing.

At head office, he worked in the corporate citizenship department, which appealed to his desire to make a difference through his work.

have been able to create a network and will be able to leverage these contacts as I look for my next opportunity.”

“I feel like a new person,” says Dionne.

“I have been mentored and guided a lot. I’m much more confident. And I

Diop, meanwhile, is now working in an RBC branch as a banking advisor. Like Dionne, he feels the

experience has given him much more confidence and has educated him about working life. “In the beginning I was naïve and had big dreams,” he says. “Now, I am a well-trained adult and I have big goals.”

PROUD

A feeling that results from fulfilling a promise.

We are one of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People! That’s because RBC® delivers on a promise of a great learning environment with inclusive, collaborative, high performing teams.

Visit people.rbc.com ®™ Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada.

151110-1217 Young People.indd 1

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t age 28, Marc-Vincent Caillé had worked in Montreal for Richter LLP for more than three years when he received offers from three rival accounting firms to leave the company.

Richter LLP builds a youthful culture

“Two of them offered me a competitive salary to Richter’s,” he says. “One of them offered much less. It was a slap in the face.”

In the end, Caillé turned down all three offers, deciding instead to remain with Richter. Why? “Because I love the firm,” he says.

Founded in 1926, Richter provides accounting, business advisory and financial consulting services to mid-sized and large private and public companies. Its 61 partners and more than 500 employees support clients in areas ranging from business assessment, financial reorganization and profitability improvement to crisis management, insolvency consulting, transaction advice and conducting due diligence for asset-based loans.

“When you love what you do and you’re surrounded by people who respect you, you do good work.”

– Marc-Vincent Caillé, Financial Analyst

While young employees like Caillé appreciate the opportunities for personal and professional growth that Richter presents, the firm itself recognizes the benefits of a motivated staff of young and eager employees.

“We’re much more than an accounting firm,” says Managing Partner Tasso Lagios, who joined Richter in 1991 and has been a partner for 17 years. “We constantly have to innovate to ensure that our business continues in a sustainable way. We have to evolve as customers ask for more

EVOLUTION OF EXCELLENCE

from their financial advisors. So it makes sense that we would invest in people and develop them. We train our young people in services that our customers will expect.”

Even before he became a full-time member of Richter’s staff, Caillé had identified the firm as his first choice as an employer. In 2010, while studying at the business school at the University of Montreal, he spent three months at Richter as a summer intern.

The 20 students hired every year in Richter’s summer program participate in team-building activities and Friday training sessions on accounting, auditing, taxation and IT. They also receive two to three weeks of practical training as a member of a specialized service team, such as audit, tax, risk management or transaction advisory services, and two weeks of external training during which they assist clients.

“I knew by the end of the summer that I wanted to work there,” Caillé says.

Once he joined the firm, Caillé challenged himself to expand his skills as well as his professional qualifications as he progressed through the firm. Richter covered the cost as he pursued his Chartered Professional

CELEBRATING YOUNG PROFESSIONALS AT RICHTER

Offers tuition assistance for employees’ further education

Offers formal mentorship program

Gives bonuses for completing courses and accreditations

Manages a comprehensive summer student program

Accountant’s designation and, after working as an entry-level senior staff accountant, he received a promotion that advanced him two levels beyond his status.

“That’s something I really like about Richter,” Caillé says. “They give you a chance to grow from early in your career. And as your skills increase, they give you more responsibility.”

With 40 per cent of its staff under the age of 30, Richter not only offers opportunities for advancement, it has also created a corporate culture that reflects its youthful profile.

“Our culture resonates with young people,” says Lagios. “We give more than $1

million a year to the community, for example. And all of us spend one day a year in the community on Community Day. We identify organizations that need help and we go and help them. People find it fulfilling.”

For Caillé, now a Financial Analyst in Richter’s Financial Consulting Services, the firm has created the ideal environment for a young, ambitious employee.

“I really love what I do,” he says. “I feel motivated every day. When you love what you do and you’re surrounded by people who respect you, you do good work.”

30

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Rogers grad program gets a morale-boosting twist

eing selected as a new graduate at a major corporation is about as good an entry to the working world as a young person can get. New graduate programs are extremely selective and only hire a handful of people, almost always recruited directly from university and college campuses. But Rogers decided to give its new grad program a twist and to include candidates already working for the company so long as they had graduated within the last two years.

“It’s important to us that we not only look outside, but inside,” says Nancy Nazer, Senior Vice President of Organizational Development and Enterprise Learning. “Frontline employees, like those in call centres or retail stores, see definite opportunities as a result of being part of this program.” It’s a morale-boosting move that shows Rogers appreciates its many talented young people already employed in different capacities.

“It’s important to us that we not only look outside, but inside.”

– Nancy Nazer, Senior Vice President of Organizational Development and Enterprise Learning

Nekese McNabb had been with Rogers for four years when she applied for and was accepted into the new grad program. She had started out in retail sales after she bought a phone at the Rogers store in the mall where she worked part-time selling clothes. She decided it might be more fun to work at Rogers so she switched jobs.

McNabb stayed on at that first Rogers store, all the while continuing her university studies in human resources,

until she was promoted to assistant manager in 2014. “My manager encouraged me to push myself and apply for more senior positions,” she says. “He gave me the necessary training and support that I needed throughout my application process.”

It was not long after graduating in the fall of 2014 that McNabb first heard about the internal new grad program while attending CEO Guy Laurence’s annual all-employee kick-off meeting.

Laurence talked about the company’s reinvigorated commitment to training and employee development including the revamped grad program.

“I wasn’t aware of anything like that before. It opened the doors for me to be able to apply,” says McNabb, adding that while she had “book knowledge” of HR skills from university, she didn’t have any experience working in the actual field.

She saw the grad program as a way she could get some real-life training and HR skills. She was “ecstatic” when she was selected as a new grad.

While in the past, different Rogers divisions had run their own grad programs, this was the first time it was offering a company-wide 12-month rotational program. Since internal applicants already start in a customerfacing role, all external applicants begin their program by getting to know the front-line business. “Regardless of where your career at Rogers takes you, we want you to understand our customer and how we’re working to overhaul their experience,” explains Nazer.

For the internal program, one of the six-month rotations is designed to give the grads a taste of something different while the other six months are spent in a position more tailored to their academic background and future career goals. In McNabb’s case, she did her first rotation in a communications role while her final stint will be in human resources as a coordinator.

“The best is yet to to come.”

“The best is yet come.”

ROGERS LOOKS INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY FOR PARTICIPANTS IN ITS NEW GRAD PROGRAMS

Over 3,900 external jobs available in the past year

Offers paid volunteer day to all employees

Offers support for employees interested in further education

Expanded student & new grad programs

The grads also go through the onboarding program Rogers launched in 2015, spending two days at its new learning centre, which opened last year as part of the new focus on training and developing all employees.

For Rogers, the ultimate goal of the new grad and its other recently-introduced

learning programs is to retain and develop top talent and future leaders.

The company wants employees to know that Rogers is investing in them.

“Even though it’s a big company, you’re not just a number,” says McNabb. “I definitely see a future with Rogers.

Everything you do is valued.”

31

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Shell’s learning culture produces future leaders

mma Guppy joined Shell Canada in Calgary in the fall of 2013, not long after earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary, but she didn’t know much about the oil and gas industry. “I’m not a technical person and wasn’t sure where you explore or how you discover oil and what the process is for extracting it,” says Guppy, an Emerging Policy Issue Advisor in the Regulatory and Environment Department.

She learned in a hurry, however, thanks to the company’s training and development opportunities. Shell provides employees with individual development plans, formal and informal mentoring, leadership training for personnel at all levels and a broad array of in-person and online courses through the Shell Graduate Program and Shell Open University.

“One of the things that sold me on Shell was the value they place on new grads and the mentoring and training you receive.”

– Emma Guppy, Emerging Policy Issue Advisor

Guppy got a crash course in the upstream side of the energy business – which includes exploration, development and production – through an innovative two-week onboarding program offered by the Upstream Business. She completed it with a multi-disciplinary group of other young professionals.

Two senior employees facilitated the course and a panel of four senior leaders judged the work of the participants.

By the end, they were able to prepare a business case for the development of an oilfield that included everything from

drilling wells to working with other industry partners, community stakeholders and regulatory agencies. “I learned a ton,” says Guppy. “We’re definitely encouraged to learn different parts of the business to see what you like and where you fit in.”

And there’s lots to learn in a big, diversified multinational like Shell, which has operations across Canada and around the world and is involved in every aspect of the oil and gas business, from exploration to retail filling stations.

On the technical side, Shell hires young professionals in engineering and the geosciences as well as health, safety and environmental sciences. The company also recruits for a wide range of commercial positions, including marketing, contracting and procurement, supply chain management and human resources.

Shell has a long-standing practice of hiring recent graduates from university and college programs. “I was hired as a new graduate almost 30 years ago and we have been doing it all along,” says Denise Burzminski, Recruitment Manager – Canada. “Shell is always looking for talented young people who will develop into our future leaders.”

The company uses multiple platforms to attract and recruit both student interns and graduates for permanent employment, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as traditional advertising through campus career and student centres. Burzminski notes that mentors are assigned to all new hires.

“I have a formal mentor whom my supervisor helped me find,” says Guppy.

“I had coffee with a bunch of people and the person I landed with is a nice fit for the type of career paths I’m interested in pursuing. There’s a lot of informal mentoring in the company as well.”

Shell has a wide range of affinity networks open to employees at all levels, but these networks are particularly helpful for younger people. They include the New Professionals Network, the

LIKE ALL NEW GRADUATES AT SHELL CANADA, EMMA GUPPY RECEIVED SIGNIFICANT TRAINING AND FORMAL MENTORING

Offers tuition assistance for employees interested in further education

Offers formal mentorship program

Over 1,000 jobs available in the past year

Offers paid internships for students and new grads

Women’s Network, the LGBT Network and Aboriginal, Asian and Hispanic networks. “Our employees don’t need to identify with a particular group,” says Burzminski. “They may simply be interested in making new friends and learning about different groups that the employee networks represent.”

Guppy has joined the New Professionals and Women’s Networks and says they

IN SEARCH OF EXPLORERS In search of remarkable students and graduates. Proud to be a top employer for young people.

Discover the opportunities at shell.ca/students Shell is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

provide both social and professional opportunities. She is part of a mentoring circle that includes five women from different business units, both technical and non-technical, and a senior leader heads up their sessions. “It’s a really robust process,” says Guppy. “One of the things that sold me on Shell was the value they place on new grads and the mentoring and training you receive.”

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Canada as one of the '50 Most Engaged Workplaces' both in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, TCS Canada launched an innovative program in Toronto, training nearly 1,300 Canadian grade eight and nine students in computer programming, coding and robotics, to gain a better understanding of promising careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Join TCS and experience certainty in your career.

TCS invites Graduates (Full Time / Regular) – Software Engineering B.S in Computer Science (CS), Information Technology (IT), Information Systems (IS), Electrical Engineering (EE), Computer Engineering (CE), or Software Engineering

Eligibility Criteria • Cumulative or Major GPA of 3.0 or higher • Knowledge of basic computer science concepts, programming and information systems • Interest and willingness to travel and relocate • Previous experience in Jave/J2EE Development, C++/C#, .Net, VB/ASP Development and Database experience is preferred To apply, email: canada.careers@tcs.com www.tcs.com

“I always wanted to work in IT, covering a specific industry, and TCS found me a desirable position. TCS actually listens, and tries hard to provide the right roles for their employees. During my tenure at TCS, I have worked for three different teams, in two large projects, supporting leading Canadian companies. I've gained a lot of knowledge and experience that I could not get elsewhere. You will get the opportunity to do a variety of work at TCS, both technical and client facing.

If you want the most dynamic and flexible career, TCS should be one of the top options you consider.”

Joon, University of Waterloo, Class of 2011