An employee at Teck Resources Limited working at a steelmaking coal operations in Elkford, B.C.Vince Mo/Supplied
It was initially the reputation among Canadian miners of Vancouver-based Teck Resources Limited (Teck) that drew Cassandra Spence to the company – first to a position in Newfoundland, then to Vancouver and now at Teck’s Red Dog Operations in northwestern Alaska, with a stop in Santiago, Chile.
“Teck has business operations in multiple regions, multiple jurisdictions, and there’s a wealth of potential careers to choose from,” says Spence, deployment specialist of RACE, Teck’s digital innovation program. “We can change roles or switch between projects without having to start all over again with a new organization, a new culture, new people.”
Kathleen Willman, director of environmental legacies, has had the opportunity to see and experience Teck from different angles – as an employee at various times and as a consultant to Teck, working in Canada and the United States. Starting fresh out of school with a summer job at the now reclaimed Sullivan mine site in Kimberley, B.C., Willman moved into a full-time role. After a few years, Willman transferred to Red Dog Operations.
“I enjoyed the U.S. and Canadian experience,” she says. “I was looking for a new opportunity, and Teck supported that.”
Later, while she was raising young children, Willman left her job to work part-time as a consultant. Teck was one of her clients. “Teck is about doing things the right way,” says Willman, who returned full-time to the company in 2016. “I’ve been on all fronts with Teck – at an operating mine, with them as my client and now I’m working on maintaining Teck’s closed properties. I love what I do and I always feel supported.”
Advancement and professional development are encouraged, with graduate level business programs, language training and access for all employees to Udemy, a learning platform. Willman has had access to coaching as well as to leadership programs. And she encourages the engineers and other professionals who work for her to attend a conference every year.
“Teck is committed to their employees,” she adds. “We want to retain talent, and if a person has plateaued at a particular operation, we want to look for other opportunities for them.”
Employee input is valued as well. One of Spence’s colleagues organized and hosted an event for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation which more than 200 employees attended virtually and in person. “As individuals, we have the opportunity to ideate, create and host an event like this,” Spence says. “People don’t say no to a good idea. They might ask questions and you might have to do a bit more homework, but at Teck good ideas are welcomed and appreciated independent of organizational structure and position.”
For a company the size of Teck – more than 10,000 employees globally – there is still the feel of a family business, especially among teams. “The culture is really important for us,” says Willman. “We make sure we have people with strong skills but having positive overall culture and a strong safety culture is really important as well. It’s intertwined in everything we do.”
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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.