St.Amant, a great place to work
For the eighth time, St.Amant is one of Manitoba’s Top Employers of the year, all occupational categories combined. The Manitoba competition has been around for 13 years and is the provincial version of “Canada’s Top 100 Employers”, a competition managed by Mediacorp Canada Inc.
Jennifer Kilimnik, Director of Human Resource Services at St.Amant, is delighted with the designation. “We take great pride in creating a pleasant work environment for all our staff, one that makes them want to stay. We also hope it’ll help us with our recruitment efforts.”
The designation gives St.Amant the right to use the “Manitoba’s Top Employers 2019” logo in its job postings.
Although the top employers are chosen based on empirical criteria, such as the insurance plans available, opportunities for vacation and time off, flexibility and the physical workplace, St.Amant ensures that efforts geared to staff are in line with the actual needs of employees.
“We conduct engagement surveys with our staff on a regular basis. To the question Would you recommend St.Amant as an employer?, we are proud to report that 91% of respondents answered yes. The overall response rate among staff was 67%. Similarly, 92% said they had good things to say about St.Amant, and 90% were inspired by St.Amant to give their best at work.”
St.Amant’s efforts to foster a more favourable work environment include an employee picnic each summer and an annual long-service employee recognition ceremony.
“We’ve also set up an appreciation and recognition committee, which organizes small events like popcorn or hot chocolate days, to show employees that we appreciate their work.”
In addition to organizing events, St.Amant also makes a point of involving staff in discussions that concern them. “When we were preparing our new strategic plan, which came in effect on January 1, 2019, all staff were invited to participate in the process through focus groups or by submitting their comments directly,” adds Kilimnik. “They were also kept informed of what was going on at each stage of the process. Their feedback is very important to us.”
While staff well-being and ensuring that employees feel valued are priorities at St.Amant, there is always room for improvement.
The Director of Human Resource Services explains: “Every year, we think about what else could be done or what could be done differently for our employees. Recently, for example, we extended safety education to all employees, not just for front-line staff, because everyone has the right to feel safe, both for themselves and for the people around them.”
“Likewise, we train all staff in mindfulness techniques, which help them to approach situations with greater awareness and in a positive way, both for employees and the people they’re supporting. That training is mandatory and also helps them to understand and live the mission of the organization and CHCM.”
St.Amant also wants to improve the ways it recognizes staff at all levels and celebrates diversity.
“We have a beautiful and diverse community at St.Amant, with 52 different languages spoken among our employees,” explains Kilimnik. “Welcoming and including others are and must remain at the heart of our organization. We’ve even had an award-winning language support program for newcomers to St.Amant in place since 2014, to help them learn more about the local culture and language.”
Kilimnik also emphasizes that through staff well-being, “everyone we support benefits from a positive work environment, because employees are more invested in their work and in serving clients well.”’
Photo: Courtesy St.Amant