Assiniboine Credit Union Named Top 10 Employer in Manitoba and Top 100 Employer in Canada

Tuesday October 9, 2007

The staff and management that led one of Manitoba’s largest business mergers are being nationally recognized for doing something that few mergers do – put their employees first.

Maclean’s Magazine – in its national hunt for the best employers in Canada – has identified the new Assiniboine Credit Union as a Top 100 Employer, on the strength of the way it managed the merger of three credit unions and 24 branches this year.

Long after the news of the merger of Assiniboine, Astra and Vantis credit unions had faded from the headlines, the behind-the-scenes priority was making sure the credit unions’ greatest asset - its combined 521 employees - were being properly taken care of, said ACU CEO Michel Audette.

“The first thing we promised employees is that there would be no layoffs. In fact we predicted that new jobs and greater opportunities were going to open up for them now,” Audette said.

That immediately became clear to employees like Iona Gruskin, who immigrated to Canada from Argentina and was working as a mortgage administrator at Vantis Credit Union when the merger was approved. With a degree in business she wanted to become a project manager, but the smaller credit union didn’t have such a position.

“Hearing about the merger, I realized immediately that it could be my opportunity for new possibilities. And I was right,” said Gruskin who saw her dream become a reality just three months after the merger.

“We always hear about the stress and the multiple changes that a merger of companies brings to staff, how difficult it could be to adapt to the new organization, the possibility of layoffs – fear of change. But people forget about new opportunities that a merger can bring, if its managed properly,” Gruskin added.

Many of the employees saw life-long dreams to advance their careers, change their work hours or work closer to home finally realized with the merger. It was largely because the three credit unions implemented thorough change management strategies, regular and in-depth communication tools for employees and an organizational development plan that involved employees at every level, said ACU Manager of Employment and Diversity Lisa Anderson.

While this is the first human resources award for the newly merged entity, it is the third time that ACU has been recognized as a Top 100 Employer in Canada. In addition to the national recognition it was named one of the Top 15 Employers in Manitoba.

“What I like most about winning this award is that we now use Top 100 as a benchmark in the development of our corporate HR programs. We challenge ourselves by asking, "is this something a Top 100 employer would do?" Winning this award has effectively raised the bar for ACU,” said Anderson.

The editorial and judging team of the Top 100 Employers Award reviewed over 72,000 employers across Canada and invited 14,000 to formally apply. From that 1,800 Canadian businesses submitted applications. The list of the Top 100 Employers is published in the October 13th edition of Maclean’s magazine, which is on stands this week.