A business that's 100 per cent owned by its employees has been chosen as one of the best places to work in Richmond.
Dillon Consulting, an Ontario-based engineering consulting firm with a branch in Richmond, received the Outstanding Workplace of the Year award from the Richmond Chamber of Commerce in November.
One thing that differentiates Dillon from the majority of businesses in the city is that the company is fully owned by its employees – this means the company shares are not owned by an owner or a group of investors, but by the employees only.
“We're consultants but we're not just consultants; we're employee-owners…we have a lot to say as employees on what our company looks like and how it grows through time,” said Mandy McDougall, office manager of Dillon Consulting Richmond.
She said there is a comprehensive process in terms of how shares are attributed to employees, but every employee has the opportunity to have a share in the company.
Being an employee-owned company has motivated workers, helping the company attract and retain talent and making sure the company's direction is in line with employees’ values, MacDougall said.
“As employees, we have a say in the decisions that our company makes, we get to provide input and, ultimately, we're the ones that get to decide the direction, the growth of the company, so we can focus not just on business operations but what it means to be a business within a community,” added McDougall.
“And as people who are personally invested, we're able to really take the time and effort to provide the best solutions for our clients.”
She said one of the company priorities the employee owners decided on was to invest time into their own community.
The company has many initiatives and policies to encourage workers to get involved in volunteering and community activities, including the Million Meal Program which aims to contribute, like its name suggests, a million meals to the community.
And because it’s employee owned, the company also invests more in their workers than many other businesses.
“There's a lot [of initiatives] in terms of employee satisfaction and making sure that employee needs are met,” said McDougall.
For example, the company’s wellness program offers a certain amount every year for each employee to use towards wellness activities, including gym memberships, sports leagues and fitness classes.
“Recently, after listening to what employees want, Dillon was able to implement a student debt repayment program where some of the benefits that we have can go towards repaying student debt, which is pretty unique to the industry,” she said.
And its early career development program provides training and courses to those who are early in their careers, to help them develop and grow within Dillon.
The company has a high retention rate and some employees have been with the Richmond office since its launch in 1994.
“Employees are the future...We invest heavily in our people because we believe that we're only as good as our people,” said McDougall.
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