The Vibe Check series at Fidelity includes monthly social events and opportunities for young employees to network with senior leaders.Supplied
Sharanya Tiwari is early in her career, but she’s already had plenty of opportunity to grow at Fidelity Canada.
Tiwari first joined the financial services firm in 2021 as a co-op student while she was still doing her bachelor’s degree in accounting, and had three consecutive placements in project management, investment product groups looking at both ETFs and new solutions, and marketing. After a brief stint at another company, Tiwari knew Fidelity was where she wanted to be, and returned in February as a financial analyst on the company’s financial decision support team.
Every step of the way, she says, her colleagues across the organization have been happy to share their knowledge with her, and her managers have made the effort to find projects that allow her to do work she’s passionate about.
“If someone takes time out of their day to speak with you, it means they also care about your growth. I’ve found that to be consistently the case across all my co-ops, and it was something that made me want to join Fidelity full-time,” she says. “It’s a place that rewards curiosity and is invested in your growth.”
Kelly Creelman, senior vice-president of products and marketing, says Fidelity wants its young employees to grow within the organization, whether that means climbing the career ladder throughout the same department or exploring different business lines to see what fits. Creelman has lived that in her career. Since joining Fidelity 24 years ago as an analyst in the finance department, she worked in multiple departments across the organization before settling in products and marketing.
“There’s a lot of opportunity to try new things, and if you want to try a different role or go to a different department, that’s great,” she says. “If you have the transferable skills, we can train you.”
Despite being a large organization, Fidelity has long had a collaborative and friendly culture that has allowed employees to get to know people outside of their immediate teams. But that’s been harder for Gen Z employees, who were hired during the pandemic and started their careers working remotely. To help these employees network, Creelman launched Fidelity’s Vibe Check social series at the beginning of 2023. The monthly events have included mixology classes, networking opportunities with senior leaders at Fidelity, and more.
Vibe Check has added benefits for Fidelity, Creelman says. It has given the company the opportunity to learn what a younger cohort of employees wants from their employer, and to leverage their skills and unique perspective to help Fidelity be relevant to younger investors. During the monthly meetings this year, Creelman asked Gen Z employees what they thought of marketing targeted at a younger demographic – and they had plenty of feedback about cutting back on financial jargon.
“It helps us communicate and engage better, and gives our young employees a voice,” she says. “These people are brilliant, and we really encourage them to share their thoughts.”
Tiwari, who was part of that session, says she appreciated that the company values her perspective, and that she’s contributing to its mission to improve Canadians’ financial literacy. “They’re always thinking about ways to bridge the gap and enhance financial literacy for younger generations.”
Fidelity has been tapping into the expertise of its young employees in other ways, Creelman says, including giving them spots on committees to ensure a diversity of viewpoints, and using some of the ideas that come out of their annual case competition for students. “Young people have tremendous insights that we don’t have, and they deserve to be at the table.”
More from Canada’s Top Young People Employers
Advertising feature produced by Canada’s Top 100 Employers, a division of Mediacorp Canada Inc. The Globe and Mail’s editorial department was not involved.