24 minute read
Best places to work results offer 10 intriguing lessons
The management team at Decisive Group (photo above) expanded after the teams at Decisive Technologies and BriteSky Technologies recently merged, creating a one-stop-shop for digital transformation services.
Adopting a work hard, play hard mentality
Having fun is considered a core value for the team at Decisive Group
For employees at Decisive Group, work isn’t just about helping customers develop custom IT solutions or implementing cybersecurity services – it’s about having fun.
Fostering close relationships between employees and infusing elements of playfulness into the culture is an important piece of the puzzle for Decisive, landing them a spot on Ottawa’s 2021 Best Places to Work.
This balance of work and play is accomplished through team outings to sports games, shared meals and even the occasional Nerf gun battle in the office.
“When I look at what’s been consistent this whole time, it’s really been the people who are our biggest strength,” says Clare Sullivan, vice-president of human resources. “We all spend so much of our lives at work, so if you can do what you love and can feel like you have the opportunity to bring your full self to work and feel supported...I think that for most people is the real sweet spot.”
While Decisive Group is a new name in the Ottawa market, the employees and the culture at the company have a longstanding history in the capital.
A recent merger between Decisive Technologies and BriteSky Technologies spurred Decisive Group, streamlining its services.
- DECISIVE GROUP CEO MITCHELL CARKNER
The sister companies – which fell under common ownership – traditionally worked closely together, but by bringing the two companies under one roof, clients now have a one-stop-shop for their digital transformation needs and employees have more opportunities to collaborate with team members.
“We’re supporting our clients by providing the right technologies, with world class professional capabilities,” says CEO Mitchell Carkner. “We have a matrix approach when it comes to supporting our customers or tackling a tough internal problem. Having a supportive environment creates that customer focused magic.”
CULTURE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
Decisive currently sits at over 70 staff, and is continuing to grow – increasing the opportunity for collabo-
How does the team at Decisive Group incorporate fun at the office?
• Scavenger hunts • Team viewing parties • Workplace fitness challenges • Summer BBQs
ration and fun office activities.
But, while the team likes to play hard, they also work hard.
Employees are encouraged to collaborate and innovate, developing their professional skills.
“We’re a technology company focused on enabling our engineers and developers,” says Carkner. “We deal with a ton of different technology partners or ‘toys’ and our engineers have the freedom to explore and improve their skills.”
Decisive supports multiple core values within the organization, including exceptional customer experience, supporting employees, customers and partners, as well as giving back to the community.
Tanya Hall, vice-president of business alliances, has been with the company for 10 years, and sees the excitement within the team when the company takes on a charitable initiative. “The highlight for everybody is either the Back to School Day or the Christmas Day initiatives,” she says.
On different occasions, the Decisive team has come together to supply schools with sneakers, backpacks, or household supplies for families in need. The supplies are purchased with funds donated by the staff through in-office events such as ice cream socials.
Even throughout the pandemic, the team was committed to maintaining its workplace culture through safe socialization.
With collaboration and fun being an integral part of Decisive, it was important that it didn’t fall to the wayside when employees were separated, adds Sullivan.
“How people show up at work and what discretionary effort they give us is really the difference maker at our company,” she says. “Whenever they’re feeling really passionate about what they’re doing, then they’re more likely to feel comfortable looking for opportunities or figuring out how they can go the extra mile for our customers and for their team.”
DECISIVE GROUP AT A GLANCE
70+
EMPLOYEES
25
NEW TEAM MEMBERS HIRED DURING THE PANDEMIC
40%
OF THE EXECUTIVE TEAM ARE WOMEN
“Our team’s health and well-being is more important than ever, so we provide our team members access to expanded benefit supports for physical and mental health, financial well-being, supports for parents and virtual health care for our team members and their families to help them cope during the health crisis.”
As part of their efforts, Rogers launched a National Wellness Fund to give the team expanded benefits support for mental health, financial well-being, support for parents and Virtual Health Care to help them cope during the pandemic.
Some of the services offered include access to virtual healthcare professionals, including nurse practitioners and doctors since 2019, parental benefits including virtual educational resources, progressive return from maternity leave and more.
“Also, with today’s reality one of the key factors is the fact that the majority of our team members are equipped to work from home safely and efficiently. From the onset of the pandemic, our team members’ safety and well-being has been our top priority.”
Other elements affecting Rogers’ employee engagement are the different resource groups that build awareness and a culture of allyship for equity-seeking groups, Gratton adds. This includes groups representing people of colour, LGBTQ2S+, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and women.
SNOWED IN STUDIOS
WHAT THEY DO: Video game and interactive media development. TIP: Subvert industry norms.
From day one, Snowed In Studio wanted to create the best environment for its colleagues to thrive. That meant being mindful of concerns with overtime and crunch — two things that plague the video game, studio head Jean-Sylvain Sormany says.
“While we now see a few more studios adopting similar guidelines, we are proud of the environment we’ve created and the adoption of this culture at all levels of the organization,” he says.
“For engagement in the office, while the COVID-19 situation and the working from home has made personal engagement a little harder, we provide support to any employee that has ideas on how to engage with others. We encourage and provide resources to make sure that no good idea is left without a chance to be put in place.”
Because Snowed In has a people-first mindset, retention is high in an industry that has a lot of turnover.
“In the end, we perform well as a studio because our teams are experienced, motivated and feel trusted,” he says. “Our employees get more than a job with a paycheck. It’s an environment where they are listened to and where the organization makes efforts to adapt to what they really want. We understand they work to have a great life, not the other way around.”
In a recent show of appreciation, Snowed In sent lunch gift cards to everyone in the company. Now, the Christmas committee is working on starting their activity plans — and they cannot wait for their first big (and safe) “in person” activity.
STONEWORKS TECHNOLOGIES
WHAT THEY DO: Custom IT infrastructure builder for corporations and government. LESSON: Longevity matters.
According to Stoneworks’ CEO Jody Burton, the company has always taken a team first (or work family) approach, and management believes in a strong corporate culture.
“I feel that in taking this type of approach, we have created an ecosystem that everyone believes in and loves to be a part of, or contribute to,” Burton says.
“We work hard as a team and we play hard as a team as well. It creates a great synergy amongst the team when we can collectively pay it forward together in various ways.”
What they do, Burton explains, is have the team take on charity and community services that they feel they can add value to or be assisted with.
“Whether it’s a corporate function or teammates doing initiatives on their own, our hope is that in having this culture [it] cultivates positive behaviours for our company and the community we serve.”
There’s no such thing as a “punch clock,” Burton says. If someone needs to do something during work hours, a teammate is always ready to help pick up the slack.
“Most importantly, we love to laugh and to have fun. We are passionate about what we do and encourage everyone to be an integral part of making our environment as fun and as humanly possible.”
The payoff? The company says it has an extremely low turnover rate.
SOLINK
WHAT THEY DO: Cloud video security system. LESSON: Ownership motivates
When you work at Solink, not only are you an employee — you are part owner of the business as well.
“Employees are granted options through their employment and as the company grows, the goal is for those options to gain value,” says Erin Bailey.
Employees don’t need to sign up for the shares — they’re automatically given to every full-time staffer.
The idea is to provide autonomy to the employees, Bailey says.
“We want all of our employees to feel like they take ownership and have an impact on the business,” he says. “I believe that they do, by having the impact that they do by making suggestions or finding better ways to do things.”
By offering the shares, the company hopes employees feel they’ve made the best career decision possible.
“We hope that it has an impact on their career goals and helps them grow, both personally and professionally.”
But it’s not easy to develop an unconventional, Bailey says.
“There’s definitely a lot of things that, when you trailblaze, there aren’t set processes or policies,” he says. “So, we’re developing a new way of doing things, and sometimes that can be challenging..” With 117 people employed at the company, Solink wants to build a sense of community and be transparent with information to help everyone reach their goals.
Apply for the job, stay for the culture
How Knak created a workplace that employees don’t want to leave
When thinking about what makes a great workplace, we often hear things like free gourmet food or on-site gyms and arcades, but those who work at a great company know it runs much deeper. Culture, trust, and the people themselves become the foundation of happiness for employees. Just ask the team at Knak, one of Ottawa’s 2021 Best Places to Work.
Knak is a software as a service (SaaS) company that provides a codeless email and landing page creation platform for large companies. It’s an enterprise-level platform built to give marketing teams agility and creative freedom. Knak currently has more than 40 employees, with about half of them living in Ontario and the other half spread out across Canada.
At Knak, people work how they need to work – and that doesn’t always mean in the office.
The company was well prepared when the COVID pandemic hit in 2020 from a communication, culture and social standpoint, as its operations were already mainly virtual. Zoom was always a widely used platform within the company, which minimized the remote working learning curve for employees.
“Knak has been a flexible workplace since the beginning,” says Pierce Ujjainwalla, co-founder and CEO of Knak. “We’ve always worked remotely quite a bit. So for us, we were prepared and comfortable adapting when COVID came around.”
COMPANY VALUES START AT THE TOP
Knak’s 10 core values – which include “Respect,” “Go Above and Beyond,” and “Get Sh*t Done,” are embraced from the top down and are posted on a pillar in the office for employees to see, and be encouraged by each day.
When it comes to those values, it’s about leading by example.
“You can say work-life balance is an essential core value, but if the leaders are working all night, or sending emails at all hours, that’s not promoting a healthy work style,” says Chris Davies, chief creative officer. “Balance starts with the bosses.”
Right from the interview process, new hires are considered on how they would not just fit – but add – to these values. It’s more about culture addition than culture fit, and with each new hire, Knak’s culture grows.
EVERYONE IS ON THE EVERYONE IS ON THE SAME BUS, HEADING SAME BUS, HEADING IN THE SAME DIRECTION IN THE SAME DIRECTION
The leadership team also prioritizes The leadership team also prioritizes transparency, giving the team transparency, giving the team updates on the wins and losses of updates on the wins and losses of the company. That way, employees the company. That way, employees have a sense that everyone is on the have a sense that everyone is on the same bus and headed in the same same bus and headed in the same direction. direction.
There’s also an alignment There’s also an alignment between teams – even those who between teams – even those who don’t directly work together. don’t directly work together. Employees are encouraged to pair up Employees are encouraged to pair up in weekly “donut” meetings to talk in weekly “donut” meetings to talk about anything but work, creating about anything but work, creating a level of comfort among team a level of comfort among team members. members.
That makes weekly all-hands Zoom That makes weekly all-hands Zoom meetings more relaxed and open, meetings more relaxed and open, with everyone feeling equal and safe. with everyone feeling equal and safe.
Peers are also encouraged to Peers are also encouraged to reward and acknowledge each other reward and acknowledge each other with a weekly “Knakolade” award. with a weekly “Knakolade” award. Each week, the previous recipient Each week, the previous recipient awards the Knakolade to someone awards the Knakolade to someone new based on how they exhibit the new based on how they exhibit the company’s core values. company’s core values.
Scheduled on-site meetups are Scheduled on-site meetups are also a priority for the company as also a priority for the company as it allows employees from across it allows employees from across Canada to come together in Canada to come together in person. While Zoom is amazing for person. While Zoom is amazing for communication, having in-person communication, having in-person bonds solidifies those relationships bonds solidifies those relationships and provides employees with a realand provides employees with a realtime connection to the company they time connection to the company they work for. work for.
At Knak, employees are hired At Knak, employees are hired because they positively contribute because they positively contribute to the culture and core values of to the culture and core values of the company, but they stay because the company, but they stay because the people surrounding them the people surrounding them create a welcoming and accepting create a welcoming and accepting environment, says Kelly Rigole, environment, says Kelly Rigole, director of operations. director of operations.
“There’s support among the team “There’s support among the team that you really won’t find anywhere that you really won’t find anywhere else,” adds Rigole. “Sometimes else,” adds Rigole. “Sometimes just finding a team who you can be just finding a team who you can be yourself around and have your hard yourself around and have your hard work appreciated by is all you need.” work appreciated by is all you need.”
For those who work at Knak, For those who work at Knak, regardless of where they happen regardless of where they happen to live, it’s more than just a job. to live, it’s more than just a job. Together, they’re part of something Together, they’re part of something bigger. bigger.
Knak has been a flexible workplace Knak has been a flexible workplace since the beginning since the beginning
BEST PLACES TO WORK 2021 — SPONSORED CONTENT BEST PLACES TO WORK 2021 — SPONSORED CONTENT
FALL 2021 OBJ.CA 43 FALL 2021 OBJ.CA 3 FALL 2021 OBJ.CA 3
Employees banked a lot of time, so what happens next?
Companies let workers to carry days through pandemic, but now those days are liabilities on the books
BY LINDSAY CAMPBELL
news@obj.ca
As pandemic restrictions have put a damper on travel, many employers have faced unprecedented circumstances, trying to understand how to support their workers while simultaneously dealing with a backlog of unclaimed vacation.
Data released from Robert Half has shown that while employees have been working longer days from home, employers are not communicating about policies around vacation. Approximately 67 per cent of employees across Canada say they received no direction about how to handle vacation with only 28 per cent of employers encouraging them to take time off.
Sandra LaVoy, regional director for Robert Half in Ottawa, says these findings illustrate one of the biggest challenges in transitioning to remote workplaces.
“Overnight, we went remote and had to get on the hamster wheel… For a lot of businesses, workloads skyrocketed,” LaVoy says. “Unfortunately, as employers failed to check in emotionally with employees or talk about vacation, it’s lead to burnout and people leaving because they think ‘I can’t continue on this path.’”
LaVoy adds that the past two years have been a wake-up call for employers to encourage employees to take time off and put a plan in place around vacation that benefits both workers and the company.
But for businesses still working through the kinks of this new normal, what’s the best way forward? It depends on existing policy around vacation, according to Morgan Rowe.
The Ottawa-based employment and labour lawyer at Raven Law says businesses fall into three categories around this issue and explains that those relying only on the Employment Standards Act or those that created robust policies pre-pandemic are likely without problems.
“It’s the ones in the middle that are struggling right now,” she says. “They’ve gone a little ways past the Employment Standards Act to create a policy that provides maybe a little bit more vacation leave or they provided a benefit to their employees by allowing some level of carryover. Some of the things are in place, but they didn’t anticipate a huge problem around it.”
She suggests a two-step process to refine policy framework and contractual agreements that clearly outline policy around vacation.
First, she says employers should provide workers with a period of time to transition to any new policy. This is because many people have likely planned the next few months around current rules. When they establish a new policy, they should look to resolve questions around the amount of time allowed to be carried forward, putting caps on banked time and outlining the latest that vacation days can be used that following year.
And while some companies may not strictly follow the Employment Standards Act (which doesn’t have a provision for carrying over vacation time), Bruce Weippert, president and senior strategist at TAP Strategy and HR Consulting says it’s not ideal to allow a transfer of vacation days into the following year.
“Employers might think that they’re doing a good thing or being an understanding employer, but it’s a liability on their books if your business has to close or if you ever have to pay out an employee who leaves,” he says. “We work with organizations who are having this problem, but because of the pandemic it’s probably something that’s happening a lot.”
There are always going to be situations where exceptions can be made to this rule, Weippert says. Yet having an employee take a break and use available vacation time is going to be beneficial to their mental health and productivity, he adds, which in turn will positively impact business operations.
Weippert, Rowe and LaVoy all stress the importance of open, respectful lines of communication.
“Let’s keep this conversation going,” LaVoy says. “Stay connected with your employees. It’s going to be something that they’ll not only thank you for, but you’ll thank yourself for too.”
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GEM Healthcare owner Gaye Moffett administers a COVID-19 rapid test to co-worker Sophie Balog.
How GEM Healthcare is keeping workplaces COVID free
Rapid testing for your employees can protect the health of your business
As workers trickle back to the office, employers will be anxious enough about withstanding the pandemic without having to worry about their workforce being COVID-free.
Is there someone who is asymptomatic, unknowingly infecting their colleagues? Should your fully-vaccinated employees get tested, just in case? And where can they get tested without losing half a day in a lineup at a public health COVID testing site?
All these wildcards will be competing for mind share as employers pivot to a pandemic economy.
That’s where GEM Health Care Services comes in.
GEM offers a wide suite of services that includes everything from homecare and physiotherapy to N95 mask test fitting, and now testing for COVID-19.
Clients can drop by GEM’s office on Parkdale Avenue for their test, or businesses can have a certified healthcare professional administer the tests at a workplace, business event or social gathering.
Health Canada warns up to 50 per cent of COVID-19 transmission could be caused by people without symptoms, which recently prompted the province to give out rapid antigen testing kits to local companies.
The problem with those free kits, says owner Gaye Moffett, a registered nurse who founded the company in 1994, is do-it-yourself testing really isn’t very practical.
Companies would need to appoint an employee to administer the tests daily, which can be a time consuming and complicated process.
Better to have the testing done by a healthcare professional wearing medically-safe clothing and gear, she says.
GEM offers two types of easilyaccessible COVID-19 testing — rapid antigen and PCR.
Rapid antigen testing involves nose swabs to examine for protein specific to the COVID-19 virus. While these tests provide quick results, they are considered to be less accurate than PCR tests, but are fine for most uses.
PCR tests are the gold standard in COVID-19 testing. They provide more accurate results than the rapid tests because they use a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify viral genetic material of COVID-19.
Clients can receive their test results from GEM in as little as 15 minutes and with regular testing, Moffett says, employers can be confident everyone is safe and have the certainty they need to run and plan their business.
Proactive instead of reactive While GEM has always been invested in the health of the community, the pandemic has put the company in the business of providing “peace of mind” for Ottawa employers, says Gavin Schnobb, chief operations officer at GEM.
Schnobb, son of the founder, says the company is making it its mission to help employers gain confidence their workplaces are safe, with minimum disruption and quick results.
“You know that everyone has been tested and you have peace of mind,’’ he says.
Another good reason to get tested with GEM? You don’t have IT ALL STARTED WITH SOME PHONE CALLS
In 1994, registered nurse Gaye Moffett found herself wondering what else she could do to create better community care. As an experienced healthcare worker, she had a network of contacts at the city’s hospitals and nursing homes. She started phoning them from an office on Parkdale Avenue and they told her they needed help filling gaps in staffing.
So she became a healthcare recruiter, and things grew from there. “I thought I wanted to make a difference,” she says. “So I went out on a limb and became an entrepreneur.” Today, GEM Healthcare Services Inc. has offices in Brampton and Newmarket and currently sits at 150 employees. Home and community care account for around 70 per cent of GEM’s business.
To find out more about GEM or to book your COVID-19 test visit https://gemhealthcare.com.
to wait until you show symptoms or prove you were exposed to the virus to get tested.
Whether for work, or personal reasons, Ottawans can book an appointment for a test at GEM for as little as $35, making it safer for everyone in the community.
As for the fully vaccinated, Sophie Balog, GEM’s COVID co-ordinator, says they too should get tested, especially if they plan on heading back to the workplace.
“While you are protected against serious illness, you can still get it,” she adds.
At the end of the day, a half-hour spent at GEM is a good investment for the wellness of your balance sheet and everyone in your office.
AMBICO achieves a ‘higher level of execution’ for staff training
Algonquin College Corporate Training helps local manufacturer access provincial programs
In 2016, Ottawa company AMBICO took on the job to design, build and supply new doors and frames as part of the major renovations on Parliament Hill. But these were not just ordinary doors and frames.
AMBICO specializes in custom doors, frames and windows that must meet the highest standards for acoustics and bullet and blast resistance.
Since the 1950s, this familyowned business has grown into a major player in its market space. AMBICO’s products are exported around the world, for use in hospitals, universities, banks, prison facilities, hotels, museums, art galleries and, of course, government buildings.
The company employs about 100 people in Ottawa, many of whom are involved in manufacturing. Given the highperformance assemblies that AMBICO designs and produces, conventional skillsets in metal fabrication are not enough.
That poses a persistent challenge for AMBICO when it comes to hiring and training staff in the Ottawa area.
“We are not going to find people just down the street who have these skills – they have to be trained in house,” said president Jack Shinder, son of co-founder Israel Shinder. He runs the company with vicepresident Judah Silverman, son-in-law of AMBICO’s other co-founder, Emanuel Lightstone.
As a home-grown manufacturer with unique needs, AMBICO long ago learned how important it is to be plugged into government programs and agencies that can assist with new product innovation, global export and talent development.
On that last point, talent, AMBICO maintains close ties with Algonquin College. Algonquin is a member of the Eastern Ontario College Consortium (EOCC). This collective of five colleges supports employers in key industry sectors with the essential skills training their workforces and new hires need, to keep Ontario’s economy humming. This work is funded by a provincial initiative, Skills Advance Ontario, so that it’s free to both employer and jobseeker.
Algonquin is the lead college for Skills Advance Ontario’s Steel and Aluminum project, where it delivers innovative, sector-based workforce training and talent development programs for a stronger future in the steel and aluminum industry. Enter Algonquin College Corporate Training (ACCT) ACCT provides professional development for individuals and teams already in the workforce, either from its own facility in downtown Ottawa at 700 Sussex, on the jobsite, or remotely. It works closely with companies in Ottawa and the surrounding area to align workforce skills with business needs and the demands of industries that are increasingly competitive and high-tech.
In the months prior to the pandemic, Shinder and the rest of the AMBICO team worked with ACCT team to take advantage of new training funded through Skills Advance Ontario for steel and aluminum manufacturers.
This enabled AMBICO to use ACCT’s services to improve its staff onboarding and training processes in way it would not have otherwise considered. ACCT tackled five projects for the company: • Delivered health and safety training • Developed and delivered a customer experience and transactional project management program • Developed an online video
Standard Operating Procedures onboarding training program • Developed an online video training production onboarding program • Developed online video training for stainless steel door finishing
The result is a more consistent onboarding process, with training resources that show a professional production value that would have otherwise been beyond AMBICO’s budget.
“These videos and training materials make us look good as a destination employer, and they help us to continue offering great manufacturing jobs in the Ottawa area,” Shinder said. “These are jobs for life. When there is collaboration like this between industry and government to create jobs and build skills, everyone wins.”
Inside AMIBCO’s manufacturing plant. Photo provided by AMBICO.
Get in touch To learn more about how ACCT can help you prepare for the next phase of your organization’s growth, call 613-727-7729, or visit www.algonquincollege.com/corporate for more information.
