Employee engagement is a key strategic priority at IGM

Michelle Barrett says she has felt part of a welcoming and supportive community ever since she switched careers and joined one of the IGM Financial Inc. group of companies, IG Wealth Management, in 2016.

“I had quite a steep learning curve,” says the former kindergarten teacher. “So I’m grateful the people here are always gracious in helping you come up with solutions for any problems you might have.”

The company worked with Barrett to help her acquire the professional accreditation required to work as a consultant in the financial services sector. And now as senior manager, training and development, with IG University, she has a foot back in the educational field.

This time around, however, she’s part of a team that helps adults achieve and maintain their professional certifications, be aware of emerging trends so they can stay current with clients, and develop new skills so they can take the next step in their careers.

IGM is one of Canada’s leading wealth and asset management companies. Its subsidiaries include IG Wealth Management, Mackenzie Investments and Investment Planning Council. The companies operate separately but share some corporate functions.

To stay abreast of employees’ wants, needs and perspectives, IGM conducts regular surveys and focus groups and uses other tools such as data mining. And not all employee feedback is solicited.

“People send me emails sharing their genuine thoughts on a variety of concerns,” says chief human resources officer Cynthia Currie, who sees a positive side even to constructive comments. “I think it reflects well on our culture that people are not afraid to share their candid opinions.”

All that employee feedback plays a vital role in informing IGM’s culture of putting people first. This includes everything from ensuring there’s progress on its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to determining whether employees feel they have the support they need to achieve their career goals.

Employee engagement, for one, is considered so important that polling scores can impact an executive’s bonus, Currie says.

Despite the turmoil of the last few years, Currie says that scores have improved overall and some are now as much as 11 per cent higher than industry average scores. “We’re trending upwards in all the things we set out to do,” she adds.

IGM has taken a gradual approach to the transition from remote work to hybrid work, listening to employees, testing and learning along the way. With the goal of having a model that addresses both corporate and employee needs after the pandemic, Currie says, the extensive process ranged from ensuring everyone was on the same page by establishing a clear definition of hybrid to drilling down into local concerns in cities where it operates, including Winnipeg, Toronto and Montréal.

Currie says IGM wants people to spend time in the office that is meaningful and productive while still offering them some of the flexibility they’d grown accustomed to working at home during the pandemic.

For Barrett, it’s a model that works. “I’m generally an in-office kind of worker, but that flexibility is quite a gift,” she says. “It relieves a lot of stress knowing I can take care of personal matters when the need arises.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top 100 Employers winners, published November 17, 2023 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

Training and teamwork work hand in hand at IGM

Fiona Melville says she had never considered a career in the financial services sector until she had a practicum with IG Wealth Management (IG), one of the IGM Financial Inc. group of companies.

In 2017, the college where she was studying to become an administrative professional placed her with IG for the practical work experience she needed to complete her certificate program. Just as she was finishing up, the company had an opening in one of its administrative offices.

Although she hadn’t yet determined her ideal career path, Melville was grateful to land a fulltime job with one of Winnipeg’s largest and most established employers.

“I had seen that there are lots of possibilities and opportunities,” she says. “There is room for both personal and professional growth.”

Two promotions later, Melville is an event manager with field and events marketing where her responsibilities include organizing and running employee events ranging from forums to holiday parties. She also supports the senior event leads on the team with their programs, assisting with operational tasks such as developing websites for registration, creative asset management, and communications.

“I’m exactly where I want to be,” says Melville, who’s part of a 15-person team that includes colleagues from IG sister company Mackenzie Investments. “I am so fortunate to work with such a fantastic group of individuals who support and uplift one another every day.”

IGM is one of Canada’s leading wealth and asset management companies. It shares certain corporate functions with its subsidiaries, but the two companies operate separately.

When applying for what Melville now calls her dream job, she realized she had acquired knowledge and skills over the years with IG that might give her an edge over an outside applicant with more event planning experience.

Her first job processing documents had familiarized her with the range of financial products, services and supports that IG offers its clients. In her next role as a vice president’s executive assistant, she learned more about IG’s operations – and discovered her passion for organizing activities for her colleagues.

Chief human resources officer Cynthia Currie says IGM always advertises job openings internally first. “Promoting and transferring employees plays a key role in IGM’s career and succession planning,” she says, adding that employees also benefit when they try different things and are open to learning.

She points out that people leaders and employees work together to create development plans each year. These development plans primarily focus on what employees can learn on the job, including special projects and development assignments.

IGM also has seven employee-led volunteer communities known as business resource groups (BRGs). One of the benefits of BRGs is that they provide career development, mentoring and networking programs to their members and allies.

While the BRGs offer intentional learning opportunities, countless other interactions take place organically as colleagues provide each other with informal mentoring and support.

Currie attributes that to IGM’s inclusive, mutually respectful culture. “We appreciate everyone’s perspectives, and we’re all open to learning from one another,” she says. “Collaboration is the essence of the company.”

Melville says that message is reflected in IG’s approach to remodelling its downtown Winnipeg head office building. The work on her floor is now complete, revealing an open-concept space where the leadership sits with their teams instead of in offices.

“This allows for more interaction and collaboration among the different departments and leaders,” she says. “You can feel a strong sense of community throughout the floor.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Manitoba’s Top Employers winners, published March 19, 2024 in the Winnipeg Free Press. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

Diversity helps IGM and its people thrive

As a senior human resources manager with the IGM Financial Inc. group of companies, Fatoumata Camara is doing work that both calls upon and sustains her passion for advancing a more equitable society.

“Contributing to positive change keeps me motivated and inspired,” says Camara, who’s been promoted five times since she was hired in Montréal in 2014. “Everyone deserves to feel safe and valued in spaces that are inclusive and respectful.”

Her words reflect her personal philosophy and IGM’s guiding principle to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) throughout the organization, which includes Mackenzie Investments and IG Wealth Management.

Camara is directly involved in planning and executing DEI initiatives. Her responsibilities also include supporting and advising regional leaders on DEI-related workplace issues, from how to have difficult conversations to identifying and removing barriers to inclusion.

An award-winning community organizer, Camara is also on the leadership team for the Black business resource group (Black BRG) for all IGM companies. It’s one of seven such BRGs, employee -led volunteer groups that take an active role in advancing IGM’s commitment to DEI.

Engaging people at the grassroots level is just one of the ways IGM is applying a DEI lens to all its activities. Indeed, the organization has a comprehensive range of policies and practices relating to everything from setting and evaluating strategies to career and succession planning.

And everyone – from the executive suite, where a DEI Council sets the tone, to outside vendors and suppliers expected to meet certain standards – is covered.

Chief human resources officer Cynthia Currie says IGM focuses on those areas where, as a wealth and asset management company, it can have the greatest impact.

To that end, IGM has set specific targets for increasing representation from under-represented groups, including the number of women executives, Black executives, and Indigenous employees and interns.

It’s one of the reasons IGM works with a variety of non-profit organizations committed to serving and creating opportunities for diverse communities. “We have formed a number of key partnerships,” Currie says. “They’re helping us a lot and expanding our reach.”

In Winnipeg, for example, IG Wealth Management is refocusing community investments from pure sponsorship to supporting education and career path development to enhance financial well-being among Indigenous and newcomer students. This includes multi-year partnership agreements with Pathways to Education Winnipeg and Red River College Polytech that will provide a variety of educational supports, including tutoring, mentorships, scholarships and internships.

Feedback from surveys indicates these measures are working. Employees are more satisfied and engaged with IGM’s DEI initiatives each year, Currie says. Other data shows that membership in the BRGs has increased 300 per cent since 2022.

That growth took place when IGM expanded the charters of BRGs, similar to employee resource groups at many other organizations. Created to foster DEI, the BRGs are closely aligned with IGM’s business strategy and goals.

That includes programs and initiatives that are mainly focused on career development, mentoring and networking for DEI impact. Camara, for example, was part of a pilot project to create a Black mentorship program where she was responsible for recruiting mentors and mentees and has also played a role in helping increase retention rates. “There are real business requirements and needs the BRGs can help solve,” Currie says, adding that the BRGs are also intended to help their members develop leadership skills, grow in confidence and be successful.

That’s been the case for Camara, who says serving as a member of the Black BRG’s leadership team has helped her professionally. “I’ve developed management skills that have helped me become a well-rounded leader,” she says. “I see all kinds of possibilities to continue to learn and grow.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada’s Best Diversity Employers winners, published March 5, 2024 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.