Payworks employees connecting with each other over lunch at its head office in Winnipeg.Provided
Even before she started working at Payworks Inc. two years ago, Jennifer Johnston had a feeling that it would be a good fit for her.
“I always heard that Payworks was really big into community, that they have a good culture and that people like working there,” says Johnston, now vice-president, human resources at the Winnipeg-based workforce management company. “So when I had the opportunity to join the team, I was delighted to find all those things here.”
Johnston, who supervises Payworks’ talent acquisition, learning and development, and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging teams, appreciates the organization’s emphasis on providing a positive experience for its employees.
“It’s a wonderful, growing, increasingly diverse team, and a fun culture,” she says. “We pride ourselves on fostering a sense of connection, both within the company and externally to support our communities.”
The community connection includes giving to large charitable organizations as well as a program that pays employees to volunteer at local charities of their choice.
“We call it Pay it Forward,” Johnston says. “Each employee has two days each year to use to volunteer at a charity or school, whatever giving back to the community looks like to them, and we’re excited that we exceeded our goal in terms of the number of staff volunteer hours last year.”
Payworks’ learning and development initiatives include a recently launched multiyear leadership development program with courses in flexible leadership, essential conversations, resilience and diversity and inclusion. They also hold an annual summit where staff from across Canada, including the Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary and B.C. offices, gather for team-building and learning, and offer an education reimbursement program for relevant courses.
Selena Benic has been at Payworks for nearly seven years, with stints in the HR department as well as product management, where she is now manager of product learning.
“One of the things I appreciate about Payworks is the ability to use my skill set in different roles,” she says. “This is not a traditional role in product management, but it melds together the best of both worlds for me, with a learning development aspect. That’s one of the beauties of working for a growing organization – as it grows, opportunities are created.”
The organization responded to the challenges of the pandemic with a renewed focus on employee wellness that includes a new health and wellness specialist role and programs supporting flexibility and work-life balance.
“We’ve increased our allowances for psychological and mental health programming, and we’ll soon be launching mental health training,” says Johnston. “We wanted to look at what type of training would help support resilience, and we’re introducing Working Minds, a mental wellness program to give folks more awareness on how to help themselves or others who may be going through a struggle.”
For Benic, these initiatives are all part of a culture that prioritizes the employee experience. “When I think of Payworks, I think of our people-centric focus,” she says. “We’re known not just for what we do but for how we give back in the community, and that applies internally as well. The health and wellness of employees is always top of mind.”
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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.