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SPECIAL REPORT ON CORPORATE CULTURE AWARDS

WE RECRUIT FOR FIT

Congratulations toCanada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures of 2012

nd and keep the best people. At Waterstone, we help our clients build great organizations. How? By helping them fit’ the culture – ultimately drive performance. Because the best people – the ones that ‘fi

www.waterstonehc.com | www.canadasmostadmired.com

FOUNDER & PRESENTER

C A N A D A’ S 1 0 M O S T A D M I R E DC O R P O R A T E C U L T U R E S

N A T I O N A L P O S T , T H U R S D A Y , N O V E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2

Canadian companies thatvalue corporate culture arestriking it rich. SR2

WINNERS CIRCLE

The culture clubB Y M A R Y T E R E S A B I T T I

When MartyParker, pres-ident andCEO of exec-utive search

firm Waterstone Human Cap-ital, founded the firm 10 yearsago, he did so on the value ofunderstanding clients’ organ-izational cultures to the bestdegree possible. That meanthoning in on the behavioursthat made people successful inthose organizations.

“We wanted to focus on howthey were successful. By under-standing that, we felt we coulddo much better search work,”Mr. Parker says.

To gain that understanding,in 2003 Mr. Parker and Water-stone surveyed hundreds ofCanadian leaders about cor-porate culture. At that time theterm was ill-defined; Mr. Parkerwanted to find out if businessleaders viewed culture as anasset that drove performance.

“At the end of the Canad-ian Corporate Culture Study,we asked the question: WhatCanadian organizations doyou feel have cultures that haveenhanced performance?” Mr.Parker says. “We came a waywith a list of about 60 compan-ies and rank ordered them.”

That initial survey and re-sulting list has since turnedinto Canada’s 10 Most AdmiredCorporate Cultures Program.Waterstone recruited a boardof governors who understoodculture as a driver of perform-ance, built a nomination andsubmission process and set thegovernors the task of assessingthe submissions based on a setof specific criteria: vision andleadership; cultural alignment;rewards and recognition; in-novativebusinessachievement;corporate social responsibility;financial performance; and keyperformance indicators. Eachis equally weighted across aseven-point scale.

Eight years later, the pro-gram has grown both in sizeand vision. This year, therewere well over 600 nomina-tions, 176 finalists and, finally,10 winners across four categor-ies: Enterprise, which includescompanies with $500-millionin revenue and above; mid-market, which includes organ-izations with revenues between$100-million and $500-mil-lion; growth and small cap,those companies with revenuesless than $100-million; and thebroader public sector.

Moving to four categories isthe latest and biggest refine-ment of the program this year.

“In the past, we organizedwinners by region and historic-ally had more large enterprisecompanies as winners,” Mr.Parker says. “Over the yearswe realized that the program

was not as representative of theCanadian organizational land-scape as it could have been.Medium and small organiza-tions are driving the economy.To compare apples to apples weneededtosegment theprogramand compare companies of thesame size. We also decided tofocus on the great work beingdone in the public sector.”

Organizations are nomin-ated through the CanadianCorporate Culture Study ordirectly on the Waterstone site.National Post also runs full-page advertising outlining thenomination process. Organ-izations must be either a Can-adian company, a Canadiansubsidiary or fall into the not-for-profit category. Nomineesare invited to make detailedsubmissions. Submissions arecollected through to the end ofMay, at which point the teamat Waterstone interview theexecutives between June 1 andSept. 15. Those interviews areadded to the submissions andforwarded to the board of gov-ernors, which is largely com-prised of former winners. Theythen have about five weeks to

review the submissions andcome together in November,discuss each nomination andvote in real time. The winnerswere announced on Nov. 27(see page SR2).

“When this program start-ed to take off four or five yearsago, we realized the vision forthe program went well be-yond showcasing the compan-ies that were getting cultureright,” Mr. Parker says. “Webelieve sharing best practices

will impact Canadian com-petitiveness on a global scale.The program is an opportun-ity for organizations to learnfrom each other, regardless ofsize and sector, and get bet-ter. Embracing that vision hasenabled us to be at the centre

of bringing organizations to-gether.”

He points to Telus as an ex-ample of an organization thathas a lot to offer in terms ofhow to make corporate culturea competitive advantage.

“We all know Telus in termsof its creative and externalbrand: ‘the future is friendly.’What may not be so obvious isthe fact that Telus has alignedthat brand to its internal brandor culture and, in fact, to every-thing it does. As a result, Telushas achieved higher share-holder returns in the 13 yearsit has made culture a focusthan all the global incumbenttelcos. CEO Darren Entwistlewas well ahead of the curve. Heunderstood if you can capturethe essence of who you are asan organization and align yourvalues, organization systems,compensation, training, re-cruitment to who you are, thatwill impact performance. Thatis a mark of excellence.”

In fact, when you considerthe three-year compound an-nual growth rate of Canada’s 10Most Admired Corporate Cul-tures of 2011, these companies

have significantly outpaced theS&P/TSX 60 by 1,300% whenit comes to asset growth and600% on return on revenue.

“Every year Canada’s 10 out-perform Canada’s biggest andbest,” Mr. Parker says. “It’s be-cause they have been focusingon who they are.”

The vision for the programgoing forward is to continue togrow just as it has over the pasteight years: organically, basedon the sharing of best practicesby winners.

“Almost 40 years ago PeterDrucker said culture eats strat-egy for breakfast. This programshines the light on somethingthat always existed, it justwasn’t identified as culture,”Mr. Parker says. “There havebeen great examples of corpor-ate culture over the years. Whatwe are doing is providing a mir-ror and, in some ways, a pro-jector, as well as an opportun-ity for organizations to learnfrom each other at our annualsummit in February and, newthis year, regional summits.Hopefully, that continues andgrows.”

National Post

Every year,Canada’s 10

outperform ourbiggest and best

GETTY / THINKSTOCK

Canadian companies that build a strong corporate culture are showing a remarkable record of success, studies show.

Waterstone Human Capital has an-nounced this year’s winners of theCanada’s 10 Most Admired Corpor-ate Cultures. Established in 2005,this prestigious program recognizesCanadian organizations for having aculture that has helped them enhancetheir performance and sustain a com-petitive advantage.

Winners were chosen from hun-dreds of submissions, based on fivecriteria: vision and leadership; cul-tural alignment, measurement andsustainability; rewards, recognitionand innovative business achievement;corporate performance; and corporatesocial responsibility.

For the first time, Canada’s 10 wasexpanded to encompass four distinctbusiness categories: Enterprise, Mid-Market, Growth & Small Cap andBroader Public Sector.

According to Marty Parker chair-man and CEO of Waterstone HumanCapital Ltd. and chair of the program’sboard of governors, these new cat-egory distinctions better reflect theCanadian business landscape andthe diversity of organizations that aredriving the economy.

He adds that this year’s winners arethe most dynamic and diverse everseen in this program. “Every one ofthese businesses has a unique corpor-ate culture story to tell. The commonattribute, however, is their ability toalign their corporate culture with theirbehaviour and their business goals.Research has shown that high-per-formingcompanies—whethersuccessis measured by customer acquisitions,market expansion or organic growth— consistently demonstrate visionaryleadership that drives and maintains astrong corporate culture.

“This year’s Canada’s 10 winnersrepresent what we in the executivesearch business at Waterstone have al-ways known,” Mr. Parker states. “Greatpeople — who are the right fit — cre-ate great cultures, and great culturescreate a competitive advantage thatgenerates outstanding results, in bothgood times and in bad.”

The winners:

GROWTH & SMALL CAP

Canada Goose Inc., Toronto Foundedin a small warehouse in Toronto morethan 50 years ago, Canada Goose hassince grown to be recognized inter-nationally as one of the world’s lead-ing manufacturers of extreme weatherouterwear. Even today, the companycontinues to carry on all of its produc-tion activities in Canada.Eckler Ltd., Toronto Eckler Ltd. isCanada’s largest independentlyowned actuarial consultancy, servi-cing a variety of insurance and insur-ance-related products. As one ofthe country’s longest-establishedpractices, the company is knownfor its actuarial excellence and pro-fessional integrity, and ongoingcommitment to explore innovativeactuarial methods.Frima Studio Inc., Quebec City FrimaStudio Inc. was founded in 2003by Steve Couture, Philippe Béginand Christian Daigle, to craft videogames and digital entertainment forall platforms and screens. Throughcontinued acquisition and new busi-ness development efforts, the com-pany has grown to become the largestCanadian-owned gaming studio.Greystone Managed InvestmentsInc., Regina Greystone ManagedInvestments is an institutional invest-ment counselling firm serving theinvestment needs of pension funds,endowment funds, nonprofit organ-izations, universities, unions and cor-porations across Canada. The firm’smission is focused on understandingclients’ needs and objectives, whileproviding value-added investmentperformance.Harbour Air, Richmond, B.C. HarbourAir was founded in 1982 with twosmall de Havilland Beaver seaplanesand a plan to service the forest indus-try. Since then the company hasexpanded to become the world’s lar-gest all-seaplane airline. It provides awide range of aviation services, fromprivate charters and scenic adventuretours to scheduled flights within theB.C. region.

Infusion, Toronto Infusion is consid-ered a global leader in the field ofemerging technology. Its mission isto solve business problems by com-bining expert software engineeringwith appealing user experiences anddesign. Services include custom archi-tecture, training and mentoring, host-ing and support, and user experienceand design solutions.North Shore Credit Union, NorthVancouver For more than 70 years,North Shore Credit Union has beenproviding financial services to mem-bers in the North and West Vancouver,Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton,Vancouver and Burnaby commun-ities. It is known for its commitmentto helping its members reach theirpersonal or business goals.Rocky Mountain Soap Co. Inc.,Canmore, Alta. Rocky Mountain SoapCo. is passionately committed to find-ing the most nurturing and thera-peutic ingredients for the productionof their 100% natural bath and bodyproducts. The company began as a300-square-foot shop selling hand-made soaps. Today, it has 10 storesand a production workshop where itproduces its expanded product line.Solium Capital Inc., Calgary Solium is adeveloper of risk mitigation solutionsthat help stock plan administratorssecure the accuracy and integrity ofdata, while ensuring compliance withindustry standards. Its fully automat-ed, web-based and scalable solutionshelp to simplify daily processes foradministrators and improve service tocustomers.The Great Little Box Company,Richmond, B.C. The Great Little BoxCompany has been producing boxesand cartons for customers for morethan 25 years. From its modest begin-nings of only three employees and a5,000-sq.-ft. plant, the company hasgone through continued expansion.Today it has more than 300 employ-ees working in four locations acrossBritish Columbia and neighbouringWashington.

MID-MARKET

CBI Health Group, Toronto CBI HealthGroup is a privately-owned Canadianhealth care services and managementcompany dedicated to providing anintegrated approach to health man-agement. The company works collab-oratively with customers to deliverprecisely tailored, timely and predict-able solutions that ensure successfuloutcomes.Eagle Professional Resources Inc.,Ottawa Eagle is a privately owned pro-fessional staffing company specializ-ing in the recruitment and placementof technology, finance and account-ing professionals, as well as executiveand management consultants. With10 offices across Canada, it is one ofthe country’s most successful staffingcompanies.GoodLife Fitness, London GoodLifeFitness has been educating, motivat-ing and helping Canadians reach theirfitness goals since 1979. Its associatesare dedicated to helping customersgain strength, boost their confidence,manage their weight and enjoy life tothe fullest.Harry Rosen Inc., Toronto Harry Rosenis an iconic high-end men’s clothingspecialty retailer. Its renowned per-sonal approach to customer servicehas been its guiding principle since itwas founded six decades ago. Today,there are 15 Harry Rosen stores inseven major Canadian markets, andmore than 700 associates dedicatedto delivering customers an enjoyableand memorable experience.Maple Leaf Sports & EntertainmentLtd., Toronto MLSE is Canada’s pre-eminent leader in delivering top-qual-ity sport and entertainment experien-ces to fans. This privately held organ-ization owns the Air Canada Centre,the Toronto Maple Leafs, the TorontoRaptors, the MLS’ Toronto FC, andthe AHL’s Toronto Marlies, as well aswebsite and television properties.Maxxam Analytics, Mississauga, Ont.Founded more than 40 years ago,Maxxam is the market leader in ana-lytical services and solutions to theenergy, environmental, food and DNAindustries. Maxxam’s 2,200 dedicatedemployees proudly lead the industry

in depth of technical and scientificexpertiseandservecustomers throughits national network of laboratories.Mr. Lube Canada Inc., Delta, B.C.Founded in Edmonton in 1976 by thefather-and-son team of Arnold andClifford Giese, Mr. Lube specializes inno-hassle, fast-turnaround oil chan-ges. Since the company establishedits franchise program in 1981, it hasgrown to 115 locations from coast tocoast and become Canada’s largestquick-lube brand and automotive ser-vice provider.National Leasing, Winnipeg NationalLeasing has been providing Canadianbusinesses with equipment finan-cing since 1977. Today, it has grownto become the country’s largestCanadian lessor for small to mid-sizetransactions. It has introduced a num-ber of new innovations to the leasingindustry, including an electronic leaseapplication process to ensure rapidturnaround.Descartes Systems Group Inc.,Waterloo, Ont. Descartes is a globalleader in providing on-demand, soft-ware-as-a-service solutions focused onimproving the productivity, perform-ance and security of logistics-inten-sive businesses. Descartes’ B2B net-work, the Global Logistics Network,integrates more than 35,000 tradingpartners to its cloud-based LogisticsTechnology Platform to unite theirbusinesses in commerce.Wakefield Canada, Toronto Foundedin 2005, Wakefield Canada is a pri-vately owned company focused exclu-sively on servicing the Canadian auto-motive and commercial heavy dutyaftermarket. With an employee baseof more than 140 people, Wakefieldprovides sales, marketing and distri-bution solutions to more than 5,000customers in a broad range of sectors.

ENTERPRISE

Acklands-Grainger Inc., Richmond Hill,Ont. Acklands-Grainger is Canada’slargest distributor of industrial, safe-ty and fastener products. It has builtits success on offering customers theconvenience of a single-source solu-tion, with the largest selection of in-stock brand-name products from theworld’s top manufacturers and thelargest exclusive private-label offeringin the industry.Cineplex Entertainment, TorontoCineplex is a leading entertainmentcompany operating one of the mostmodern and fully digitized motionpicture theatre circuits in the world. Ithas 133 theatres in Canada, serving70 million guests annually. Cineplex’snumerous businesses include theat-rical exhibition, food services, gam-ing, alternative programming, media,digital solutions and online sales.CN, Montreal CN offers integratedtransportation services including rail,intermodal, trucking, freight forward-ing, warehousing and distribution.The company and its operating rail-way subsidiaries span Canada andmid-America, from the Atlantic andPacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico,serving the ports of Vancouver, PrinceRupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, NewOrleans, and Mobile, Ala., and keymetropolitan areas.LoyaltyOne, Toronto LoyaltyOne is aglobal provider of customer insightand strategy, marketing and loyaltyprograms and customer experiencemanagement to Fortune 1000 com-

panies. LoyaltyOne’s offerings includeCanada’s Air Miles Reward Program— North America’s premier coalitionloyalty program — and a full suite ofcustomer-centric service offerings.McDonald’s Restaurants of CanadaLimited, Toronto McDonald ’sRestaurants of Canada Limited and itsCanadian franchisees own and oper-ate more than 1,400 restaurants andemploy more than 80,000 Canadianscoast-to-coast. Approximately 75%of McDonald’s Canadian restaurantsare locally owned and operated byindependent entrepreneurs.National Bank, Montreal Founded inQuebec City in 1859, National Bankhas grown to become a powerful inte-grated financial group that is rankedamong the world’s strongest banks.It has a network of more than 440branches in Canada, as well as a net-work of representative offices, subsidi-aries and partnerships that serves cli-ents in the United States, Europe andother parts of the world.PCL Constructors Inc., Edmonton PCLis a group of independent construc-tion companies that carries out workacross Canada, the United States,the Caribbean and Australia. Thesediverse operations in the civil infra-structure, heavy industrial, and build-ings markets are supported by a stra-tegic presence in 32 major centers.Telus, Vancouver Telus is a leadingnational telecommunications com-pany that provides a wide range ofcommunications products and servi-ces including wireless, data, Internetprotocol (IP), voice, television, enter-tainment and video to 13 million cus-tomer connections. Telus is one of thefirst Canadian companies to be namedthe most outstanding philanthropiccorporation by the Association ofFundraising Professionals.The ALDO Group, Montreal The ALDOGroup is a privately-held companyspecializing in the design and pro-duction of quality fashion footwear,handbags and accessories. By the endof 2012, the ALDO Group will oper-ate more than 1,600 retail stores inCanada, the United States, the UnitedKingdom, and Ireland as well as in 76franchised countries.Walmart Canada, Mississauga, Ont.Established in Canada in 1994 withthe acquisition of the 122-store Woolcodivision of Woolworth Canada,Walmart Canada operates a grow-ing network of more than 300 storesacross the country, employing morethan 85,000 Canadians. Each storecarries close to 80,000 products ran-ging from apparel and home décor toelectronics and grocery.

BROADER PUBLIC SECTOR

Camp Oochigeas, Toronto CampOochigeas offers year-round pro-grams for children affected by child-hood cancer at various sites inOntario, including Muskoka, SickKidsHospital, its Ooch Downtown facil-ity in Toronto and in the community.Through its programs, 800 childrenaffected by cancer can enjoy fun andmeaningful experiences at no cost totheir families.Canada Mortgage and HousingCorporation (CMHC), Ottawa CMHCis Canada’s national housing agencydedicated to assisting Canadianswho cannot afford housing in the pri-vate market. Established in 1946, theagency has grown to become Canada’s

premier provider of mortgage loaninsurance, mortgage-backed secur-ities, housing policy and programs,and housing research.HumberCollegeInstituteofTechnologyand Advanced Learning, TorontoHumber is committed to student suc-cess through excellence in teachingand learning, providing programs for25,000 full-time and 57,000 part-timestudents. Its broad range of career-focused credentials includes bachelordegrees, diplomas, certificates andpostgraduate certificates, as well asapprenticeship training.McGill University, Montreal McGill’s 11faculties and 11 professional schoolsoffer more than 300 programs to38,000 graduate, undergraduate andcontinuing studies students. Nowcelebrating its 190th anniversary, theuniversity ranks first in Canada and18th in the world among medical-doc-toral universities.Medavie Blue Cross, Moncton MedavieBlue Cross provides health, travel, lifeand income replacement products togroup and individual customers andadministers various provincial andfederal government-sponsored healthprograms. Through subsidiary com-panies it also manages ambulanceservices in New Brunswick, NovaScotia, Prince Edward Island and theMuskoka region of Ontario.Metrolinx, Toronto Metrolinx is aGovernment of Ontario agency thatwas created to improve the co-ordina-tion and integration of all modes oftransportation in the greater Torontoand Hamilton area. The organization’smission is to champion, develop andimplement an integrated transporta-tion system for the region that enhan-ces prosperity, sustainability and qual-ity of life.Mount Sinai Hospital, TorontoConsidered one of Canada’s pre-emi-nent patient care, research and aca-demic health science centres, MountSinai Hospital is known for excel-lence in the community and beyondits borders. Its organizational goalsfocus on patient and family-centeredcare, increasing its roles as a teachinghospital and enhancing communityhealth partnerships.North York General Hospital, TorontoNorth York General Hospital is one ofCanada’s leading community teach-ing hospitals. Serving the communitysince 1968, its 5,000 staff, physiciansand volunteers provide a wide rangeof acute care, ambulatory and long-term care services at three sites. As ateaching hospital, its culture is dedi-cated to preparing future physicians,nurses and healthcare professionals.Plan Canada, Toronto Founded in1937, Plan is one of the world’s old-est and largest international develop-ment agencies dedicated to endingglobal poverty and improving the livesof children. Currently working in 68countries, it provides communitieswith the tools they need to break thecycle of poverty and build sustainablesolutions for improving their lives.Providence Health Care, VancouverProvidence is one of the largestfaith-based health care organiza-tions in Canada, operating 16 sites inVancouver. Its 1,000 physicians, 6,000staff and 1,500 volunteers deliver com-passionate care to patients and resi-dents in British Columbia while train-ing medical professionals and makinginnovative advances in research.

National Post

SR2 nationialpost.com NATIONAL POST, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012

This year’s Canada’s 10 winners represent what we have alwaysknown: Great people — who are the right fit — create great cultures,and great cultures create a competitive advantage that generatesoutstanding results — Marty Parker, Waterstone Human Capital

S P E C I A L R E P O R T

The value ofdiversity

TYLER ANDERSON / NATIONAL POST

Waterstone Human Capital CEO Marty Parker notes this year’s winners show the value of corporate culture.

B Y M A R Y T E R E S A B I T T I

In today’s business climate, cul-ture can be all.

“A strong corporate cultureis the single greatest asset anorganization can have andthe really great organizationsknow this,” says Marty Parker,president and CEO of executivesearch firm Waterstone HumanCapital, creator of Canada’s10 Most Admired CorporateCultures program and authorof Culture Connection: Howdeveloping a winning culturewill give your organization acompetitive advantage. “Theseorganizations understand thatculture drives performance.”

They also understand thatfor culture to drive results, thatmessage has to come from thetop.

“There is a definite aware-ness that culture starts withleadership and that in order tobuild a strong corporate cultureyou have to hire for fit,” Mr. Par-ker says. “In our 2011 CanadianCorporate Culture Study, 85%of respondents reported that fitwas more important than skillswhen hiring. This is up from37%, when we first started con-ducting this survey of businessleaders in 2003.”

The fact is skills are the costof entry, as success is the costof entry at the leadership level.

The question is, how were yousuccessful? That comes downto organizational fit, Mr. Parkersays. “Defining fit isnoteasy. It’sreally about understanding thebehaviours that make peoplesuccessful in your organizationtoday and finding those in newhires. Organizations realize en-gaged employees drive results.The question is, how do you getengaged employees? When youfeel simpatico, that’s alignmentand that is fit. And it starts withdefining who you are as an or-ganization.”

Mr. Parker points to Mr.Lube, one of this year’s Can-ada’s 10 Most Admired Cor-porate Cultures winners, as aleadership and company thathave done just that. “Mr. LubeCEO Stuart Suls has reallyfigured out who they are andall their systems are alignedaround what you and I mightcall work/life balance but whatthey call One Life,” Mr. Parkersays. “In his view, your life isboth professional and personal.If you have to take your childto the doctor during a workday, then do it, but it’s also ex-pected that you will get thethings you have to do done. It’sup to the individual how thathappens. It’s not balance. It’sone life. Culture and the studyof culture is about what makesyou, you. Organizations knowif they get that right and align

themselves to culture, engage-ment and outcomes will follow.It is the first step to recruitingfor fit.”

Mr. Parker outlines a fewkey best practices to help en-sure you are bringing the rightpeople into your corporate cul-ture:Know yourself Find your highperformersacross theorganiza-tion and across functions. Talkto them and observe them, tounderstand what makes themsuccessful. Consistent themeswill emerge in terms of howpeople are successful. “Onceyou do that and identify thosecore behaviours you can articu-late your corporate culture.For example, at Waterstone wedescribe ourselves as humble,hungry, smart, in that order.It took us a long time to figurethat out but that is the key toour culture and to succeedinghere. We are a professionalservices firm and so humilityis important; we are here toserve and support our clients.Hungry is important becauseyou have to work hard in ourbusiness or you won’t survive.Finally, judgment is critical inour business. How you behaveis the cornerstone of culture.”Practice continuous recruit-ment Sit down with yourleadership teams and figureout which roles could lead tosuccession issues. Identify yourtop talent and where they couldgo in the organization and dis-cuss what you can do now toprepare those high potentialpeople to move forward. Thenext step is to create a virtualbenchof candidates—thesearepeople outside the company towatch. This isn’t about contact-ing them; it’s about knowingwho the high performers are.

It’s a good idea to have your HRteam identify businesses thatshare a similar corporate cul-ture as they are logical placesto look when the time comes.Doing this will also give youcompetitive and market intel-ligence on that function or role.If you want to recruit for fit,you can’t just look inside yourown organization or rely onsearch firms. It takes time.Interview for fit Start at thebeginning, because that’s howlife works. You want to find outtheir career arc because thiswill also give you insight intohow their life unfolded: thejudgments they made, wherethey got lucky, how they movedfrom one role to another, howthey used a network, theirthinking from one role toanother. As you do this, collectthe names of people the candi-

date reported to and workedwith. This will allow you todevelop your own gut feel intohow and why things happenedand will give you an under-standing of the person as wellas a list of people to contact.Look beyond the interviewHow did the candidate inter-act with the person at recep-tion? Conduct follow-up non-interview meetings outside theoffice. “I have a wonderful cli-ent who goes through a rigor-ous process that doesn’t feellike a process. It feels like build-ing friendships and alwaysends up with lunch or dinner,most likely with a spouse...The objective is to try and getto know the whole person soyou can determine if the behav-iours that led to their successare transferrable to your workenvironment. For example,

if you want to find out if theyare resourceful, when you bookthe second meeting give themthe opportunity to talk to X toprepare for the interview. Theiraction or non-action gives youmore information.”Recruit ing for f it shouldnever take place on an islandThis means seeking the opin-ion of the judgment stars inyour organization. They are theskeptics ... you should includethem in the process. Thendebrief as a group. Live sharingof feedback triggers richer con-versations and leads to moreinsights. Talk about the behav-iours you’re looking for, whereyou saw it. And if you haven’tfound it, point that out. Thisisn’t about filling a role. It’sabout finding a fit.Direct the referencing pro-cess Use those names youcollected in the chronologicalinterview. “What we want in areferencing report isn’t glowingremarks; we want a 360 viewof the individual. It’s a changein mindset and it’s a hard one,but it’s important.”Build an integration planbased on your culture Itshould include mentoring andshowing your new hires exactlywhat you do and how you doit. When they represent thatbehaviour, make a fuss about it.Have a third party — someonethey do not report to — touchbase at regular interviews. Thiswill allow you to cut off poten-tial issues, which often comedown to misunderstandings.

At the end of the day, recruit-ing for fit is a process. “It startswith understanding who youare and it ends with under-standing who you are,” Mr. Par-ker says.

National Post

NATIONAL POST, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 nationalpost.com SR3C O R P O R A T E C U L T U R E

Defining fit is not easy. It’s really about understandingthe behaviours that make people successful in your organizationand finding those in new hires. Organizations realize engagedemployees drive results

Key to success:Hiring for fit

GETTY CREATIVE IMAGES

Recruiting for fit is key to a high-functioning workplace.

TogetherWe thank our 23,000 proud railroadersfor their dedication, teamwork and passion.

Find your place at CN. Visit jobs.cn.ca

B Y P A U L B R E N T

Many companies continue tobelieve that their corporate cul-ture and brand are distinct andindependent. One is largely aninside attribute, while the otheris the face that it presents tothose outside the organization.

The best ones know the twoare inseparable: Culture is yourbrand; brand is your culture.

One of the pioneers when itcame to the recognition of thesymbiotic relationship betweenculture and brand was telecom-munications giant Telus Corp.In 2000, under the leadershipof president and CEO DarrenEntwistle, the Vancouver-basedcompany began the process oftying the Telus brand (“The Fu-ture is Friendly”) to the organ-ization’s cultural value.

Telus invested the time andeffort because it recognizedthat its people, not its technol-ogy, were what set it apart fromits many competitors.

“At Telus we fundamentallybelieve that culture is the onlysustainable competitive advan-tage,” says Josh Blair, execu-tive vice-president of humanresources and chief corpor-ate officer. “At the end of theday your peers can copy yourtechnology, they can copy yourprocesses, they can copy yourpricing plans in the market. Webelieve that the only sustain-able advantage you can have isyour culture.”

Telus identified four values

that defined its corporate cul-ture: embrace change and initi-ate opportunity; have a passionfor growth; believe in spiritedteamwork; and have the cour-age to innovate.

“Really, what your brand isis the sum total of your employ-ees’ behaviours and efforts insupport of your customers,” Mr.Blair says. “That becomes howyour customers see you as acompany, and that is why theyare so linked.”

Telus has made an effort tolink its brand and culture toemployees’ remuneration, bas-ing its annual performancebonus paid to staff on a 50-50split between what they de-livered and also how they didit: In other words, how theyembraced the values of thecompany’s culture and brandpromise.

That linkage between a greatculture and brand connectiontranslating into top-drawer fi-nancial performance is whatreally sets the Canada’s 10 MostAdmired Corporate Culturesaward program apart fromother efforts to recognize or-ganizations that have achievebest employer status. Thoseprograms typically give the nodto companies that have createdan employee-friendly work-place, but pay less attention tofinancial matters.

“Canada’s 10 really proves,particularly to those moreskeptical CEOs, that if you canget your culture and your busi-ness in line, you will see great

rewards financially,” says Alex-anderYounger, CEO of Toronto-based online marketing agencyDesign Lab and Canada’s 10vice-chairman. “A happy teamequals a happy balance sheet.”

Mr. Younger, vice-chairmanof the program for two years,says that there is still “a lot ofroom for improvement” amongCanadian companies large andsmall. “CEOs of companies thatare not going to win this awardtypically are very results-fo-cused, at the expense of looking

at what creates those results. Itis beyond just simply gettingthings done; it is about how youget things done. And cultureis about how you enable yourteams to get things done in away that gets the results youare after and doing so in long-term sustainable manner.”

Companies that are lookingto improve the connection be-tween their culture and brandwould do well to approach theissue the same way that Can-ada’s 10 does. “The first place

we start, both for culture andbrand, is ‘Who are you? Whatare you trying to be and howare you representing that?’ ”Mr. Younger says.

“It is quite funny becauseyou can go into small or largecompanies and ask them somepretty basic, commonsensequestions and they kind ofpause and say, ‘Oh, we don’treally know,’ ” he says.

“It’s clarity on why you arethere and what you are doing,”he adds. “Everyone likes a mis-

sion and goals. When you canwalk into a company and theycan articulate their goals andtheir raison d’être, they are do-ing a lot of things right.”

He points to Calgary-basedairline WestJet as a great ex-ample of a company that hasrecognized and strengthenedthe linkage between their cul-ture and brand.

For companies hoping toreplicate the success of a West-Jet or Telus in marrying thecompany brand with the cul-ture, they should realize that itis a lengthy, difficult process.

“It takes extensive effort,”says Mr. Blair of Telus. “It hasgot to be something you arevery purposeful about, some-thing that you spend a lot ofhours on, and I think it has gotto come from the CEO on down.I don’t think it is somethingthat the HR department cando alone.” He notes that Telus’sCEO has conducted nine sep-arate full-day training sessionswith leaders across the countryover the past year to supportthe culture and brand connec-tion at the company.

As for the chicken-or-eggquestion of what comes first,the Telus executive has a quickanswer. “The brand has to”come first, he says. “For us, itwas the brand first, ‘The Futureis Friendly,’ and it was, ‘Whatare the core values we are go-ing to live as a company to getthere?’ and then we defined ourfour culture values.”

National Post

SR4nationalpost.com NATIONAL POST, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012S P E C I A L R E P O R T

What your brand is is the sum total of your employees’ behavioursand efforts in support of your customers. That becomes how yourcustomers see you as a company, and that is why they are so linked— Josh Blair, Telus Corp.

CULTURE, BRAND GO HAND IN HAND

BRENT GUNDLOCK / POSTMEDIA NEWS SERVICE

Alexander Younger of Design Lab: “A happy team equals a happy balance sheet.”

B Y P A U L B R E N T

Whether we consciously real-ized it or not, all of us havewitnessed first-hand the resultof terrible corporate cultures.Whether it’s poor service, un-caring sales teams or the gen-eral sense that the companywould be as happy to do with-out your business as it wouldbe to take it, all are instancesof bad cultures in action.

“With weak corporate cul-tures you usually have thingslike high turnover, customerswith medium to low levels ofsatisfaction and just gener-ally they are not as successful,”says Larry Rosen, chief execu-tive officer and chairman ofhigh-end men’s wear retailerHarry Rosen Inc.

By contrast, companieswith strong corporate culturesstand out and compel peopleto seek them out, the retailernotes. “Isn’t it exciting to gointo an Apple store and seethe passion that the peopleworking in the store have forthe product? How excitingit is, how busy it is, becausethere is something going onthere. [Apple] is an example ofa great culture.”

Just as visitors to an Appleoutlet effortlessly soak up theculture of cutting-edge tech-nology, simplicity and service,people almost instinctivelyrecognize the opposite, saysthe retail executive.

“There are also companiesthat you go into and you real-ize that they don’t have a loveof their customer: Loving yourcustomer, wanting to makeyour customer extremelysatisfied, is a cornerstone ofa great corporate culture,” hesays. When encountering apoor corporate culture, “youfeel like a number; you shopthere because you have to andif a better alternative existed”you would take it.

Harry Rosen’s customer-first culture traces its rootsback to the company’s hum-ble beginnings in 1954, whenLarry’s father and his uncleLou opened a made-to-meas-ure store on Parliament St. inToronto. “Like all great entre-preneurs they willed a busi-ness into existence throughtheir passion, their love of thecustomer,” says the second-generation retailer. “Theylearned about each customer,they kept records, they ser-viced their needs and they de-veloped a very, very personalinteraction with their custom-ers.”

Harry Rosen managed to

hang on to that customer-centric focus even as it addedstaff and stores, growing intoa company today that includes16 stores and nearly $300-mil-lion in sales.

While the men’s wear retail-er was fortunate to hit upona winning corporate culturefrom the start and have vision-ary founders ensuring that thecompany did not stray fromits winning formula, a largepercentage of businesses arenot so fortunate.

It’s a reality that John De-Hart knows only too well. Theco-founder and chief execu-tive of Nurse Next Door HomeCare Services of Vancouversoon learned that creating abusiness and creating a suc-cessful culture do not neces-

sarily go hand in hand.“We started the business

11 years ago and, just like anyentrepreneur, when we starta business we have the bestof intentions to build a greatcompany with great people,”he says. “A funny thing hap-pens when you build a busi-ness: Your culture builds itselfif you do not really focus on it.”

In the case of Mr. DeHart’scompany, torrid growth goingfrom zero employees to 1,000employees in just four years,meant Nurse Next Door creat-ed a culture by default, ratherthan by design.

The CEO was not happywith the end product. “I lit-erally walked in the door andlooked around and said, ‘Thisis not a happy place, I am not

a happy entrepreneur and Idon’t have a happy company.’I certainly experienced what abad culture is within my owncompany.”

Mr. DeHart became “a stu-dent of culture” after thatCEO epiphany. Formerly anentrepreneur in the high-techindustry in Europe and theUnited States, he set out toexamine “the best brands thatendured the test of time,” suchas Southwest Airlines. He soonfound all of these powerfulbrands had equally powerfulcultures behind them stem-ming from a foundation ofcore values that were broughtto life in every level of the or-ganization.

“We realized that was thesecret: To take these kind of

airy-fairy concepts called corevalues and bring thing to life,”he says.

Over the past six years, thecompany has “been maniacal”about its culture and turnedthings around to the extentthat it is now recognized forhaving a top culture and regu-lar winner of ‘great workplace’awards.

Mr. DeHart says the warn-ing signs of a poor or toxic cor-porate culture are not obviousbut are instead evidenced byoperational challenges thatnever seem to go away.

For example, attracting andkeeping top talent is more dif-ficult for businesses with weakcultures. “If you don’t have agreat culture you are not goingto keep them that long unlessyou are consistently payingso above market that you areprobably not as competitive”as direct rivals.

In Nurse Next Door’s early“bad culture” years, Mr. De-Hart recalls difficulty attract-ing the best people and suffer-ing from high turnover amonghis staff.

“It is very expensive overtime because you are alwayspaying more, hiring costs areexpensive, training costs areexpensive and a new employ-ee takes six months to a yearto really get up to speed.”

Inability to keep their bestpeople, replace them or de-liver on their service promiseto customers, are all productsof a poorly performing corpor-ate culture and can ultimatelyhobble a business, he says.

“It is one of the big nega-tive impacts that only showsup after years after building abusiness.”

National Post

NATIONAL POST, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 nationalpost.com SR5

With weak corporate cultures you usually have things like highturnover, customers with medium to low levels of satisfactionand just generally they are not as successful — Larry Rosen,CEO/chairman, Harry Rosen Inc.

Overcomingculture shock

FRESH START

SPECIAL PHOTOGRAPH

Nurse Next Door co-founder John DeHart learned the value of establishing culture early.

C O R P O R A T E C U L T U R E

Mr. Lube is proud to be ranked among the nation’s “best places towork” as one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures™ of2012. We love what we do and who we do it with, and it shows inevery aspect of our business. Congratulations to the entire Mr. Lubefamily. We’re honoured to be in such great company.

Learn more at mrlube.com

We loveour work

We loveour team

We’re not theonly ones

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has been Canada’s national housing agency for more than 65 years.

La Société canadienne d’hypothèques et de logement (SCHL) est l’organisme national responsable de l’habitation auCanada, et ce, depuis plus de 65 ans.

ThankYouto our employees for your passion, professionalismand performance. Together we make a difference.CMHC is honoured to be named one of Canada’s 10 mostadmired corporate cultures in the broader public sector.

Mercià nos employés pour leur passion,leur professionnalisme et leurs réalisations.Ensemble, nous changeons le cours des choses.C’est un honneur pour la SCHL d’avoir été nommée l’un desdix organismes les plus admirés pour leur culture d’entreprisedans l’ensemble du secteur public canadien.

B Y D E N I S E D E V E A U

For small-cap businesses, having theright people on board can be a make-or-break factor in ensuring ongoingsuccess.

Founders of emerging companiesare under more pressure than othertypes of businesses when it comes tohiring, says David Kinley, presidentand vice-chairman of WaterstoneHuman Capital Inc. in Toronto.

“An emerging company could dieovernight if they don’t have the rightpeople around the founder,” Mr. Kin-ley says. “But with the right people,they can flourish.”

Having a solid team in place is es-pecially critical to keeping the busi-ness culture on track after the found-er leaves, he explains.

“In many ways, it’s the founderthat sets the culture [of a small-capcompany]. But they also need to putthe right things in place to sustain it.”

At Canada Goose, a manufacturerof extreme weather outerwear, pres-ident Dani Reiss agrees that culturestarts from the top.

“In our case, it was created with-out me knowing it,” Mr. Reiss says.“It revolved around me being pas-sionate, enthusiastic and collabora-tive about everything we do.”

That approach has always played akey role in his hiring decisions, and ithas permeated the company culture

to drive exponential growth. SinceMr. Reiss took over in 1997, CanadaGoose has grown 3,500% and em-ployees have expanded from 40 to1,000 across the country.

Given that his business modeltends to “swim upstream” and notfollow convention, it’s critical for Mr.Reiss to attract and retain like-mind-ed people. “This atmosphere drawscertain types and rejects others. It’salmost a self-selection thing,” he ad-mits.

Like Canada Goose, The GreatLittle Box Company’s culture startedwith Bob Meggy, president and CEO.He bought the assets of the businesswhen it was in receivership in theearly 1980s and built the corporateculture from the ground up.

Over the years he has refined hiscultural approach to five key prin-ciples — all of which revolve aroundpeople. First and foremost is hiringfor fit.

“Basically. we want nice people,because a poor choice can cost youthree times that person’s salary. Agood one earns you three times theirsalary,” Mr. Meggy says.

Second is tailoring recognitionand appreciation to meet employeeneeds and wants. Third is ensuringpeople understand what is requiredon the job. The other components areinternal communications and em-ployee work life. The company alsohas a profit-sharing plan that Mr.Meggy says plays a big part in gettingeveryone on board and focused onresults.

Thanks to his efforts, turnover is

extremely low and the company con-tinues to thrive despite the fact com-petitors are struggling. “Manufactur-ing is going downhill for some, butwe’re growing all the time,” he says.

At Greystone Managed Invest-

ments in Regina, employees accountfor a large number of the business’shareholders.

“The opportunity to be a share-holder is available to everyone, notjust certain positions,” notes Nola

Joorisity, managing director andchief financial officer. “I think thatmakes us fairly unique.”

With 130 employees, Greystone isa relatively small business. Regard-less of the size, however, “We havealways had an emphasis on creatinga good culture and a good place towork,” says Rob Vanderhooft, CEOand chief investment officer. “As theorganization grew, we needed to be abit more formalized to help maintainand perpetuate that culture.”

A strong client service ethos lies atthe heart of the firm’s success, notesFrank Hart, president and managingdirector. “Teamwork and giving backto the community are baked into ourDNA. As an investment firm, we be-lieve that groups make better deci-sions than individuals, so we don’thave star investors. Everyone makesdecisions collaboratively.”

A testament to the success of thisapproach is the fact that Greystone isthe only investment management firmto rank in the top seven of the FocusElite Group, a distinction that is basedon employee surveys on culture.

Given the relatively small employeenumbers, establishing a cultural con-nection with everyone is a criticalcornerstone in Greystone’s success.

“The evaluation [of new hires]works two ways,” Ms. Joorisity says.“The person has to fit the culture andwe have to fit them. When Frank camein as president, he had to go throughthe same process as any new hire. Noone gets a pass when it comes to cul-tural fit.”

National Post

B Y D E N I S E D E V E A U

Building a successful corpor-ate culture can often demandbig changes when you’re amid-market company. In manycases, leaders coming into thefold are faced with legacy pro-grams that don’t exactly suit agrowing business. At the sametime, they need to strike theright balance between preserv-ing existing cultural strengthsand establishing a new direc-tion that suits the times.

When Art Mesher, CEO ofDescartes Systems Group Inc.,took the helm of the Waterloo,Ont.-based company eight-and-a-half years ago, his firststep was to take all stakehold-ers through a formalized cul-ture framework that wouldturn the software service pro-vider from a culture of sellingto a culture of serving.

The acronym they came upwith was LEARN (Listening,Educating, Articulating, Re-searching and Networking).Since establishing that frame-work the company has experi-enced eight consecutive yearsof exceeding revenue andprofit expectations.

“When I’m asked why, I’mvery convinced it’s because wehave a metrics-driven culturethat is focused on results andaligns with our business strat-egy,” he says.

For Mr. Mesher, culture ismuch more than promises totreat employees fairly or behonest with your customers.“That’s what everyone shouldbe doing anyway. What makesa business tick is how the cul-ture is aligned. To do that youhave to lead with a frameworkand tools managers can use.”

A major principle that ledthe cultural transformationwas a commitment on every-one’s part to park egos at thedoor, he says. “Everyone — in-cluding customers and suppli-ers — needed to work togetherin a transparent way.”

It’s very simple for those in-volved, Mr. Mesher notes. “If

a person fits the culture, theytend to stay a very long time.If not, they leave really fast. I’dsay a majority of our peoplehave been here more thanfive years, and a large numberhave been here 10 to 15. That’sremarkable for a technology-based industry.”

Stuart Suls, president andCEO of the rapidly growingMr. Lube franchise in Delta,B.C., believes that it’s the cor-porate culture that has al-lowed the business to grow35% in the last five years. Infact, expectations are it willsee another 20% growth overthe next three years.

That prosperity wasn’t al-ways the case. The companystarted in 1976 as a family-owned operation. By the early2000s its growth had stalledfor the most part. So when Mr.Suls joined the firm in 2008,he took a good, hard look atthe business culture.

“I felt we had two distinctcamps. There were a lot ofelements of the family val-ues business culture. At thesame time, we needed a pub-

lic model that required a morestructured formal processaround governance and pro-fessional management.”

In looking at the disparatepieces, Mr. Suls could see thatthe culture wasn’t as well de-fined as it could be, so franchis-ees and suppliers weren’t work-ing well together. “What I sawwas a really well-intentionedgroup of people who weren’ttalking the same language orcommunicating effectively.”

The new cultural strategyfocused on making sure every-body understood what theywere talking about, he says.

“It was about communica-tions, professionalism, respectand believing what others hadto say was important. Thenonce we actually followedup on what we said we weregoing to do, it led to a muchmore open environment.”

One policy of note is ac-knowledging any communica-tion that comes in within twohours, whether you have theanswer or not.

“It’s a way of saying [to yourcustomers], ‘I see you, I hearyou, and I’m looking you inthe eye.’ ”

Another is his One Life ap-proach, in which employeesare given the space to do whatis natural in their lives.

Ultimately, Mr. Suls be-lieves that whatever the busi-ness, people do want to worktogether. “Sometimes, theyjust don’t know how.”

National Post

SR6 nationalpost.com NATIONAL POST, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012

Climate change partof push for success

SPECIAL PHOTOGRAPH

Stuart Suls, CEO of Mr. Lube, says the company emphasison corporate culture helped power significant growth.

Make-or-break factor

MATTHEW SHERWOOD / POSTMEDIA NEWS SERVICE

Dani Reiss, president of Canada Goose, notes a passion at the top of acompany can have positive influence throughout.

We have always had an emphasis on creating a good culture anda good place to work. As the organization grew, we needed to be a bitmore formalized to help maintain and perpetuate that culture— Rob Vanderhooft, Greystone Managed Investments

S P E C I A L R P O R T

Acklands-Grainger is proud to be recognized as one ofCanada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures for 2012

2,600 Team Members

6 Distribution Centres

175 Branches

120,000 In-StockProducts

1.888.602.0000acklandsgrainger.com

1 of Canada’s Most AdmiredCorporate Cultures

G R O W T H /S M A L L C A P

M I D - M A R K E T

B Y D E N I S E D E V E A U

When the conversation turnsto corporate culture, thebroader public sector can pro-vide a somewhat unique per-spective.

“The major difference is thatthe private sector primarilyhas a single bottom line,” saysHeather Connelly, managingdirector, public sector practicefor Waterstone Human Capitalin Toronto. “The public sec-tor has multiple bottom lines,so leadership has to be able tonavigate through all that.”

Given that salaries can belower and the hours longerthan the private sector, cultureis an exceptionally importantdrawing card, she adds. “Theculture must find other waysof accommodating their pas-sion for a cause. If they havea really rich culture whosevalues align with those of itspeople, generally they willstay the course and performbetter.”

Leaders at CMHC (CanadaMortgage and Housing Corp.)

in Ottawa have learned to beproficient at balancing mul-tiple bottom lines. Accordingto Karen Kinsley, president:“Not only is our mission tohelp house Canadians thatare unable to address hous-ing through their own means,we also operate as a crowncorporation in a competitivecommercial environment. Sowe have two distinct aspectsto our mandate: social policyand commercial operations.”

She notes that the key tosuccess is the strength of thepartnerships it develops, in-cluding industry, stakeholdersand community groups. What-ever the interaction may be,passion, professionalism andperformance are embeddedin every aspect of the corpor-ate culture. “These have beenpart of the CMHC DNA formany, many years,” Ms. Kins-ley notes.

She strongly believes thatculture in an organization hasa direct impact on perform-ance. “What we are saying isnothing new in terms of our

organization, but it’s certainlysomething we have alwayshighly valued and respected.”The tie-in between culture andbusiness success is reflectedin the fact that CMHC has ex-perienced a 12-fold increase inactivity levels for the organiza-tion in the past two-and-a-halfyears alone.

“It all comes back to the keyelements of our culture,” Ms.Kinsley says. “The first is vi-sion and knowing how to turnthat vision into reality. Thesecond is a strong focus on re-sults and having regimented

systems to measure progress.The third is working in part-nerships to lead activitieswith and through them. Oncepeople understand that, allyou have to do is get out of theway and let the commitment,passion and dedication of youremployees go to work.”

Plan Canada president andCEO Rosemary McCarneyin Toronto also understandswhat it takes to juggle manydifferent priorities and stake-holders. The organizationworks with 65,000 commun-ities globally in its mission to

support and promote humanrights. “We must always keepan eye on what that means tothose people and their com-munities,” she says. “At thesame time, we are interfacingwith the more than 200,000Canadians who support us.”

She describes Plan Canada’srole as a bridge between thosewho trust them with theirhard-earned after-tax dollarsand delivering on the prom-ise to the communities andchildren they serve. “Trust forthe donors and communitieswe serve is sacred. Our role

is to bring back stories, anddemonstrate accountabilityand financial reporting to ourdonors. We also talk to thecommunities about what theywant to know about Canadiandonors.”

The other stakeholdergroup that carries equalweight is Plan Canada staff,Ms. McCarney says. “If they’renot able to perform their best,if they’re not committed tothe mission and business ofthe organizations, we can’tmake this happen. If we dosomething wrong our reputa-tion suffers, as well as the not-for-profit sector as a whole inCanada.”

Staying aligned and trueto the values of the organiza-tion permeates each aspect ofoperations, from the peoplewho travel to vulnerable com-munities to those who man-age the fort back home. “On-boarding here is a continuousprocess because the world anddevelopment needs change allthe time.”

According to Ms. McCarney,the mission is the easy part toembrace. “It’s not always aseasy to fulfill. The businessside of running a not-for-profit organization is equallyimportant. You can’t be true tothe mission if you don’t havegreat financial and report-ing systems, flawless IT, andprocesses that help you maketough choices. In our world,everything is based on trustand confidence.”

National Post

B Y D E N I S E D E V E A U

Sustaining a corporate culturewithin a large-scale enterprisecan take on larger-than-lifeproportions. The scope andcomplexity of staying thecourse with a corporate cul-ture is especially challengingwhen dealing with leadershiptransitions, market growth,and ongoing structural chan-ges.

Claude Mongeau, presidentand CEO for CN in Montreal,says the company has under-gone a remarkable journeyover the past 17 years. “Westarted from being a crowncorporation that had a stodgycorporate culture and wasclearly not the best railroad.From that point we have seta bold vision and executionof a business agenda that hastransformed us into a NorthAmerican leader in rail trans-portation.”

In transforming the culture,CN began by creating a lad-der to success, he explains. “Itstarts with accountability. Ac-countability breeds execution.Discipline breeds reliability.And engagement brings in-novation.”

Since 1995, the companyhas gone from just under a$2-billion market capitaliza-tion to $35-billion and ranksamong the fifth-largest com-panies in the country.

The biggest point of pride forMr. Mongeau, however, is the23,000 employees he calls pas-sionate railroaders. “They arethe key ingredient. Railroadsall have the same locomotives,tracks and markets. But thepeople are why CN is leadingby such a wide margin.”

Another enterprise that hasundergone a renaissance inits own right is Toronto-basedCineplex Entertainment. Hav-ing executed some major deals,including the purchase of Fam-ous Players in 2005, Ellis Jacob,president and CEO, describesthe activity as a move to drivethe “reincarnation of the movieexperience.”

For Mr. Jacob, “It’s all aboutthe people at the end of theday. Whether it’s someone athead office or a part-time stu-dent at the theatre, winningis all about the employee.”

Employee engagement

is critical because Cineplextouches countless numbers ofpeople across the country, hebelieves.

“Our focus has always beena passion for excellence andkeeping the experience rel-evant for our guests.”

The common trait everyonefrom the top down at Cineplexhas is the passion to succeedand to provide guests with thebest experience possible, hesays.

“We call it the Cineplex way.A lot of people work on thefront lines, and they all feel partof this wonderful company.”

Cineplex keeps the momen-tum going by offering all sortsof perks, from scholarshipopportunities to free movies.“It’s all about keeping themengaged. We truly believe thateveryone here is doing some-thing really important,” Mr.Jacob says.

While selling safety equip-ment may not have quite theglam quotient as the enter-tainment industry, RichmondHill-based Acklands-Grain-ger is a company that has anequally compelling corporateculture success story to tell.

As a business that prides

itself on customer service,the company has quadrupledsales revenues in the past 10years to $1-billion by focus-ing on expanding services toits existing customer base andstrategic acquisitions to reachnew markets. Behind that suc-cess is the people factor, saysEric Nowlin, president.

“We have 2,800 team mem-bers who would jump throughhoops or run through a brickwall to get a rush order to acustomer in the oil sands orget a large piece of equipmentto a transportation client. Thatis what has made us a leader

in MRO [maintenance, repairand operation] distributionin Canada. It sounds trite, butwhen you can execute well,you create a reason for cus-tomers to rely on you.”

Having recently joined thefirm, Donna Pascal, vice-pres-ident of human resources,says the culture was a signifi-cant drawing card.

“They really do walk thetalk. Their performance driv-ers — wow the customer, havea winning attitude, drive forthe best results, make theteam better and lead the way— are on everyone’s perform-

ance review. This is a com-pany that has a very clear dir-ection on where it wants to goand the behaviours it expectsits people to follow. It’s veryimportant that people join-ing us have the right valuesystem.”

Mr. Nowlin says a lot of timeis spent on ensuring culturalfit for all of its people. “I feellike we have a very engagedteam that understands theirrole in achieving our goals:helping customers save timeand money so they come backagain and again.”

National Post

NATIONAL POST, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 nationalpost.com SR7C O R P O R A T E C U L T U R E

It’s all about the people at the end of the day. Whether it’s someoneat head office or a part-time student at the theatre, winning isall about the employee — Ellis Jacob, president/CEO, CineplexEntertainment

LARGER-THAN-LIFE CULTURE FIT

TYLER ANDERSON / POSTMEDIA NEWS SERVICE

Cineplex CEO Ellis Jacob says staff throughout the organization are on board with the concept of providing customers a happy theatre experience.

Negotiating a mazeof bottom lines

DAVE CHAN / POSTMEDIA NEWS SERVICE

CMHC president Karen Kinsley says the organization’s multiple mission statementsprovide a tricky course for staff to manoeuvre.

E N T E R P R I S E

B R O A D E R P U B L I C S E C T O R

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