Bluedrop Performance Learning feels it’s lucky to have the people it does. Everything follows from this.

This fall David Stokes is scheduled to graduate with the education degree he began working toward seven years ago, right around the time he joined the company now known as Bluedrop Performance Learning, a web-based training and e-learning outfit based in St. John’s. The firm has helped him every step of the way, paying half of his tuition, book costs, and other associated fees. Bluedrop also allowed Stokes, 30, to work around his school schedule, as he picked up a course here and there. 

An instructional designer for Bluedrop, Stokes’ studies are a perfect complement for his e-learning career, which involves designing content for courses. He credits such support and Bluedrop’s “very relaxed environment”—there is a stocked fridge, pool table, and plenty of casual meeting space—for creating a harmonious workplace. “There’s a commitment and loyalty,” he says. “I feel it from them, and in return then they feel it from me.” 

Bluedrop president and CEO Emad Rizkalla says that the company’s management philosophy goes back to the “golden rule.” “A lot of organizations in this region, because traditionally we’ve had high unemployment, think that people are lucky to work for them,” says Rizkalla. “I actually think it’s completely the opposite.” 

The origins of Bluedrop date back to a class project at Memorial University that Rizkalla, now 38, did 15 years ago. “This is my first job,” he says. His disdain for strong workplace hierarchy had its genesis in those days. While in his early 20s, he had 50-year-olds reporting to him; Rizkalla says he didn’t feel the need to “lord it over” other employees that he was the boss. 

“It really comes down to that mindset that we really feel we’re fortunate to have the people we have.” 

Accountability is key at Bluedrop. Corporate data is shared with employees, who are invited to identify problems and be part of the solutions. Management focuses on letting people know where they stand in the company and giving them a path upwards. “We’re an open-book company, so our employees know everything,” says Rizkalla. “They know if we’re having a good month, a good quarter, a good year. They know our bottom line and our top line. I think what people really want is for you to be clean with them. If you’re showing them the books, they know your heart’s in the right place.” 

Bluedrop has numerous worker-friendly initiatives, such as a new formal revenue-sharing program, but there are also many more informal perks to reward a job well done. Recently, for example, when a project manager received glowing feedback from a client in Ottawa, Bluedrop rewarded her with a day at a spa and a small cash gift. “It’s that kind of thing that you do, over and over again,” says Rizkalla. “One thing is formal programs, but I don’t think there’s any substitute for just thanking someone when it’s warranted, even with a small token of appreciation. So we do a lot of that kind of thing spontaneously.” 

The company also donates a share of its profits to charity and helps with staff education and training costs. Bluedrop is now closing in on the 50-employee mark, about half of whom are located in St. John’s. The hope is to drive that number into the hundreds within five years. The company is gutting a former warehouse in the heart of downtown St. John’s, spending $1 million to create a new corporate headquarters and production centre. The new facility will include a small gym, indoor parking, a recreation area, and an outdoor deck for barbecues and social events. 

Bluedrop is focusing on building a meritocracy in the employee ranks, Rizkalla says, noting that two-thirds of the company’s costs are labour based but that all of Bluedrop’s success comes from its people. According to Rizkalla, the company has attracted as clients the global leaders in seven different industries. “If you don’t have your people at the top of their game, you can’t keep clients like that,” he says. “You can’t keep satisfying them.” 

Meanwhile, instructional designer David Stokes is extremely satisfied. He hails from St. John’s and is happy to be working at home. “I’ve never actually had to think about leaving the province,” he says. And Stokes has no plans to go anywhere else—except down the road later this year, to Bluedrop’s new headquarters.