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50 Best Employers in Canada

STEVE BREARTON

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 2:48 PM EST 30/12/07

Advice from this year's No. 1 employer: forget about shareholder value, let employees make mistakes (and learn from them), and CEOs—get out of the way ...Read the full article

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  1. Jimmy Delf from Canada writes: No way National Bank of Canada is 41st! All the employees that i speak to are totally disappointed in their employer, National should not have made the list!
  2. Miguel Sanchez from writes: Well Jimmy, looks like McDonalds workers are happier by five places. Perhaps you should nudge some of those employees in that direction.
  3. MJ M from Canada writes: Neat Survey, both my kids work for Earl's restaurants and my wife and I work for Scotiabank. We have always felt Scotiabank was a very good company to work for and have been very impressed by the way our local Earl's Restaurant treats our children.

    My son is a junior supervisor and many of the things we talk about in terms of management philosophy are very similar. Both firms work very hard to give credit where it's due, recognize and stimulate employees.
  4. Hannah McCormick from Lethbridge, Canada writes: Ha! Edward Jones? I have no faith in this list. Either that, or Canadians LIKE being door-to-door sales people. I also wonder how my place of work keeps stealing so many employees from places that made this list if they are so happy with their employers......

    Good idea about using the soon-to-be-unemployed auto workers, though! Come west, we want you!
  5. harry carnie from Northern, B.C., Canada writes: Huh!.........There is only one simple rule...DO NOT treat your employees like crap.

    ie Pay the best rate(fairest) possible under the company financial circumstances.
    Cull (fire) any bad apples..and treat the rest with the respect and appreciation they deserve...IT WORKS.
  6. Blaise Touchette from Canada writes: National bank is not a good employer, my daughter works for the National Bank in Laval Quebec. The tellers and customer service people are being abused by the regional management. Disregarded too. National bank is a bad employer.

    Scotiabank, i indeed believe that they are an A bank.
  7. Fred Bloggs from Canada writes: These survey's are about as useful as you know whats on a bull.

    Unless the employer decides to participate in the survey in the first place, whats the point?

    It reminds me of people who strenuously tell others how "honest" they are. We all know what that usually means.
  8. B Todd from Canada writes: The National Bank is not a social program which a lot of people think it is or should be. If you do not like working at the National Bank go and work at RBC (Royal Bank) which believes "NICK AT THE RINK" is the next best thing to sliced bread when in fact this ad, for example, is dumb and reveals a mentality and level of intelligence embedded in the dark ages.
  9. Tally Wacker from Canada writes: This is a great way to stack up the resumes...good PR.
  10. Lumber Girl from Canada writes: I find it curious that ROB awarded Hunter Harrison "CEO of the Year" yet CN failed to make ROB's top 50 Employers.
    Let's take a look, shall we.
    "To be eligible to participate, companies must have at least 400 permanent employees in Canada"......check
    "Companies must have operated here for at least three years"....check
    "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)"....oh...this could be a problem.
    "A survey of senior leaders that measures how closely their goals and fundamental values are aligned with those of their staff"....mmm..it's becoming clear.
    "A detailed set of questions for the human resources department on HR policies and practices"....There is no doubt that CN nose dives in this department.
    Well two out of five ain't bad I guess.
    After reading the article on Geoff Smith, it sure sounds like ROB made a large and embarassing mistake by awarding the CEO of the Year to the wrong guy!
  11. Gary Thomson from Surrey, BC, Canada writes: McDonald's is on the list. I don't need to know any more about the criteria used to select this bid. The study is clearly skewed towards management's views about what makes a good employer. Who's 51, Walmart?
  12. KC Jones from Canada writes: Gary Thomson from Surrey, BC, Canada writes:" McDonald's is on the list. I don't need to know any more about the criteria used to select this bid. The study is clearly skewed towards management's views about what makes a good employer. Who's 51, Walmart? "................. Well Gary I,m pretty sure its not the CN. I bet it wouldn,t make the top 500!
  13. Ruth Case from Steeltown, Canada writes: whatta 'bout Madame Chang's "rub and tug" up on Barton street here in Steeltown? each customer given an 8 by 10 of either Muldoon or Lord Stingy of Blackness upon completion....gotta love 'da Right!
  14. jamie yavis from Canada writes: Interesting to see that none of the big / original four banks are on the list, not to mention Telus, Air Canada, or any of the large food chains!

    Now why would that be?
  15. S H from Windsor, Canada writes: Garry Thomson......McDonalds made the list because there's not many companies left in Canada. Textiles are gone, manufacturing is close behind and when Canada runs out of resources, we'll all be asking the public sector workers..."want fries with that"?
  16. J Kooman from Canada writes: The real story should be Scotia Bank moved from rank 44 to 19. The interesting and challenging part is its Canadian payroll of 33,000 employees, thus making its achievement on a higher scale.

    On the side, 33,000 employees are more than the total employees of the top 18 employers!!
  17. Joachim Zucker from Toronto, ON, Canada writes: Isn't the concept of "best employer" almost the same thing as " favorite
    NHL hockey team" and "favorite baseball team" or "best soccer team " ?

    Someone will answer the Leafs, others the Rangers or the Avalanche ...
    each person is different, as is each pair of shoes.

    Each person needs a different fit, so each employee is suitable for
    a small number of roles, functions or jobs in a number of companies.

    Also, a lot of what we consider satisfaction levels is merely people who
    enjoy working with each other.

    e.g. Robert Mugabe - President of Zimbabwe, is doing fine in his
    job, and the people keep him in power down there. But if you
    hired Robert Mugabe as Prime Minister of Canada, it wouldn't work.
    But is Zimbabwe less of a country than Canada ? Nope....

    To each their own, and these lists are to be taken with a grain of salt.
  18. earl pearl from Canada writes: Scotiabank management have been kissing and wiping the cracks of their employees in view of the employees $350M class action overtime lawsuit against the company. It won't last long.
  19. A Curmudgeon from Mississauga, Canada writes: It would be far more useful to create a list of the 50 worst employers in Canada. Any suggestions as to bad employers?
  20. Andree G. Tremblay from Canada writes: What a joke as to the National Bank being 41st on the list. Louis Vachon issued a communique as per the Journal de Montreal , Saturday issue December 29, 2007.

    He thanks the employees for having done a good job and improving from 48th spot to 41st spot! This year, Michel Tremblay, the recently resigned COO took advantage of the staff as if they were slaves in some 3rd world country. This bank is notorious for abusing clerical staff and sales staff. How they improved from 48 to 41? The results are skewed!!!! Cooked!!!!!

    A few years ago, the previous CEO of National Bank, Real Raymond, was voted CEO of the year by Le Journal La Presse. This guy was so cold and out of touch with the employees. How was he voted in? Internet voting!!! I heard that 2 Human Resources employees stayed home and were mandated to vote all week long! Not a conspiracy theory, this is the truth! Imagine people paid to stay home to vote for their boss as a mandate because there was no limit to the number of times you can vote from the same terminal!! Nice National Bank!

    As a matter of fact Real Raymond is responsible for the ABCP headaches of the National bank. Yet a few years ago, he was CEO of the year. What a joke.
  21. Andree G. Tremblay from Canada writes: 10 worst employers (#1 being the worst possible):

    1. National Bank of Canada
    2. Caisse de Depot
    3. Mc Donalds
    4. Jean Coutu
    5. CIBC
    6. Uniprix
    7. Burger King
    8. Couche Tard
    9. The Bay
    10. Sears
  22. Robert Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: Where are the Irvings?

    I heard that Saint John, NB is the happiest city in the country.
  23. Robert Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: G&M:

    What's the point of all these questionable (?dubious) lists anyways?

    By the way, my favorite hockey player is Sidney Crosby and my favorite hockey team is the Montreal Canadiens...

    Can you start a list on something that really matters to Canadians?
  24. Lumber Girl from Canada writes: Andree G Tremblay....Canadian National Railway (oops...I mean CN..not allowed to call it Canadian National anymore according to the grand pooba!) should surely be at the top of your list. According to a Canadian Human Rights Commission investigator I know , CN wavers from #1 and #2 positions for the most amount of human rights complaints against a company. This has been the case for the last few years.
  25. Joachim Zucker from Toronto, ON, Canada writes:
    The people writing here, obviously pull a blank when asked about
    the term "laogai" or even, "gulag".
  26. Joachim Zucker from Toronto, ON, Canada writes: It tells a lot, the fact that the most profitable companies are also
    the ones which are missing from the top-50 list. Their greed
    in paying dividends to shareholders and ruining employee lives
    run concurrently, thereby removing themselves from the best employers
    lists.

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