25 Best Communities for Business in Western Canada
From Alberta's International Region to Sturgeon County get the details on the most business friendly locales west of Manitoba >
Best Workplaces 2011: Best Workplace (Under 100 employees)
Best Workplace (Under 100 employees)
← Previous Profile | Back to Main List | Next Profile →
SWEET TOOTH: Arcurve HR strategist Kim McNabb and president Jay Gohill
Arcurve Inc. claims to have the “best-stocked corporate snack cabinet and beverage fridge in all of corporate Calgary.” It’s a bold claim, but on any given day, employees can avail themselves of potato chips, chocolate bars, licorice, children’s candy, Ichiban, frozen entrees and soup. The fridge even supplies kimchi – a favourite of company president Jay Gohill.
“One of the needs for a software developer is high-sugar and high-caffeine snacks,” Gohill says of his monthly fridge-stocking missions for cola and root beer. Gohill is also director of operations at the 30-person software implementation firm. Part of ensuring operations run smoothly is keeping blood sugar levels high for Arcurve’s software developers – or “Arcurvians,” as they’re known at the office.
The team of Arcurvians includes 20 programmers, four project managers, four directors, an HR strategist and a weekly bookkeeper. Gohill says that since 2008, none of his Arcurvians have quit and salaries have increased an average of six per cent each year. In fact, Arcurve’s snack-heavy office is so inviting that many of the company’s out-of-town clients borrow a desk and use the wireless Internet while visiting and working in Calgary. Before Arcurve moved to its current location off Calgary’s train line, the company allowed members of Arcurve’s alumni to share the office free of charge for more than a year while working on their own business.
Arcurve’s business is partly custom software development for the oil and gas sector. The company also helps market and commercialize products for other software vendors.
Gohill says in Arcurve’s business, networking is extremely important, so much so that the company implemented a program called “Tap Your Network,” where Arcurvians are given coffee cards and encouraged to take anyone in their network out for a coffee. Arcurve implemented the program when the company had a few open positions and was looking to hire.
Now, new Arcurvians are asked to use the coffee cards within three months of starting at the company to talk about their new job. Gohill says the program has helped the company find good, well-qualified staff.
“Another thing is we meet anybody that is referred by anybody on staff,” Gohill says. That means regardless of whether Arcurve is hiring or expects to hire, one of the company’s directors and HR strategist Kim McNabb will meet with an employee’s friend, former classmate or colleague.
Often, McNabb says, an employee will make such a request saying, “Hey, I have this friend that’s trying to get started in the IT industry and she’s a great girl but she doesn’t really know where to start. Can you provide her with a little bit of advice?” Both McNabb and Gohill say they work very hard to make time to meet each of these requests.
Western Canada’s Best Communities for Business
Nominations Are Now Open!
Click the link below to be taken to an online submission form and submit your community today!
http://albertaventure.com/alberta-ventures-best-communities-for-business-2011/
Best Communities Online Map
Welcome to the custom annotated Google map of Alberta’s Best Communities for Business. >
Follow Alberta Venture On: