Category Winners

When Sophia Langlois helped establish the International Club in 2004, she knew from personal international work experience that the value of acclimatizing newcomers was in the diversity they could introduce into KPMG’s Calgary office. “Just coming from a different background,” says the audit partner, “you bring different ideas, different skills to the workplace.”

While the club, currently about 20 members strong, is instrumental in helping new Canadians achieve appropriate designations and match them with mentors, it’s also a social network for new arrivals and their spouses. Combined with a South East Asian Network to recognize the culture of that KPMG market, and with ongoing company-wide diversity awareness training, the club not only remedies a provincial skilled-labour crunch but – judging partly from the cricket teams it has produced – homesickness, too.

The resulting sense of belonging is essential, both to the employee and to the company. Diversity, adds HR Consulting senior manager Jennifer Hamar, is integral to success in international markets. “It’s about unforeseen business opportunities and getting ahead of our competitors in terms of what a diverse workforce can bring to our community. Our clients are demanding it: the work we do for them deserves that breadth of thought, knowledge and experience.” – Scott Messenger

For the second year in a row, Ernst & Young LLP has taken the top spot as Best Workplace for Millennials, the generation of workers born since 1980. With millennials representing 60% of new hires, it’s no wonder the company makes a concerted effort to meet their needs.

“The nature of what we do is train new CA [Chartered Accountant] students, so we hire a lot of junior staff,” says Jacqueline Baecker, Ernst & Young’s associate director of human resources, Western Canada, assurance practice. “It’s extremely important that we understand that age group because it’s a big, big part of our workforce.”

Ernst & Young seeks people wanting to make a long-term commitment to their workplace, so it works hard to offer young employees the opportunity to grow and change without leaving the organization. In addition to its campus career fairs at colleges and universities, the company runs internal career fairs to inform employees of job openings and educate them of the skill sets, personality traits and pros and cons of alternative roles. It also offers the opportunity to work at any of its other offices abroad.

On the job, the company uses workshops to improve co-operation and understanding between employees of different ages. “We’re trying to have each generation understand the context of the other generation and where they’re coming from, rather than make blanket judgmental statements,” Baecker explains. – Stephanie Sparks

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