It’s time for some good news!

After being named the number one company in 2017, the 11th company in 2018, and the 7th company in 2019, we are delighted to be named 16th on the 2020 list of Best Workplaces™ in Canada among small companies by The Great Place to Work Institute. That’s four years in a row of top 20 placements!

It’s not always quick and easy to create a workplace that supports and appreciates every employee but as we make our way through the pandemic, we continue to realize just how special our workplace is. We might have to change how we’ve always done things, but supporting our associates must always come first. For example:

  • All Associate Sharing: We’ve converted our regular Monday morning team meetings into video chat sharing sessions. In addition to sharing insights from the world of marketing and research strategy, we confirm that everyone is doing well. This new ritual is important for grounding us all in a good place at the start of the week.
  • Weekly 1:1 check-ins: Since we’re not in the office together to connect and get updates on how we’re doing, managers are checking in at least weekly with each of their direct reports. These are holistic check-ins – not just about work – but mental, physical, and family wellness checks.
  • Weekly Pulse Surveys: Once a week, we complete a 2-minute anonymous survey that captures how we’re feeling and gives us a chance to offer additional context around reasons why. This is the basis for our weekly discussions with the management team and has helped us to respond quickly to our team’s needs.
  • Weekly Thirsty Thursdays: Our Thirsty Thursdays are now held weekly via video chat instead of monthly in-person. Employees are invited to fix themselves a drink, dress in the theme of the week, and join the entire team for an hour of video fun and games. Kids and pets are invited!
  • Daily Casual Fun: We’ve set up casual 24/7 chat forums with separate channels dedicated to COVID, mental wellness, technology tips, employee recognition, helping others, and silly fun. Associates can go directly to the channel that suits their needs.

“Our goal continues to be helping our clients succeed by solving tough business challenges,” said Sarah Liverance, Partner, Sklar Wilton & Associates. “Those challenges are far more complicated now but by helping our associates with their personal and professional growth as well as supporting their physical and mental health, we can help our clients and our associates be the best they can be.”

We are grateful to Great Place to Work for recognizing our ongoing commitment to creating and growing a positive workplace culture. To be named on this list, organizations have to demonstrate through detailed employee feedback that they consistently demonstrate the behaviours of a great workplace, meaning that their employees trust them, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with.

Over the last several years, we’ve even been named on numerous specialty lists from the Great Place to Work Institute including Best Workplaces™ for Inclusion, Best Workplaces™ Managed by Women, Best Workplaces™ for Women, Best Workplaces™ for Professional Services, Best Workplaces™ for Giving Back, Best Workplaces™ for Mental Wellness, and Best Workplaces™ for Celebrating Success.

About Great Place to Work®: Great Place to Work® is the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. Through proprietary assessment tools, advisory services, and certification programs, GPTW recognizes the world’s Best Workplaces™ in a series of national lists including those published by The Globe & Mail (Canada) and Fortune magazine (USA). Great Place to Work® provides the benchmarks, framework, and expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. Visit us at www.greatplacetowork.ca or find us on Twitter at @GPTW_Canada.

Sklar Wilton & Associates helps CEOs, CMOs, and marketing teams at consumer, retail and B2B brands solve tough problems to unlock growth and build stronger brands. Core capabilities include strategic insight and analytics leadership as well as inventing, reinventing, and futureproofing brands. SW&A was recognized as the number one Employee Recommended Workplace among private small businesses by the Globe and Mail and Morneau Shepell in 2017 and in 2019.