The “Big Shift” Summit: Four companies awarded 2012

Best Employers Awards for 50-Plus Canadians

Calgary, Alberta, February 6, 2012 – Four companies from across Canada received a Best Employers Award for 50-Plus Canadians™ (BEA) today during the seventh annual Summit on the Mature Workforce.

An independent panel of judges from various sectors and regions across Canada assessed applicants in the areas of career development, retention, recruitment, workplace culture/practices, benefits, management practices, health support, retirement/retiree practices, pension and/or recognition, with regard to how they effect older workers

This year’s winners are:

AltaGas – New to the BEA winner’s circle this year, AltaGas Ltd. strongly recognizes the value behind the employees that drive it. AltaGas’s innovative Retiree Resource Pool program was designed with mutual-benefit in mind, where retirees are given the opportunity to do project work for the company while sharing their knowledge and skillsets with current employees who can benefit from previous experience in company culture, systems, processes and people.  AltaGas has also expanded their benefits program past the age of 65, and offers flexible work schedules.

Seven Oaks General Hospital (SOGH) in Winnipeg. – SOGH is counted as a leader among community health centers for its approach to holistic care, healing and wellness. SOGH continues to lead for its efforts to promote and support the health of its own employees, not just the patients it serves. They completely overhauled their Health Organization strategy to reengage its workers.  While Seven Oaks works tirelessly to proactively and collaboratively remove the administrative and environmental barriers within their organization to provide resources that assist a greater focus on direct patient care, their new Health Organization strategy is also strongly modeled around retaining and engaging the older nurses and staff that make this care possible.  This includes significant improvements on its employee retention practices, retirement planning, succession, work-life balance, mentoring, knowledge-transfer and various incentives to keep potential retirees engaged and in the workforce.

WalMart Canada – The retail supergiant makes headlines this year with it’s outstanding, diverse culture that continues to strongly welcome the inclusion and engagement of its older workers. Walmart boasts a company culture that’s based on the fundamental principles of mutual respect, and maximizes employee excellence by promoting continuous learning and growth from within.  It seeks to retain and engage workers of all ages by use of benefit programs, extensive career and professional development opportunities, retiree-planning and engagement, listening, recognition and sustainability initiatives as well as frequent, open communications between all ranks of staff. Walmart continues to build on its recruitment strategy that eliminates bias in the hiring process.

Bethany Care Society – Bethany Care continues to push the envelope in 2012 on employee recruitment, retention and flexible workplace practices for it’s older workers. Bethany is one of Western Canada’s largest not-for-profit providers of health, housing and support for seniors and persons with disabilities. Understanding the challenges of a multi-generational workplace, Bethany has designed a five-point human resources strategy that was developed specifically with their older workers in mind. One innovative example from this strategy is their generous employee benefit program. Full time benefits are extended to part-time employees, and both continue to be eligible for benefits beyond age 65.

“These four winners stood out from the rest with their innovative approaches to retirement, management practices and attracting and retaining mature workers,” says Workplace Institute’s Barbara Jaworski, founder of the awards and author of KAA-BOOM! How to Engage the 50-Plus Worker and Beat the Workforce Crisis. She sees encouraging trends in this year’s results, with all but one organization a repeat winner.

The judging panel for this year’s awards were: Jean-Guy Souliere, Chair Federal Seniors Council. Ellie Berger Professor, Nippissing University. Kevin Maynard, Executive Director, Supply Chain Sector Council.

The Best Employer Awards for 50-Plus Canadians are open to all Canadian companies with more than 10 employees. Winners were selected based on an application and meeting the criteria for the awards. These are excellence in the areas of career development, retention, recruitment, workplace culture/practices, management practices, health support, retirement/retiree practices, benefits, pension and/or recognition.

Thank you so much to all our applicants and participants for your continuing interest in promoting the older worker and confronting older-workforce issues.  Congratulations to our winners!  See you in 2013!