The Best Place to Work Award is a starting point, not the finish line

Awards are wonderful. Staying worthy of them is the real work.  

CAA North & East Ontario has been named a Best Place to Work by HRD Canada for the second year in a row, and as the head of the HR function, I am proud to celebrate that recognition alongside our managers and teams.  

But we also know this is not a finish line. Being a preferred employer in the 2020s is complicated; continuing to earn that trust is the bigger challenge. 

CAA North & East Ontario serves Members and communities in many ways. We help Members save money and find real value when purchasing insurance. We connect them to savings on all manner of goods and services. We help travellers plan dream vacations, and we show up when the vehicle they are in is not working.  

Delivering all of that takes a wide range of people and skills: travel agents, roadside assistance operators and drivers, membership sales staff, and the professional and administrative teams who keep our bills paid, our Members informed and our technology running.  

So how do you create a great place to work for such a varied organization? 

We believe a positive workplace is built on a few essential practices: strong communication, respect for every role, and a shared vision for what we are here to accomplish. We also know those ideas do not look the same to everyone, which means we will never make every person happy all the time. That is not an excuse not to try. What we can do is listen, take feedback seriously, and act where action is needed. When a team is struggling, we look at how management, training, and support can improve.  

When exit interviews point to recurring issues, we revisit the role and look for practical adjustments. And when staff have feedback, managers — up to and including the CEO — are available to listen. Those actions show our commitment to open communication and our respect for the work people do every day. 

What we do best is to keep evolving. Some employees have been with us for up to 40 years, and that kind of loyalty does not happen by accident. People stay when they see an organization trying to get better.  

We invest in training and new equipment. We encourage innovation while continuing to deliver consistent service. We learn from our mistakes. In the end, that is what we ask of ourselves and of each other: not perfection, but a continual commitment to doing better. 

 That is what makes CAA North & East Ontario a great place to work — and what keeps us working to deserve it.