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If its workplace is half as much fun or even half as diverse as its ads—where rabbits, monkeys, lizards, parrots and frogs abound—then TELUS must have no problem living up to its claim as a “great place to work”.
Shannon Taylor, an HR director in Vancouver, says that what really lends to “the spirit of making TELUS a great place to work” is its “very robust and longstanding sustainable employee and family assistance program.”
 Employees, for instance, can use their flexible benefits package to purchase personal days. They can take advantage of The Thirsty Muse, a personal assistance service that takes care of everything from picking up drycleaning to arranging birthday parties or “anything that makes life a little bit easier,” says Taylor.
It also doesn’t hurt that the company is one of the leading providers of wireless communications and has the technology to support its employee work/life balance demands by creating a virtual workforce while, at the same time, managing to practice what it preaches.
“Tele-working and the continual use of technology that brings people together is a very big focus in the company, so we’re very focused on technology that helps us work virtually,” Taylor says. “Employees use all the technologies that we sell into the marketplace to make us more cohesive and bridge the gap that the large expanse of Canada challenges us with.”
TELUS has 30,000 employees and more than 10,000 points of distribution nationwide. Amazing numbers for a company that started in Alberta little more than a decade ago and is now the largest telecommunications provider in western Canada, second largest in the country.
“TELUS wouldn’t be one of the top performing communications companies in the world if we didn’t have a culture of continuous improvement,” says Taylor. “We’re always striving to be more competitive, to be more innovative and ultimately to drive more shareholders value. Not unlike other employers we recognize that a more diverse workforce is better for business.”
Perhaps what gives TELUS a notable competitive edge is its focus on gender diversity. Thirty percent of its senior executive team is women—three of whom made it late last year onto the prestigious list of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, when the Women’s Executive Network recognized Karen Radford, executive vice-president and president of Telus Québec and partner solutions, Janet Yale, executive vide-president of corporate affairs, and Judy Shuttleworth, executive vice-president of human resources.
“TELUS is very fortunate to have among its leaders these three talented women who are renowned for their business acumen and dynamic leadership,” said President and CEO Darren Entwistle. “They provide strategic vision that drives TELUS' growth and inspires our 30,000 team members across Canada.”
The honors came hot on the heels of TELUS Connection, a national women’s network, launched in February 2006. Since its inception 2000 of its female leaders have signed up.
“Very simply we want to help women at TELUS realize their full potential,” says Taylor. |
