(Halifax, NS) - Progress Magazine today announced that Ambir tops its annual list of Atlantic Canada’s Best Places to Work. Ambir, an IT consulting firm with offices in Halifax, Saint John, and Fredericton, is headed by CEO Ian Cavanagh. For the 50-person organization’s low turnover and sustained success Cavanagh credits a unique and highly personalized focus on values, personal authenticity, and helping people realize career goals and personal dreams in tandem. “We want the experience of being part of the Ambir team to be more meaningful than just bottom line-driven,” he says. “Although we still have solid financial results."

Following Ambir on the list are Doctors Nova Scotia and SwiftRadius, in the second and third spots respectively. In total, 10 new companies made the top 30 Best Places list this year. Notably, this is Ambir’s second time atop the list of Atlantic Canada’s Best Places to Work, repeating its 2007 achievement.

A factor for this roster of progressive employers is that many excel at recruiting and retaining employees. For example, ten-year-old Halifax-based Premiere Executive Suites works hard to create an inclusive, family-like atmosphere, which accommodates a diverse range of employees from housekeepers to property managers. Open communications, compassionate leave, telecommuting, job-sharing, and community involvement are ways its management creates a collaborative and engaged work environment. St. John’s-based Technip enlists staff to help with recruitment, offering bonuses for landing new hires.

Overall engagement scores for the organizations ranked on this year’s Best Places to Work list was 86% on average. Three-quarters of workplaces offer telecommuting options, 60% offer compressed workweeks, 17% offer eldercare assistance, and 30% provide adoption assistance. On average, organizations provide 39 hours of annual training per employee, 90% offer bonus or incentive opportunities, and 87% offer wellness or fitness programs.
 

• The ongoing challenges of the volatile global economy require that employers be continuously focused on finding and developing productive and loyal employees. More than ever, there are proven benefits to creating a comprehensive ‘workplace experience’ for employees beyond the standard base pay and benefits. This year’s Best Places to Work in Atlantic Canada exemplify such qualitative values, which focus on putting ‘people first.’ They can be summarized as follows:
• Frequent, transparent, and personalized communication to promote trust and respect.
• Encouragement of flexible approaches to work/life balance.
• Meaningful recognition and appreciation ·        
• Opportunities to celebrate successes and have fun at work ·        
• Hands-on and highly visible leadership