Working as fast as the future at Bell Canada

Today, the typical lifespan of digital products, services and applications may often seem short to consumers, but that is what makes work so exciting at Bell Canada, where keeping pace with the perpetually evolving digital landscape is job one.

“The whole digital universe is continually expanding,” says Anuja Sheth, senior vice-president, technology services and information technology at Bell Canada. “Think about machine learning, the internet of things, the cloud, the endless new streaming services. These technologies and services are powering the digital experience of the future and we’re invested in all of them.”

Eloi Minka, director of digital media development with Bell Media, leads a team responsible for creating the software that powers Bell Media’s expansive suite of digital offerings, which includes the Crave streaming service as well as websites for media properties like TSN and the French-language Réseau des sports.

“Those websites have to be built, they have to be maintained and they have to be operated,” says Minka. “In addition, for all those brands we also have applications. And, these days, we have to be present pretty much everywhere our customers are on every type of device.”

In a world of breathtakingly fast change, it’s important for the organization to have a fresh infusion of talent and ideas. “We hire about 1,000 students every year and this is a combination of interns and new grads. A big portion of our hiring is STEM focused,” says Sheth, referring to science, technology, engineering and math.

Some come out of university knowing where they want to start and can contribute from day one, especially new graduates who may have had two or three internships with Bell. Others will go into a rotational program in which they work in different business units.

Given the scale and scope of Bell, that can be advantageous. “As I always say, if you think about our products and services, there are many companies within the company at Bell,” says Sheth. “You can fill so many roles.”

Bell also supports employee professional growth through mentoring and career planning, which very often involves upgrading skill sets or learning new ones. “The literate of the 21st century are not those who can read and write, but those who can learn, unlearn and relearn,” says Sheth. “That cycle is so important for our industry because technologies change so often. Things can become irrelevant within a year.”

The company offers a rich array of learning materials and resources through what it calls Bell U. “If you happen to be in a particular position and want to learn something from a technology standpoint, you can access a universe of course content, materials and resources online,” says Minka. “You can enroll in a course within Bell and get the training that way.”

Minka adds that all leaders at Bell are encouraged to make time for professional development within their teams, be it technical development, leadership, diversity or mental health learning and resources, which means understanding where employees want to take their careers and assisting them on their journey.

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. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents

At Bell Canada, the focus is always on the employee

Early in her career, Stacey Hoirch moved from an accounting firm to a major manufacturer and on to a multinational pharmaceutical company before joining Bell Canada. She expected to stay with Bell for five years or so before seeking a new opportunity elsewhere. That was 17 years ago.

“I wasn’t envisioning staying long, but I’m still here and absolutely love it,” says Hoirch, vice-president deputy controller & planning. “Bell is a large, national company, but it’s easy to find your way around, especially when you start, because people are always willing to support you. It’s a very supportive culture.”

Nicolas Carrara, who came to Montréal from his native France to do a master’s degree in business strategy, joined Bell in 2019 and sees the potential for a long and rewarding career with the company.

“When I was doing my master’s, I had the opportunity to discuss Bell Canada with two directors,” says Carrara, lead for the incubator and accelerator program, 5G services innovation team. “They were talking about their jobs and the impactful opportunities Bell would offer me to flourish. So far, it’s been a wonderful journey.”

For one thing, he’s been given responsibility for developing a cutting-edge innovation lab, which he and his team are scaling up to an innovation centre with locations in Montréal and Toronto.

“Every time I’ve needed a leader to help me discuss some challenges or simply answer some questions, I’ve never received a negative response,” he says. “It’s ‘let’s book time,’ ‘let’s talk about it’ and ‘how I can help you.’ I’ve gone all the way up to discussing financial structure and innovation culture with two senior vice-presidents. That’s incredibly motivating.”

As a senior leader, Hoirch says an essential part of her role involves listening and being accessible. Both are critical to retaining and developing talent. “I have weekly discussions with my direct reports,” she says. “There’s always an opportunity to talk about what’s going on with their teams and mapping out what they want to do next year.

“There are formal mid-year and year-end evaluations with employees, but that is not where the conversations end,” Hoirch says. “It’s a 12-month, 52-week discussion,” she adds. “It’s just having the conversations with them and supporting them if they want to try something different. The focus is always on the employee. That’s one of the stronger parts of the culture at Bell.”

Career growth is another huge priority at Bell, she says. The company offers a wide array of internal training materials that employees can access through the career zone suite of online resources. Among other things, there are courses available on how to communicate effectively, either verbally or written, and how to read an audience. “I’ve absolutely used these resources,” says Hoirch.

Bell also provides other training for the overall well-being of its employees including topics related to truth and reconciliation; mental health; diversity, inclusion and belonging; unconscious bias and much more.

The company also supports employee growth through the Bell Mentoring program. The program fosters an environment for employees to participate in a knowledge exchange, challenge their beliefs and promote a growth mindset. Hoirch herself has participated in the program throughout her career, as both a mentor and mentee. Hoirch says she “appreciates the relationships that are created through connections you would not necessarily have the chance to form through day-to-day interactions.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Montreal’s Top Employers winners, published February 28, 2023 in the Montreal Gazette. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

For Bell, sustainability brings opportunities to innovate

Catherine Jacques-Brissette joined Bell Canada almost 10 years ago as a consultant in the company’s pension and actuarial services group. As a qualified actuary, she managed long-term financial risks for the company.

“I personally felt a need to do something I was more passionate about, and that drew me to the environment, which has always been close to my heart,” she says.

As Jacques-Brissette discovered, Bell has been reducing the environmental impacts of its activities for over 25 years. The company has been setting increasingly ambitious environmental performance targets, which are overseen through its certified ISO 14001 environmental management system. When she joined the company, environmental leadership was already a critical tool in its long-term competitive strategy.

“That commitment to the environment drives internal opportunities,” says Marc Duchesne, vice-president of corporate security and responsibility. “It builds on innovation and gets team members engaged in identifying energy reduction initiatives.”

In 2021, Bell launched Bell for Better, a long-term commitment to create better outcomes for all stakeholders, including Canadian communities everywhere, employees and customers. The company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership is integral to the corporate culture.

Bell’s commitment to sustainability extends throughout the company and to its customers and suppliers as well – aiming to produce a more sustainable future.

In the last five years, for example, Bell has exceeded its e-waste targets and has recovered millions of phones, TV receivers, modems and mobile phones. More recently, it has partnered with the World Wildlife Fund Canada to donate the proceeds from its recovery programs to help with the fund’s climate-change initiatives.

“We’re committed to becoming carbon neutral in our operations by 2025,” says Duchesne. “For 2030, we have set science-based GHG emissions reduction targets that are consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, in line with the most ambitious temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.”

Bell’s environmental initiatives correspond with the concerns and priorities of its employees and other stakeholders. In a survey conducted last year, they identified climate change as the most important environmental issue facing the company, followed by energy conservation and the adoption of electric vehicles.

Jacques-Brissette moved from Bell’s pension group to its corporate responsibility and environment team as a business intelligence senior analyst. “I learned how actuarial science can contribute to fighting climate change,” she says. “I discovered that this is an area where I can use my actuarial expertise to make a positive impact.”

To minimize the company’s carbon footprint, Jacques-Brissette analyzes data collected by Bell’s environmental coordinators throughout the country and converts it into carbon emissions.

“Then we set ambitious carbon reduction targets and build the business case for executive approval.”

From the board of directors to the technicians installing network equipment, Bell takes its environmental commitments so seriously that the company has now embedded sustainability into its strategic imperatives.

“It’s a double opportunity,” says Duchesne. “We already operate in a sector that doesn’t emit a lot of carbon, but we also create and sell technology that enables people to reduce their carbon footprint. Not only can we do the right thing, but we also create products that help other people to do it too.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Greenest Employers winners, published April 20, 2022 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

Bell Canada has a clear connection to career paths

Babette Smith completed her undergraduate degree in software engineering at McGill University in the spring of 2020 at the height of the pandemic – not exactly an ideal time to be launching her career. Fortunately for her, the new grad program at Bell Canada provided a smooth start.

“The new grad program was really beneficial,” says Smith, a software developer in Bell’s network and technology services division. “You’re paired up with a mentor who is not necessarily in the same division. You also receive training to help you make presentations and to improve your communications skills.”

Smith also did an internship at Bell while she was a student, which gave her an appreciation for Bell’s culture and the career possibilities.

For her part, Michelle McCoubrey worked at Bell for several summers while she was a student, then joined full time 22 years ago after completing an undergraduate degree.

She started as a manager in dispatch operations. Currently, she is vice-president, field operations, and responsible for Bell technicians who install and repair phone, internet and TV services in homes and businesses across the country.

“As managers, we’re always watching for people who would be good in supervisory roles,” says McCoubrey. “We look for ways to help people see opportunities they could be exploring.”

And there are many career paths to follow in a national company with multiple business units, divisions and enterprises. “I’ve moved around a lot in my career,” says McCoubrey. “A lot of it has been managing operations teams, but I’ve also worked in project delivery, process improvement and business transformation.”

Early in her career, she was paired with a mentor and has benefited from her mentor’s years of personal advice. She has also derived considerable benefit from Bell’s leadership development program.

Bell Canada offers a broad array of learning and development opportunities for those who are just embarking on their careers as well as those who have advanced to managerial or leadership positions.

“I’ve gone through several different versions of the program,” says McCoubrey. “At ground level, front-line management, you learn how to manage people and how to deal with conflict, among other things. As you move into different roles, it becomes more about business transformation, influencing change or implementing Bell’s strategic imperatives.”

Learning and development programs provide other, less targeted benefits. “It gets you networking with other business units, meeting other people and really seeing how this big company works and how it all interconnects,” McCoubrey says.

Similarly, learning opportunities for employees in the new grad program are designed both to teach specific skills and to introduce youthful newcomers to the broader company. “A lot of the courses are focused on soft skills, like communicating in a corporate setting, which are not taught in a technical program like software engineering,” says Smith. “At the end of our first year, we got to make a presentation to a group of five or six other new grads, as well as our director and vice-president.”

Smith also participated in a new grad summit along with some 180 other participants in the program. “I met people who have different educational backgrounds and work in different parts of the company,” she says. “The program is designed to help you meet people outside your own bubble.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top Employers for Young People winners, published January 24, 2023 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.