Many of Ottawa’s brightest executive minds are currently working hard at keeping their teams engaged as well as giving back to their communities during these challenging times. Here are two excellent local examples:
Kinaxis
With worldwide offices servicing a broad range of global customers in a variety of industries, Kinaxis transforms the way companies run their supply chains and businesses.
Proveras had the pleasure of acting as agents for Kinaxis during a process to lease their new 155,000 square foot global head office, which is currently under construction in Kanata. The executive team at Kinaxis has been committed to maintaining their positive culture and giving back to the community over the past several months. Here are just some examples of their creative thinking:
- As a way of supporting the vendors that help to keep their offices running during normal times, Kinaxis has continued to pay their food and beverage contracts. However, with few people in the office, the food and beverage services that would normally benefit Kinaxis’ employees have been diverted to local shelters and people in need.
- As a gesture of support and goodwill, Kinaxis has continued to pay the personal trainers and yoga instructors that they employed before the pandemic. They want their valued partners to weather the storm and be solidly in place when Kinaxis returns to the office.
- Kinaxis’ employees were given a laptop computer and two monitors, plus an additional $1,300 for outfitting their home offices. If the employee did not need the full $1,300, Kinaxis would donate the surplus funds to a charity of the employees’ choice.
- Employees were provided $100 each to be used towards family dinners at local restaurants.
- Kinaxis offered to cover employees’ costs of Summer camp fees for those who wished to send their children to computer coding courses.
Federation of Canadian Municipalities
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has been the national voice of municipal government since 1901. FCM’s members include more than 2,000 municipalities of all sizes, representing more than 90 percent of all Canadians from coast to coast.
Proveras had the pleasure of acting as agents for FCM in a recent process to consolidate and modernize its program offices in downtown Ottawa. Here are a few examples of what FCM is doing to promote wellness and maintain employee engagement:
- FCM has created a staff Wellness Task Force, whose mission is ensure staff remain motivated, safe, and positive.
- The Wellness Task Force has created “The Wellness Hub” promoting a culture of wellbeing, a place for wellness related information, and a site where staff can converse and share experiences. The goal of The Wellness Hub is for staff to build greater resilience and thrive.
- A group within the The Wellness Hub – Parents Helping Parents – has been organized so that staff can ask questions, seek advice, offer support, and share resources.
- FCM is also hosting live online “Fireside Chats” to touch on various subjects, with a recent session covering Kids – School-and-COVID.
Kinaxis and FCM are not yet planning to have the majority of their staff return to the office on a regular basis during 2020. Executives at both of these organizations are taking a cautious approach, while making best efforts to support their respective teams, keep employees engaged, and continue to deliver on their missions.