On November 23rd, 2022, COR became a proud recipient of the Canadian Workplace Well-being Award, presented by the Canadian Positive Psychology Association, sponsored by Canada Life, Workplace Strategies for Mental Health.
Watch the Awards celebration on Youtube!
This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year’s Canada’s Top 100 Employers winners, published November 18, 2022 in The Globe and Mail.
When Michael Lavis moved to Saskatchewan in 2009 to launch Creative Options Regina, Inc. (COR), a for-impact, charitable organization that provides support services for people experiencing disability, he was inspired by Gentle Teaching, a non-violent approach to supporting marginalized people. But it soon became clear that its concepts of companionship and community should be applied to everyone who works for COR and everything they do.
“We realized it needed to be woven through the fabric of the entire organization,” explains Lavis, COR’s co-founder and CEO. “So we switched from the idea of Gentle Teaching to what we refer to as a culture of gentleness. And we call it that because we’ve applied it across our organization, to all our processes and practices.”
COR employees support hundreds of people living with a wide range of disabilities and complex conditions across Regina. “It became key to start with the caregivers, the people who provide that support,” Lavis says. “Caregiving is an incredibly difficult job, and we needed to ensure that they were feeling safe, valued, respected and cared for.”
That meant creating a supportive community by providing multiple ways for employees to connect, communicate and get help when they need it. They are offered extensive training in the principles of Gentle Teaching, as well as first aid, stress management, suicide alertness, crisis prevention and a host of other skills.
“This sector is defined by high turnover, burnout and little to no training, which is unfortunate,” says Lavis. “But when you invest in people, it’s a valuable investment and it helps you retain your workers because they know they’re important to you.”
There are also many opportunities for informal social connection and celebration of the COR family’s diverse cultures. The workforce includes employees with roots in 55 different countries, as well as members of indigenous and LGBTQ+ communities.
Joana Valamootoo is a cultural advisor who leads events, programs and cultural training designed to bring COR together to celebrate diversity and nurture a culture of belonging at the organization.
“I love learning, and I have had many learning opportunities here,” says Valamootoo, who’s originally from Mauritius. “Gentle Teaching, learning how to talk to people going through a difficult time, sharing my culture with other people – it’s all valuable not just for work but for life outside work. And there are so many events and celebrations, like barbecues in the summer, Christmas parties, activities for both the employees and the people we support.”
Valamootoo also appreciated receiving a care package sent to employees during the pandemic. “These types of initiatives make you want to do your best work, because you know that your employers recognize what you’re doing and want to celebrate you in some way,” she says. “It’s the sense of pride that we have working for COR that makes us want to increase the strength of the organization.”
For Lavis, it’s all about building relationships and making people feel safe, valued and respected. “What we have realized over a number of years is that when our employees are cared for, they in turn provide the utmost care to the people we support,” he says. “And that’s really what has shaped our practices and been the foundation of the work we’re doing.”
As Canadians adapt to a new normal of work, finding the right fit becomes a question of choice. This year’s Canada’s Top 100 Employers are leading by listening, tapping into employee feelings and sentiments about the many challenges of the past year. The 2023 winners were announced today by Mediacorp Canada Inc., organizers of the annual competition.
“Employers are trying to find their footing in unfamiliar territory,” says Richard Yerema, executive editor of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project at Mediacorp. “There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach for hybrid and remote work. Agility and willingness to learn from feedback and try something new is what differentiates this year’s winners.”
Along with managing the return to the workplace, organizations have doubled down on their efforts to support health and wellness, from enhanced programming and resources to increased coverage for mental health services and providing access to mindfulness and meditation apps.
“There really isn’t an alternative to listening to employees and trying to understand how their needs have changed,” adds Anthony Meehan, publisher at Mediacorp “We see a lot being written on trends like ‘quiet quitting’ and employees not wanting to return to their pre-pandemic working arrangements, but the reality is that burn-out and mental health have become significant challenges. Finding ways to ensure that employees can disconnect, rest and recharge has become mission-critical to an organization’s success and sustainability.”
Now in its 23rd annual edition, Canada’s Top 100 Employers is an editorial competition that recognizes employers with exceptional human resources programs and forward-thinking workplace policies. Editors at Mediacorp grade employers on eight criteria, which have remained consistent since the project’s inception: (1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere & Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training & Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement. The editors publish detailed ‘reasons for selection’ for these criteria, providing transparency in the selection of winners and a catalogue of best practices for employers and job-seekers.
Founded in 1992, Mediacorp Canada Inc. is the nation’s largest publisher of employment periodicals. Since 1999, the Toronto-based publisher has managed the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project, which includes 18 regional and special-interest editorial competitions that reach millions of Canadians annually through a variety of magazine and newspaper partners, including The Globe and Mail. Mediacorp also operates Eluta.ca, one of Canada’s largest job search engines, which reaches over two million job-seekers annually and features exclusive editorial reviews from the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project. The company also publishes The Career Directory, now in its 30th year – a free online guide for recent college and university graduates looking for employers hiring candidates from their educational background.
The full list of 2023 winners were announced this morning in a published in The Globe and Mail in print and online. The full list of winners and our editors’ detailed reasons for selection were also released today online.
SOURCE: Mediacorp Canada Inc.
The pandemic and the rise of remote work are turning Saskatchewan’s historical challenges into benefits. 
Saskatchewan companies have historically hired at a disadvantage to more populous provinces, but the past years saw so much uncertainty in the global employment market that Saskatchewan seems to be acquiring a more powerful appeal to workers. Global swings in traditional work cultures could benefit its workers as much as its big employers — a trend that can be seen by looking at some of the most popular and successful companies in the country.
Each year, the Canada’s Top 100 Employers competition releases its picks for the best employers in each region of the country, analyzing a wide range of factors to help applicants figure out which companies offer the best work environments. Now, 2022’s Saskatchewan ranking has arrived to highlight those companies that have continued to offer creative, competitive compensation and benefits packages even while dealing with a host of local and global difficulties.
The winners are chosen based on multiple criteria, including compensation and benefits, the work and social atmosphere, the work environment, training and upward mobility and community involvement — all of which were pushed forward by a healthy level of competition between public- and private-sector employers.
Continue reading to learn why COR was selected as one of Saskatchewan’s Top Employers…
This year, COR received the Canadian HR Reporter 5-Star Rewards & Recognition Award for a company sized 100-499 employees!
Click here to visit hrreporter.com to learn more
If there was ever a time when employee rewards and recognition (R&R) were needed, it’s during the ongoing pandemic. As many people struggle — whether they are retail or health care front-liners, or parents working from home while taking care of their kids, or single people increasingly isolated from coworkers — feeling valued and appreciated by their employer is much more important.
To that end, several Canadian organizations not only maintained an impressive focus on recognition during the past two years, but upped their offerings to recognize the hard work of staff and boost morale. Canadian HR Reporter spoke with three of the 13 5-Star Rewards and Recognition winners to learn about their unique programs.
COR has once again received Canada’s Healthy Workplace Great Employer Award by Excellence Canada and Canada Life. We are so very proud of our COR family and tremendously grateful to everyone who has supported our effort in building a healthy workplace! Read about the award below:
TORONTO, Dec. 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Excellence Canada is pleased to announce the 2021 Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month® Great Employers. These organizations are being celebrated for their planning and actions to foster physically and psychologically safe and healthy workplaces, striving to continually improve across four main areas of focus, namely:
Physical Health
This element of a healthy workplace refers to how well an organization supports employees to develop and maintain healthy behaviours (exercise, nutrition, sleep, etc.) reduce unhealthy/risky habits and make optimal use of health care opportunities. It also refers to workplace due diligence regarding Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and the management of workplace influences that may contribute to injuries, disabilities and/or fatalities. Facility design, including air quality, noise, lighting, and other physical workplace factors are also important aspects that impact employee physical health and well-being.
Mental Health
This element of a healthy workplace refers to how the organization encourages a supportive workplace culture – the foundation of a healthy workplace. This element speaks to how the culture encourages respect, trust, support, and inclusivity. It refers to communication styles and patterns of relationships and values that influence employee health, safety, and well-being.
Social Health
Social well-being in the workplace reflects employee relationships with coworkers, interactions with management, and a sense of belonging within the organization as a whole. It is a measure of an employee’s interpersonal relationships both inside and outside of work and includes aspects such as connectedness, collaboration, recognition and rewards, engagement, influence, growth and development, and intellectual health.
Community
Being a socially responsible organization empowers employees to leverage corporate resources at their disposal to do good. Formal social responsibility programs boost employee morale and productivity in the workforce. This element of a healthy workplace refers to the interrelationship between the workplace, the community, and employee health, safety and well-being, including the way organizations are involved in the community, support environmental stewardship, economic responsibility, and social justice; and how employees are encouraged to participate, volunteer, and ‘give back’ to the community.
This year’s recipients are, in alphabetical order:
| AGS Rehab Solutions Inc. | Mississauga | ON |
| CanmetENERGY-Ottawa, Natural Resources Canada | Nepean | ON |
| CHEO (Pediatric health care and research centre) | Ottawa | ON |
| Connecting Care & Points West Living | Edmonton | AB |
| Creative Options Regina | Regina | SK |
| Hamilton Health Sciences | Hamilton | ON |
| Health Standards Organization (HSO) | Ottawa | ON |
| Lethbridge College | Lethbridge | AB |
| McMaster University | Hamilton | ON |
| Saskatchewan Blue Cross | Saskatoon | SK |
| Unbounce | Vancouver | BC |
| WorkTango | Toronto | ON |
Find out what it takes to be a Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month® Great Employer
About Excellence Canada
Excellence Canada is an independent, not-for-profit corporation that is committed to advancing organizational excellence across Canada. As a national authority on Organizational Excellence, Healthy Workplace®, and Mental Health at Work® awards, Excellence Canada provides excellence frameworks, standards, and independent verification and certification to organizations of all sizes and in all sectors. It is also the custodian and adjudicator of the Canada Awards for Excellence program.
“Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month” , “Healthy Workplace”, and “Mental Health at Work” are Registered Trademarks of Excellence Canada.
In 2021, COR CEO Michael Lavis earned the title of Canada’s Most Admired CEO in the Broader Public Sector from Waterstone Human Capital.
Michael Lavis is the founding CEO of Creative Options Regina (COR) — a for-impact, charitable organization that develops personalized support services for people experiencing disability in Regina, Saskatchewan. Under Michael’s leadership, COR has grown to become one of Saskatchewan’s largest support providers serving both vulnerable youth and adults in-care. Michael is passionately committed to nurturing a culture of gentleness within the workplace, transforming care by focusing on employee experience.
As a purpose-driven leader, Michael embraces a culture of continuous learning, recently completing a MA in Leadership with a specialization is values from Royal Roads University. Additionally, he has a MA in Human Security and Peacebuilding, coupled with a BA in International Relations from the University of Saskatchewan, and has completed a number of leadership certificate programs. Michael has over fifteen years of global experience developing opportunities for marginalized individuals; from South America to Africa, and Southeast Asia to Canada, Michael has worked and researched extensively within various international organizations. Michael is passionately committed to strengthening the disability services sector in Saskatchewan and to forge out new beginnings for the province’s most vulnerable citizens. In addition to his work at COR, Michael serves on the Board of Directors of Service Hospitality, Caledonian Curling Club, and is an advisory committee member of the Conference Board of Canada’s Council on Workplace Health and Wellness. COR has been recognized as one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures – Broader Public Sector (2020), one of Saskatchewan’s Top Employers (2018-2021), Canada’s Top 100 Employers (2021), and recipient of Canada’s Healthiest Workplaces Award (2019 & 2020).
Today, we celebrate our entire COR family!
When we laid the foundation for COR twelve short years ago, we knew we wanted to be different. We embraced the life work of Dr. John McGee and wove his philosophy of Gentle Teaching throughout all aspects of our organization. We partnered with leaders around the world to listen, learn and mould COR into what it is today!
What we didn’t realize at the time was the uniqueness of what we were crafting together! We nurtured a caring community of people by leading with purpose and rallying around a set of shared values. Together, we cultivated an environment where people feel safe and valued, while continuing to rally a growing cadre of people around a common vision: Empowering People, Inspiring Change.
For us, nurturing a Culture of Gentleness has proven to be the perfect counter story to outdated narratives of support. At COR, we support people not clients; we craft companions not employees; we build homes not houses; we see value and dignify rather than find fault and humiliate; we engage with community rather than watch it pass us by. And we CARE – for our entire COR family.
Our continued growth (and impact) over the past decade has garnered both provincial and national attention, most notably achieving Saskatchewan’s Top Employer recognition (2018-2021), Canada’s Healthiest Workplace Award (2019-2020), along with Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures Award (2021). And today, we again raise our heads with great pride as we have just been awarded the prestigious CANADA’S TOP 100 EMPLOYERS Award for 2022.
COR is proud to be named one of Canada’s Top Employers 2022
We are so tremendously grateful to everyone who has supported us and championed our efforts over the past decade – this recognition is because of you! We are so incredibly thankful.
To our COR family: Thank you for making a difference in the lives of those we serve – everyday! We are so proud to have you as part of our family.
With immense gratitude,
Michael and Jim
Today, Canadian HR Reporter unveiled its list of top employers based on key metrics, employee feedback — COR is incredibly proud to be recognized as one of CANADA’S BEST PLACES TO WORK (2021).
Revealed: Best Places to Work 2021
Cover Page: Canadian HR Reporter Magazine
Looking to hear more about why Creative Options Regina is among the 2021 Best Places to Work, Canadian HR Reporter spoke with Casey Sakires, employee experience advisor.
On February 4th, COR was recognized as one of Saskatchewan’s Top Employers for 2021 – our 4th straight year to receive this recognition! We are both humbled and proud of this accomplishment. Thank you to our entire COR family; we are so tremendously grateful to work alongside such compassionate, caring people!
Support workers at Creative Options Regina don’t see themselves as punching the clock, earning a wage or, to quote a classic rock tune, working for the weekend.
“It’s that whole sense of making a difference,” says Michael Lavis, chief executive officer of the non-profit organization that provides a variety of at-home social services for individuals with mental health and/or intellectual disabilities.
“We’re typically working with a group of people who don’t necessarily fit into traditional models of care,” Lavis says, adding that clients face challenges involving health care, mental health, social services and justice.
That means crafting care for each individual client.
“With us, it’s about meeting the person where they’re at,” he says.
Workers at the organization take that duty to heart, continuing to serve clients even in less-than-ideal conditions — such as a pandemic.
The importance of their work is one reason why Creative Options is among Saskatchewan’s Top Employers in 2021.
The Top Employers program, managed by Mediacorp Canada Inc., recognizes workplaces not only for offering excellent compensation, exceptional workplace culture and nifty perks. It also selects organizations that are exceptionally good at engaging their employees.
And no workers are more engaged than those who believe their role is to make the world a better place.
Employees at First Nations Bank of Canada — another Top Employer in Saskatchewan — also feel that sense of doing good through their efforts at the financial institution that serves Indigenous people, businesses and their communities.
“In some places, we are the only bank around,” says Leigh Solomon, vice-president of retail banking at the bank. “And so many employees have taken great pride in still being open to serve these communities during the pandemic.”
Their roles have included providing in-person banking to a handful of clients who lack internet and even phone connections. At other times, they have walked customers through the process of using online banking services so they don’t have to visit a branch.
Kevin Michael, vice-president of commercial banking, says First Nations Bank of Canada employees recognize their role isn’t just providing financial services. It’s about helping Indigenous communities build their economies and generate wealth.
“What we do really benefits people’s lives in northern communities,” he says, adding many employees are from northern Saskatchewan.
A similar sense of purpose is shared among Creative Options Regina employees, which is a good thing because demand for services has expanded during COVID-19, Lavis notes.
The fact the organization has been able to meet this demand is “testament” to the efforts of its staff.
“We attract good people because of what we do,” Lavis says. “Still, even I’m just really amazed how everyone stepped up in this difficult time.”
As an employer, Creative Options Regina has looked to help its staff be at its best by creating a workplace that meets their needs while addressing any concerns. That has built a united organization.
“When you have that sense of common purpose — you feel like you’re part of something bigger than yourself and you’re making a difference — the job doesn’t feel much like work anymore.”
Read the full article published in the Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon Star Pheonix on February 4th, 2021: https://www.canadastop100.com/sk/
