Several ag companies make Canada's top 100 employers list
Thursday, November 6, 2014
by SUSAN MANN
Several noted agricultural companies along with food and beverage businesses have made Canada’s Top 100 Employers list for 2015.
The list was announced in the Nov. 4 issue of The Globe and Mail. Agricultural companies on it include: Monsanto Canada, the Mosaic Company (a producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash to wholesalers, retail dealers and growers), Agriculture Financial Services (a Crown corporation providing agri-food producers in Alberta with business loans, crop insurance and farm income disaster assistance), Agrium Inc. (an agricultural products and specialty fertilizer wholesale producer and supplier to retail) and Bayer Canada.
For agri-food and beverage companies, the list includes: Labatt Breweries Canada, Loblaw Companies Ltd., Mars Canada Inc., PepsiCo Canada, and breakfast cereal manufacturer Nature’s Path Foods Inc.
Monsanto Canada spokesperson Trish Jordan says they made the list seven of the past eight years. The annual survey of Canadian businesses sponsored by Mediacorp Canada Inc. is now in its 15th year. The survey includes these eight key areas:
- Physical workplace
- Work atmosphere and social
- Health, financial and family benefits
- Vacation and time off
- Employee communication
- Performance management
- Training and skills development
- Community involvement
Employers being considered for the list must complete “a fairly extensive application process,” Jordan notes.
Monsanto scored really high in the health and family-friendly benefits, training and skills development and community involvement sections, “which I am super proud of,” she says. Monsanto received the highest possible score of A+ on those three areas and ranked fairly high “in our general work atmosphere, communications and then employee engagement.”
Jordan says “we work pretty hard at trying to create a great place to work.”
Being on the list enables Monsanto to attract the very best and brightest people to work at the company, she says. It’s also “a nice recognition for our employees and for our company.”
More than 3,250 employers participated in the application process this year. Any public or private sector employer with a Canadian head office or principal place of business can apply. BF