At BCFSA, the opportunities for growth are endless

When Archana Nirad joined BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) in January 2020, just weeks before the pandemic, she already knew she wanted to be in public service since it aligned with her own sense of purpose.

“I wanted to work for an organization with a cause,” says Nirad, who has a diverse educational background spanning economics, literature and psychology, as well as an MBA in finance. “BCFSA ticked a number of boxes for me. At the time, it was a growing organization in the financial services sector and was just being established as a Crown agency. So, I applied and was successful as the director of solution design and delivery.”

Right from the start, Nirad benefited from BCFSA’s supportive culture that values growth and professional development.

"People here are very generous with their time," says Nirad. "You raise your hand, ask for help and they’re there to support you.”

When Nirad expressed an interest in growing into the chief information officer role, her leaders were very supportive, providing valuable feedback and guidance.

After spending a year and a half building her competency through a technology leadership program at the UBC Sauder School of Business, she successfully competed for the position when it became vacant, a role she’s held now for nearly three years.

“The culture at BCFSA is very collaborative and high energy,” she says. “Everybody wants to do their best. I think being in public service, you have that mindset that you want to make a difference.”

Kevin Thien, chief human resources officer, says BCFSA aims to provide the resources and support for employees to grow and develop in the directions they choose, rather than prescribing a rigid path.

“Team members get to make their own adventure at BCFSA, where our model of learning development is nurture, grow and thrive,” says Thien. “It’s almost like gardening. We want to make sure we’re putting in the soil and sunlight and water, but how individual employees decide to grow, we encourage them to do that.”

“It’s more of a partnership because the employee has to take accountability for where they want to drive their career and we give them the tools. That’s the model we're working towards.”

BCFSA is committed to continuous learning and development for its employees, including mentoring, job shadowing, leadership development and technical courses. The organization has invested significantly in its learning management system, providing employees access to thousands of online courses and micro-learning opportunities. Additionally, BCFSA recently introduced its first co-op program for post-secondary students, providing opportunities for the students to gain relevant work experience for their future careers.

“Three years ago, we didn’t have a learning and development team and now we have three full-time staff,” says Thien. “We’ve spent a lot of time reimagining what’s possible and invested in our new systems, plus we offer a personalized learning budget to each employee to support their development needs.

“We’ve just implemented a new module in our HR system called the ‘opportunity marketplace’ that allows employees to look at their career growth, possible pathways, the type of training and learning needed and different roles they may not have considered. We’re really excited to see what happens.”

One of the things Thien loves best about BCFSA is its culture of innovation and encouragement to try different things.

“We like to try new things when it comes to supporting the growth of our team members,” he says. “We have the ability to experiment, innovate, and challenge the status quo to ensure we're seeing the big picture and always striving for improvement.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's BC’s Top Employers winners, published February 11, 2025 in the Vancouver Sun. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.