Note: The following article appears in the Globe and Mail, announcing Medavie’s double win as national and regional winner of the Top 100 Employers Award.
“It’s important for us to be the company that we, our friends, our families want to work for.”
- Greg Bambury, Chief Human Resources Officer -
For Mark Peori, his time at Medavie has been part of an enjoyable and satisfying career working at contact centres. For more than two decades, he’s loved the challenge of helping clients navigate complicated problems and systems. “Problem solving is my big thing,” he says.
But during his previous time at other companies, there was one major drawback. His clients appreciated him, but it didn’t always feel that his employers did.
“At a lot of contact centres you’re a number,” he says. “They’re not interested in who you are, they just want your results.”
All that changed about 10 years ago when a friend – a manager at Medavie – told Peori about the culture of the health-care company where she worked. He applied for a job soon after.
“Medavie does several things differently,” he says. “One is they get to know us. We can talk to our managers as friends, and there’s a good rapport in the office.”
That rapport doesn’t come by chance. Medavie works hard to create a culture of support where employees can excel in all ways, according to chief human resources officer Greg Bambury.
“The challenges our employees face, both in their personal and professional lives, are broad,” he says. “It’s vital for us to give them the tools and support to deal with those challenges – from a rewards and benefits standpoint, from a development standpoint, a work environment standpoint, a leadership standpoint. We are determined to create an environment where our people can shine.”
Medavie is a true Atlantic Canadian success story. The company began 80 years ago as Maritime Hospital Service Association, a not-for-profit organization that addressed the need for medical expense coverage in Atlantic Canada. Over the years, Medavie expanded its business and insurance offerings to Québec and Ontario and added a range of health-care services including EMS, community-based health-care programs, clinical training and medical communications across Canada.
Today the company is the largest contracted EMS management provider in the country and a premier all-in-one benefits carrier through Medavie Blue Cross.
Bambury says that Medavie’s health and wellness mission begins with a focus on the well-being of employees. That means creating an environment where employees can thrive and prosper, both at work and in their lives.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations around our desired culture,” says Bambury. “It’s important for us to be the company that we, our friends, our families want to work for. The mission of our organization is improving the well-being of Canadians, and we wanted to have that mission start with our employees.”
“They don’t just say sit down and do your job,” says Peori. “They talk with us and take an interest in who we are. They find out what’s going on in our lives, what we care about when we’re not at work.”
For Peori, the culture at Medavie has created a noticeable difference. His stress level is lower since he joined the company and he’s been able to take time off to support his family through medical and personal issues. He also volunteers with a number of charities, which Medavie encourages and supports.
“They give me the time to volunteer for programs like Children’s Wish,” he says. “They take part in volunteer blood drives. They even have a program where they will support charities with a donation if an employee is volunteering with it.
“Medavie has a better culture and a better fit than any place I’ve worked before. It’s a good place.”
Medavie Facts
52581
job applications received last year
$4000
mental health coverage per year
$2500
scholarship program for employees' children
$1000
maximum financial bonuses for course completion
240
charities helped last year
$500
matching donation for every 50 staff volunteer hours
