Manitoba's Top Employers

20 include hockey, curling, basketball and slo-pitch leagues, garden and photo clubs and noon-hour lunch-and-learn sessions. Volunteering is also a big part of the company's social environment, with company teams participating in fundraisers for the Canadian Cancer Society, the MS Society, the United Way and more. Workplace communication also brings employees together. The company carries out an annual Positive Employee Relations survey and hosts focus groups to gather feedback. Regular town halls with the company vice-presidents and meetings for work units (known as cells), as well as daily "stand-up" meetings keep information flowing. Seeking ideas from all employees is part of the company's culture. "That is integral to our culture," says McLeish. "Everyone's opinion matters. Everyone is responsible for safety and improvement." To help the company find workers with the right skills and attitudes, StandardAero offers a bonus, typically $250, for employees who refer somebody to the company for a job. Competitive salary and benefits, including eye care and orthodontic coverage, are another part of the company's strategy for being a top employer. All of that adds up to a workforce with a strong long-term commitment. "We do a lot of 20-, 25-, 30-year celebrations," McLeish says, noting that one employee at the company has been there for 55 years. "Even after retirement it remains a tight-knit community." ❚ FAMILY CULTURE AT STANDARDAERO By Bob Armstrong It's hard to believe the clean, quiet space inside one of the big StandardAero plants adjacent to Winnipeg's Richardson International Airport is an aircraft engine maintenance shop. TEAMS FROM STANDARDAERO TAKE PART IN CHARITABLE FUNDRAISERS ALL AROUND THE PROVINCE, INCLUDING THE ANNUAL DRAGON BOAT RACES FOR THE CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY. STANDARDAERO PHOTO T he brightly lit building is filled with men and women quietly taking apart, inspecting, cleaning and repairing airplane engines — with no grease spills, stains, fumes or loud noises. The company's work environment is just one of the reasons the 105-year-old firm is one of Manitoba's Top Employers. Another is the close-knit community feeling among the company's employees, for whom the saying "we're one big family" isn't necessarily an exaggeration. "It's totally family friendly," says Riel Policar, a recent graduate of the company-created Gas Turbine Repair and Overall Technician (GTRO) program who has followed his father into working at the organization. "I remember as a kid looking forward to the family Christmas party every year." Stacey McLeish, Vice-President, Human Resources, says family connections aren't uncommon among StandardAero's 1,200 Winnipeg employees. Policar's pathway to working at StandardAero was created by the company, in partnership with Red River College and Apprenticeship Manitoba. The GTRO program begins at Red River's Stevenson Campus, where students practise technical skills and learn engine theory. Then they move to StandardAero's in-house technical training facility for more engine theory, training on the company's in-house systems, hands-on experience assembling and dissembling engines and the chance to become familiar with the specific engines they'll service on the job. One of the advantages of the program is that workers learn how to do things the StandardAero way. They learn the company's operational systems, language and culture. "The training team is really helpful," Policar says. "It was a smooth transition to the workplace." "We needed people who could hit the ground running," says McLeish. "We saw a void and so we worked with government and Red River College to create a program." For Production Engineer Graciela Manaois the GTRO program was an opportunity to find a career that fit her educational background. She came to Canada with a chemical engineering degree from a university in her native Philippines, but thought she might have to work in field far removed from her studies. "I was thinking, 'I'm an engineer, I'd like to go back to my engineering roots,'" she says. After graduating in 2009 from the GTRO program, she began working at StandardAero as a technician focusing on an engine part called a compressor stator. A few years later, she looked for ways of advancing within the company and discovered StandardAero offers tuition assistance up to $5,250 per year for employees seeking to upgrade their skills. She applied for Red River College's Mechanical Engineering Technology program and, with company support, began studying part-time at Red River while holding down her full-time job at StandardAero. Since graduating from the Red River program, she's been working as a production engineer, responsible for overseeing aspects of repair and overhaul work. Training, whether involving Manitoba schools, colleges or universities, or in-house programs, is important to the company and its people. And after recruiting and training employees to have highly specific skills, StandardAero works to create an environment they will want to remain in. The StandardAero Recreation Association and other employee-based committees look after social events including a family picnic and an annual lunch for 1,200-plus with the CEO. Social activities

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