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After years of ranking and profiling Canada's best employers, we're marking the ninth anniversary of our survey by taking an in-depth look at this year's No. 1 company: EllisDon, the international construction firm founded and still run by the Smith family of London, Ontario.
Why? Because, in our survey of employees and leaders, conducted again this year by our research partner, Hewitt Associates, a leading global human resources outsourcing and consulting firm, EllisDon posted top-level marks in just about every category. And the company has come out on top while wrestling with many of the most challenging issues in today's demanding labour markets, including attracting and inspiring Generation Y/Millennial workers, and keeping projects on track in Western Canada's red-hot economy.
It hasn't been easy for the company. Founded in 1951 by brothers Don Smith and David Ellis Smith, EllisDon earns revenues of close to $2 billion a year, and it helped build landmarks ranging from Toronto's SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) to the Athlete's Medical Clinic for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Yet the company almost went bankrupt in the late 1990s. As current CEO Geoff Smith (son of Don) reveals in a candid interview (page 48), that crisis caused a lot of soul-searching, and a fundamental change in ownership: Employees now own close to half of EllisDon.
The transformation has been dramatic. In this year's Hewitt study, 94% of EllisDon employees surveyed said they'd highly recommend the firm to their friends, and 91% rated their future prospects with the company as good—15 percentage points higher than the average for the top 10 employers.
"I think the reason they're here—and I'm here—is the people," one EllisDon employee who's had a long career in construction said in a focus group. "I've never come across a large group of diverse people who are all committed to the same thing, and who all have relatively the same outlook on their profession and how they treat people. And senior management believe it themselves."
"EllisDon has created and nurtured a culture that is right for them," says Neil Crawford, who heads the Hewitt study. "Light on processes and structure, but heavy on entrepreneurship and throwing people into the deep end to learn by doing," although he cautions that what works for EllisDon isn't necessarily transferable to any other organization.
Hewitt's survey was a huge undertaking again this year, involving more than 100,000 employees and 2,000 leaders at almost 200 organizations.
To be eligible to participate, companies must have at least 400 permanent employees in Canada, and have operated here for at least three years. They must complete three surveys: an employee opinion questionnaire, filled out by at least 400 workers (more for large organizations, the total depending on their size); a survey of senior leaders that measures how closely their goals and fundamental values are aligned with those of their staff; and a detailed set of questions for the human resources department on HR policies and practices.
The employee survey results account for the lion's share of an employer's ranking. Each set of responses is carefully vetted to ensure companies follow required guidelines.
For more information, including instructions on how to join the next Best Employers survey, visit www.hewitt.com/bestemployerscanada.
