18 October 2008
Career Track at CP Onward, Upward
Calgary Alberta - This year's list of Canada's top
employers is out and it shows Calgary companies are competing with the cream of the crop across the nation. Nowhere is that more
obvious than at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.
The company's workforce planning strategy has enabled Canadian Pacific to stay ahead of workplace trends to offer one of the best
total compensation packages on the market.
It has also helped the company grow its workforce substantially amid an ongoing labour shortage.
"We're one of the few companies that has gone quite far with respect to workforce planning," says Paul Wajda, director of
talent acquisition and development. "A lot of our people are retiring - more than average - so we've put in a lot of effort... to
figure out what pockets are where, what skill sets are needed, (and) as everybody leaves, the wheel turns and people get
promotions."
Managers routinely survey employees to determine what programs they can offer to stay ahead of market trends.
Community involvement, it turns out, is one of the biggest things that draws employees to work for a company. In response, CP sends
out its Spirit Train in support of local food banks (Editor: Doesn't the writer mean "Holiday Train"?) every
year as it rattles through the communities where it operates.
The company is also highly involved with the United Way and encourages its employees to take part in various initiatives throughout
the year.
The unique geographic spread of CP means employees can literally work in communities across Canada, but that also brings some
management challenges.
"Because we are from Vancouver to Montreal, we have to hire people every 100 kilometres and that presents a bit of a challenge
compared to a having a single plant," says Wajda. "We have hundreds of facilities we have to staff up on."
While the economic forecast is highly uncertain right now, workers are still in scarce supply and unemployment levels at the company's
head office in Calgary remain at full employment, about 3.5 percent unemployed.
The annual ranking by Mediacorp is meant to give praise to those companies who go above and beyond the competitors by offering a
superior quality of work life for employees, while blazing new trails in labour trends, says Richard Yerema, managing editor of
Mediacorp.
"Even amid the market uncertainties we've seen over the past year, forward-thinking employers are
re-doubling their efforts to improve working conditions for employees who help them weather these economic storms,"
he says.
Companies are ranked based on seven key areas: community involvement; work atmosphere and social culture; vacation; performance
management; health, financial and family benefits; training and skills development, and physical workspace.
Yerema and his team scoured through a list of 75,000 employers to whittle it down to a record number of 16,000 who were invited to
participate. About 2,000 employers made the short-list for closer examination of Canada's Top Employers in 2009.
Patti Clarkson, an employment advisor at CP, believes that being ranked among the top employers will pay dividends down the line.
"We have eight people doing recruiting out of our employment centre, but we have 15,000 employees that can also recruit for
us," she says. "By reading this, it reaffirms their belief in their company."
The perks don't hurt, either. CP offers tuition subsidies up to $10,000, a flexible health benefits program including retirees without
age restrictions, a diverse range of working environments, and roles within the firm and its very own training facility for conductors
and engineers.
It moves into a new training centre in the city's southeast next month.
Mobility is what CP is all about. "You can start with this company in human resources and end up in operations, finance, public
affairs - a career within a career within a career within this railway," he says.
At its head office, employees are also encouraged to make use of the company's generous telecommuting option, which has been embraced
by many workers who don't always have to be at their desks or work stations.
In the year ahead, Wajda predicts the biggest demand for workers will be in the trades and specialty areas of
finance.
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