Attracting top people isn’t as daunting as you might expect

For Malcolm Fraser, keeping employees happy and productive is all about work-life balance. As the president of Halifax-based ISL Web Marketing and Development, all projects and customer expectations have to fit within the realm of not working people to death. 

Too often Fraser hears horror stories about employees at other companies becoming frustrated about not being able to go to the doctor on a workday or the hassle involved in darting away from the office early to pick up children from school. At ISL employees are responsible for getting their work done and doing a good job, but exactly when they do that work is essentially up to them. “Life gets in the way, kids have to go places, and things happen,” says Fraser. “The benefit is, if everybody’s fair about it, then the ability to manage your schedule appropriately and get your work done and meet your external commitments means everybody’s happier. As a result, we have a good history of retaining people.”

Retention and stability are key issues in the technology industry, so keeping employees happy is good for business. Over the last six years, ISL’s staffing complement has grown to nearly 30 from eight. “Being able to retain knowledge and experience is extremely valuable to this organization, our customers, and our employees,” says Fraser. “If we feel someone brings value to the organization and they like working here, then let’s build an environment that makes it easy for them to stay.”

Stephanie Lummis, ISL’s senior consultant, believes that attitude helps build a level of respect and loyalty. “We’re given the responsibility and we’re trusted to get the job done,” she says. “Exactly how and when that happens is left up to the employees to determine, but we are given that trust and that responsibility. When you’re given that, you don’t take it lightly.”

Recognizing family commitments is also important to C-CORE, a St. John’s-based research-and-development organization. C-CORE involves a candidate’s entire family in the recruitment process and checks in with spouses when an employee is travelling for a significant amount of time to see how they’re managing on the homefront.

“St. John’s is a unique place,” says C-CORE president Charles Randell. “Many embrace it, while others who prefer large cities find it small and isolated. At C-CORE, we believe that when potential employees are deciding to move to the province to join us, it’s very important that they have the support of their family in making this decision. Employees are much happier in their job when they have good family support and a well-balanced lifestyle.”

To that end, C-CORE has partnered with the Association for New Canadians in St. John’s. The organization helps link candidates from culturally different backgrounds to organizations in the local community who can provide a social network for employees and their families. C-CORE has also brought in the families of potential employees during the interview process, as well as arranged tours of the city and meetings with real estate agents. “This benefits the candidate directly in ensuring they are making a well-informed decision and ensuring their family is supportive in that decision,” says Randell. “It benefits C-CORE directly in retaining that individual and ensuring the costs invested in recruiting and relocation are returned in loyalty and commitment to the team.”

When an employee punches in long hours, C-CORE makes sure his or her relatives know how much that work is appreciated. “Sending flowers or another tangible thank you to the spouse makes it easier on the employee who has to travel,” says Randell. “Plus, it shows that C-CORE understands that this is a sacrifice of time they would otherwise be spending with family.” 

C-CORE also provides numerous work-term placements, roughly 1,000 by recent count. The work terms often blossom into jobs; in fact, 20% of the organization’s current staff is composed of former students, including four of the five top senior-management team members. C-CORE continues to support lifelong learning after hiring; more than a dozen full-time staff are enrolled in part-time degree programs. The organization also offers a bursary/grant of up to $20,000 to an employee who wishes to take time from work to pursue full-time studies.

Technip Canada Ltd., also based in St. John’s, is another company that recognizes the value of partnering with educational institutions. The firm works closely with Memorial University, taking on engineering students in the latter stages of their work terms. Roughly 95% of the company’s employees are from Newfoundland and Labrador. At the outset, Technip made a conscious decision to stay in the province. 

“We made a business decision, in the leaner times from a project delivery standpoint, that we would maintain an office in St. John’s to perform project management and engineering services for the Technip group around the world,” says president Sam Allen. “That’s our fundamental business model—to ride out the dips and troughs by reverting to this sort of scenario.”

Technip has enlisted staff to help with recruitment, launching a “wish you were home” postcard campaign, which encourages staff to contact associates, friends, and family living away and tell them about Technip. Bonuses are also given to staff for recommending new hires. “We work very consciously at making the office a good place to work,” says Allen. 

Technip, for example, has a special focus on fostering employee health. Fresh fruit is provided daily for staff, and the company designed a boardroom that it could divide into a workout studio. A couple of times a week the space is home to everything from kickboxing to Zumba fitness classes, and showers were installed so employees could freshen up after their workouts. “We really try to promote an active lifestyle, because it benefits morale and productivity,” says Allen. “It’s a vibrant place to work, and we try to keep it that way.”