Workforce development

Our people

We are focused on attracting and retaining high-quality and productive employees for a long-term career with the company.

Our business success is dependent on hiring the right people. The long-term, strategic nature of our business is reflected in our employee processes, which are designed to attract and retain people interested in a career with the company. To support our people’s achievement of success, we offer a variety of challenging and rewarding work opportunities, training and supportive work environments. We also have programs to recognize our people for their experience and reward them for their performance.

Recruitment

We strive to attract a diverse workforce of individuals who aim for excellence and have passion for what they do. To support this goal, we:

• participate in career fairs and information sessions at leading universities across Canada
• offer summer student, co-op and internship programs
• support apprenticeships and technical career training programs at local colleges
• are members of technical advisory panels to provide feedback on curriculum development

In 2009, intern and co-op assignments were provided to more than 150 university students. During the year, despite the prevailing economic conditions, we hired 135 new university graduates.

Recruitment Manager Meghan McCormick accepts the 2009 Students' Choice Award for "The Best Career Fair Employer" in the Atlantic region from the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers. In 2008, more than 35 company representatives participated in career fair presentations that led to the award win.

Total employment offer

Our total employment offer is designed to encourage continued employment with Imperial, and was developed to address employees’ needs throughout their careers. This long-term approach benefits the company as employees build up knowledge over their careers. The programs we offer, combined with a variety of job opportunities, support a culture at Imperial that encourages employees to grow both personally and professionally.

Here are just some of the programs we have to ensure we employ the best:

• compensation that is competitive overall in an industry that typically leads other industries and is also designed to be competitive for individual employees over their career
• annual performance assessment and development process that  recognizes  performance and contribution to determine compensation and advancement
• fully company paid defined-benefit pension plan and savings up to 6 percent of salary matched by the company in its savings plan
• personal development and training and paid education assistance
• a commitment to ethics and professional behaviour, maintained by a requirement for our people regularly to confirm their understanding of our Standards of Business Conduct, including guidelines addressing conflicts of interest, directorships, gifts and entertainment and anti-harassment

In 2009, we paid $1.2 billion in compensation and benefits to employees, maintaining a robust compensation program in challenging economic times.  In keeping with our long-term career focus, our compensation program is designed to provide salary increases that compound from year to year rather than variable compensation (e.g., bonuses).

Recognition

We recognize the importance of showing appreciation for our employees within our total employment offer. Recognition guidelines encourage managers to express their appreciation to their employees by providing awards for service, safety or exceptional performance. Other informal tools that can be used by anyone to say thank-you are available.

Work-life balance

We also recognize that employees need flexibility at points during their careers to deal with family or personal interests. Our workplace guidelines and programs provide flexibility, alternate work arrangements and assist employees in achieving balance. In addition to long-standing programs like flex-time, parental leave and job sharing, a recently added option includes extended leave for personal reasons.

Finding the right balance between work and life is getting easier thanks to supportive programs that help women develop careers on their terms. Pictured here is Kelly Morrison, technical supervisor in asset enhancement, with her daughter, Rachel.

Training and leadership development

We provide employees with many opportunities to upgrade their skills and capabilities over the span of their careers through programs such as:

• job rotation
• classroom learning
• performance feedback and mentoring

Individuals with the potential to perform at senior levels are included in a management development program supported by job rotations in order to expose them to other parts of the business.

In 2009, there were close to 1,900 attendees at the approximately 105 in-house courses offered across the company on topics with broad application and designed to help employees achieve their maximum potential.