ATCO focuses on employees’ well-being and growth

Andy Tan thinks for a few moments before honing in on the first time he realized Calgary-based ATCO Ltd. was an excellent employer: his first Hot Dog Friday.

At the end of most weeks, the operations manager at the ATCO Heartland Energy Centre buys hot dogs for colleagues like Tan, and often invites contractors or visitors to join too. Tan, an operations engineer who started at the ATCO facility northeast of Edmonton in January 2022, says he remembers the first lunch he attended because he was taken aback by the friendly atmosphere, the laughter and the way the informal event made him feel connected to his new peers.

“You feel that sort of belonging because people really want you to be there,” Tan says of the culture at ATCO. “You feel like you’re part of a team, like you’re engaged. It’s really an amazing thing.”

Engagement has been a running theme throughout Tan’s time at ATCO, a diversified energy, logistics and engineering company with operations in Canada, the United States, Australia, Mexico and beyond. Tan was drawn to ATCO partly because of its commitment to renewable energy initiatives – which is the focus of his business unit, ATCO EnPower – particularly its efforts to develop hydrogen into an alternative renewable fuel source.

Tan says ATCO leaders really prioritize people throughout its operations. They do that by helping employees advance their careers, and by promoting work-life balance in multiple ways.

“ATCO wants to make sure their people are doing well,” he says. “They are very good at creating a safe, inclusive environment.” As one example, he mentions ATCO’s mental health initiatives, which include giving employees a mental health day off and up to $3,000 of mental health benefits each year, over and above other benefits.

Deanna Girard, vice president of human resources, remembers the genesis of the $3,000 mental health benefit. During the pandemic, there was a clear need to increase the reimbursements for employees’ psychological health, and Girard suggested to a top executive that the benefit at the time should double to $2,000. But the executive said, “Nope, we need to move to $3,000,” Girard says, recalling the conversation. “ATCO truly is a place that cares for people. Caring is one of our core values, and aligns with my own personal values.”

Girard says that when ATCO leaders think about how to treat their employees, they consider “the whole human being, beginning with the need for a sense of safety and belonging and security.” The company also prioritizes employees’ financial health through fair compensation programs, its benefits and pension programs, an employee share-purchase program, and the many learning and development initiatives it offers.

Another way the company expresses its caring corporate culture is through its Employees Participating in Communities (EPIC) program, which helps its people support causes outside the company through fundraising and volunteering their time.

“The purpose of our company is creating prosperity and opportunity with our customers – and for the world – for generations to come,” Girard says. “We apply that to our people as well. We want to provide lots of opportunity for our employees to be able to grow, prosper and fulfil their career opportunities.”

Tan concurs that ATCO offers employees a wide range of opportunities, which it is able to do because it is a global company with many different kinds of operations. He says leaders facilitate workers’ growth and mobility by “actively” listening to their needs and ideas.

“I find this pretty rare,” he says. “I think that’s a culture thing, and that’s pretty valuable.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Alberta’s Top Employers winners, published January 28, 2025 in the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

ATCO welcomes hires with support and opportunity

While Dustin House-Bearspaw was pursuing a business management degree at the University of Lethbridge, he began considering the pros and cons of working at several select companies. Ultimately, his time in the Indigenous Summer Student program at Calgary-based ATCO Ltd. made his decision clear.

The member of the Stoney Nakoda Nation says the managers at ATCO made him feel welcome as an intern and helped him adapt to working in an office environment, especially one key supervisor, Cole Crook.

“He really made me feel comfortable and supported me throughout my whole term,” says House-Bearspaw, who joined ATCO as a permanent employee in February 2022. Another attraction was that ATCO – a diversified energy, logistics and engineering company with operations in Canada, the United States, Australia, Mexico and beyond – offers a diverse range of opportunities for young people to build out their careers.

Now an advisor of Indigenous business initiatives in Calgary, House-Bearspaw says his experience is indicative of how ATCO leaders treat new hires: they really listen to employees, treat them equitably and talk with them openly.

“It’s eye to eye, rather than hierarchical,” he says of his interactions with executives. “And leaders have advocated for me and provided the support for me to ensure that I have a good experience and I’m doing well as an employee.”

One part of House-Bearspaw’s job is ensuring that other young hires, especially Indigenous employees, feel as welcome as he did coming into a big company like ATCO. “It’s creating safe spaces for incoming Indigenous people, whether they’re summer students or new graduates looking for an opportunity within a company like this, ensuring they have the right resources to want to stay with us,” he says.

The other big focus of his job is helping ATCO build positive relationships with Indigenous communities everywhere the company has a presence.

Deanna Girard, vice president of human resources, says ATCO puts a lot of time and effort into attracting young talent. It welcomes summer students with a special onboarding session that includes executive guest speakers and offers a wide variety of professional development initiatives. ATCO also supports students working towards their CPA designation through a chartered professional accountant program.

Once hired, ATCO employees are offered flexibility, where possible, through hybrid work arrangements and other benefits new workers need to meet their physical, psychological and financial needs.

“To attract young people, we make sure that we have a diverse, inclusive, psychologically safe work environment,” Girard says. “ATCO puts a real emphasis on the next generations, who are very focused on the social aspects of the world and how companies are conducting business from an environmental perspective to improving our communities.”

Girard says one of the many draws for young people is ATCO’s Employees Participating in Communities (EPIC) program, which supports employees’ efforts to positively impact communities through raising funds and volunteering their time for good causes.

Given the focus of House-Bearspaw’s role, a big part of the community outreach he does is in Indigenous communities. He says the members of his team take the time to attend as many events as they can.

“One great part of ATCO is that it allows us to take part in community events held across the country,” House-Bearspaw says.

He feels the course set by ATCO’s leaders, from the CEO down through the ranks, has created an excellent environment for him to thrive at his job.

“They’ve provided the right direction as a leadership group so we can allow more young Indigenous people to enter the company and build a career here,” House-Bearspaw says.

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top Employers for Young People winners, published January 21, 2025 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.