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4 MANITOBA'S TOP 25 EMPLOYERS 2014 ST. JOHN'S-RAVENSCOURT SCHOOL Personal touch, attention to detail make St. John's-Ravenscourt School one of best places to work By Todd Lewys For the Free Press As anyone who's worked for a large organization can attest, it's all too easy for employees to become a number. When that happens, the collective morale of the workforce can suffer. In an amazingly short period of time, a positive atmosphere can degenerate into a negative one. An atmosphere that once empowered people to flourish can disappear in short order if care isn't taken to preserve it. That's why it's critically important that senior management in any organization – no matter how big or small – show that they care for everyone, said St. John's-Ravenscourt School's (SJR) co-head, Stephen Johnson. "Granted, we're not a huge organization like MTS, for example," he said, noting that SJR has a staff of 140 and a student body of 800. "On any given day, there are about 1,000 people on campus, so there are a lot of moving parts. Even though it might not seem like it, a school is quite a complex organization." Consequently, because there's constant interaction between staff and students, it's important that staff be in a positive frame of mind to not only teach students, but communicate well with them. That's why Johnson and his faculty and staff pay close attention to the atmosphere in the school on a daily basis. "The heartbeat inside the building is so important," he said. "We don't want working here to be just a job to our employees; we want it to be a workplace of rich reward. With that in mind, I have a walk-about policy, where I'm always walking through the school talking to people, or at lunch just to say hi to both staff and students. I try to find them. If there are any St. John's-Ravenscourt staff photographed at the school. Photo by Jason Halstead concerns about anything, I'm willing to listen. They don't have to make an appointment to talk; I try to be accessible as possible, and so does my senior administration team, all of whom are very good with people." That accessibility, it turns out, is as important – if not more so – than a host of amazing benefits. While SJR does things like providing paid time off to volunteer for charitable organization, supporting older workers as they prepare for retirement, providing maternal leave top-up payments for new mothers (up to 90 per cent of salary for 27 weeks) – as well as holding social events throughout the year – it's the personal touch that seems to resonate most. "It's something we believe in strongly – keeping channels open so you can talk to a supervisor about an important issue right away. I think we do that well, but we never take doing those things for granted; things start to go wrong when you do that. We're proud of the community we've created, and the culture – respect, commitment to excellence, integrity – within it." That value-laden culture – one that respects both staff and students alike – is paying off. When SJR's administrative team says they want to hear feedback from employees, they mean it. "Our job as a senior administrative team is to keep our finger on the pulse of the community here – we can't take the positive atmosphere for granted," Johnson said. "For example, we always survey new employees after Thanksgiving to ask them, 'how's it going?'. And before they even start here, we have them come in before the school term starts to provide them with an orientation that goes through the school's history. We also assign them a mentor for two to > three months. It's important to pay special detail to things like that to ensure our staff is happy and productive." It appears that extra effort is paying off. Combine the personal touch, great values and a thoughtful benefits program together, and the result is a thriving workplace. "People wouldn't stay here if it weren't a healthy workplace," he added. "Many of our employees have been with us for over 25 years. In fact, we have a wall engraved with names of 45 employees who were with us for 25 years or more. I'm happy to say 15 of them are still with us. I think our employees know that we care, and that we're always willing to listen to them. We try to set the tone, and lead by example. That consistency is critical. I think it's why this place has such a great feel to it." Our many entry points mean we are ready when you are. WWW.SJR.MB.CA

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