Direct Energy prioritizes customers and employees

Now senior director for strategic objectives at Direct Energy Canada, Lori Armstrong tells how, early in her 21-year career with the Calgary-based energy retailer, her family needed to move from Calgary to Edmonton. “I thought I would have to quit,” Armstrong recalls, “but the company created an opportunity for me in a totally different position in the Edmonton office.” Direct Energy did the same again when her family later returned to Calgary.

“We are talking about an organization that saw me through that, as well as three maternity leaves – all with good opportunities on my return – and through my cancer diagnosis and treatment,” Armstrong says. “There is a lot of trust and mutual loyalty here.”

Not to mention empathy, collaboration and communication, says customer experience manager Martina Park. “I can go to any director of any team at any time to discuss customer issues and talk about how we can make things better, or even say, ‘We have ideas – can we make them happen?’” says Park, who received the 2024 CX Award for Most Empathetic employee from Direct Energy’s parent company, NRG Energy.

“Empathy is a Direct Energy goal,” she says. “If there’s any way at all we can make things better for our customers and employees, everyone in our company really stands behind that.”

Employee and customer experience are two closely tied priorities for the company. “If we identify a customer that's going through a hard time, our call centre agents have the ability to help make their day depending on the situation, by offering a bill credit.” That’s good news for employees, as well as clients, in tough circumstances, she adds.

“It’s our customer experience teammates who have the honour of calling those customers to share that good news,” says Park. “Sometimes those calls get emotional. I’ve had some agents cry along with the customers – this task is definitely one of their favourite jobs.”

Through its numerous business resource groups, which include RISE (Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and Supporting Equity) and the visABILITY Group, Direct Energy fosters diversity, inclusion and a safe workplace. “The visABILITY Group is for people who have different challenges, physical, mental or whatever,” says Park, who is a member. “Sometimes it’s just good to talk to each other, and we all meet to discuss our challenges and how they can be accommodated.”

Diversity and inclusion are also strategic aims for Direct Energy. “Our customers are a broad range of people, and we need a diverse workforce within our company, to ensure that our products and services meet everybody’s needs,” says Armstrong.

Customers have a right to safety as well, she adds, when discussing the company’s Safer Spaces program. “It helps people going through a domestic violence event who want to set up their utilities in a way that protects them by keeping the information confidential.”

What really connects employees and customers, according to both Armstrong and Park, is the depth of Direct Energy’s employee-driven community engagement. “We don’t just write cheques,” Armstrong says. “We always look for ways that our employees can also get involved and for causes that are meaningful to them. There’s an employee in our Calgary office, for instance, whose mom is living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and he really champions MS fundraising."

“I love hearing directly from him about the impact those dollars have,” says Armstrong, “providing help for his mom and others who are struggling in our customers’ communities.”

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.