IGM’s culture champions putting people first
When Michelle Brochu mentioned to a couple of her fellow volunteers at a Toronto hockey club that she was job hunting, they urged her to apply to their employer, Mackenzie Investments, part of the IGM Financial Inc. group of companies.
Brochu has a stellar educational and professional background but, like some women with young children, she’d stepped out of the workforce for a while. She says that even though she was keeping her skills sharp and acquiring new ones in a variety of volunteer roles, prospective employers saw only the gap in her salaried career.
That all changed when she followed up on the suggestion she consider Mackenzie. “During my first interview I felt my life experience was truly appreciated, and the work I was doing in the community had value in the business world,” Brochu says. “They also recognized my strengths and everything I have to offer.”
She joined the investment management firm as a senior assistant in late 2022 and immediately took to the inclusive and non- hierarchical workplace. “I really enjoy all the people I’m working with,” she says. “Our senior leaders are accessible and approachable. The whole environment helps you feel motivated to go as far as you can in your career.”
Within 10 months, Brochu was promoted to senior analyst, sales enablement, in retail distribution. Working with an eight-member team, her responsibilities include organizing programs and events throughout Canada for outside advisors, so they have the training and information they need to provide timely advice and solutions to their clients.
IGM is one of Canada’s leading wealth and asset management companies, which includes Mackenzie Investments and IG Wealth Management. The companies operate separately but share corporate functions.
They also share a corporate culture of putting people first. And as Brochu discovered, that includes people in their communities, as well as IGM colleagues and clients.
Chief human resources officer Cynthia Currie says IGM partners with assorted non-profit organizations that serve and create opportunities for diverse communities. It also offers various programs and initiatives that encourage and empower employees to donate to, and volunteer with, hundreds of charities coast to coast.
“Our commitment to social responsibility and giving back is a massive point of pride for our employees,” Currie says.
She adds that IGM regularly uses tools such as surveys and focus groups and holds regular town halls with live Q&A sessions, so employees feel valued and heard on a wide range of matters. This includes everything from the effectiveness of the senior leadership to opportunities for learning and development.
Employee feedback also helped inform IGM’s considered approach to determining the future of its post-pandemic workplace – a hybrid work model, with employees in the office three days a week.
It also launched Ways of Working (WoW), a comprehensive action plan to ensure its hybrid model is fully functional. A partnership with real estate, IT and human resources, WoW initiatives included upgrading physical office spaces, installing QR codes to make it easier to report facility or technology issues and training leaders in how to have difficult conversations with team members about hybrid work.
“Our culture is based on collaboration, and that works best in person,” says Currie. “At the same time, employees still have some of the flexibility they grew accustomed to working from home.
“We believe three days is the sweet spot that addresses both corporate and employee needs.”
Training and teamwork work hand in hand at IGM
Fiona Melville says she had never considered a career in the financial services sector until she had a practicum with IG Wealth Management (IG), one of the IGM Financial Inc. group of companies.
In 2017, the college where she was studying to become an administrative professional placed her with IG for the practical work experience she needed to complete her certificate program. Just as she was finishing up, the company had an opening in one of its administrative offices.
Although she hadn’t yet determined her ideal career path, Melville was grateful to land a fulltime job with one of Winnipeg’s largest and most established employers.
“I had seen that there are lots of possibilities and opportunities,” she says. “There is room for both personal and professional growth.”
Two promotions later, Melville is an event manager with field and events marketing where her responsibilities include organizing and running employee events ranging from forums to holiday parties. She also supports the senior event leads on the team with their programs, assisting with operational tasks such as developing websites for registration, creative asset management, and communications.
“I’m exactly where I want to be,” says Melville, who’s part of a 15-person team that includes colleagues from IG sister company Mackenzie Investments. “I am so fortunate to work with such a fantastic group of individuals who support and uplift one another every day.”
IGM is one of Canada’s leading wealth and asset management companies. It shares certain corporate functions with its subsidiaries, but the two companies operate separately.
When applying for what Melville now calls her dream job, she realized she had acquired knowledge and skills over the years with IG that might give her an edge over an outside applicant with more event planning experience.
Her first job processing documents had familiarized her with the range of financial products, services and supports that IG offers its clients. In her next role as a vice president’s executive assistant, she learned more about IG’s operations – and discovered her passion for organizing activities for her colleagues.
Chief human resources officer Cynthia Currie says IGM always advertises job openings internally first. “Promoting and transferring employees plays a key role in IGM’s career and succession planning,” she says, adding that employees also benefit when they try different things and are open to learning.
She points out that people leaders and employees work together to create development plans each year. These development plans primarily focus on what employees can learn on the job, including special projects and development assignments.
IGM also has seven employee-led volunteer communities known as business resource groups (BRGs). One of the benefits of BRGs is that they provide career development, mentoring and networking programs to their members and allies.
While the BRGs offer intentional learning opportunities, countless other interactions take place organically as colleagues provide each other with informal mentoring and support.
Currie attributes that to IGM’s inclusive, mutually respectful culture. “We appreciate everyone’s perspectives, and we’re all open to learning from one another,” she says. “Collaboration is the essence of the company.”
Melville says that message is reflected in IG’s approach to remodelling its downtown Winnipeg head office building. The work on her floor is now complete, revealing an open-concept space where the leadership sits with their teams instead of in offices.
“This allows for more interaction and collaboration among the different departments and leaders,” she says. “You can feel a strong sense of community throughout the floor.”
IGM applies an inclusion lens to all its activities
As a dedicated volunteer member of the Black Business Resource Group (BRG) for the IGM Financial Inc. family of companies, Lape Adeniran says she wanted to take a fresh approach to how Black History Month is typically honoured in Canada each February.
Adeniran, manager, sales practices & compliance, with Mackenzie Investments in Toronto, says that instead of focusing on the history of the slave trade, she thought it was important to celebrate the contributions and the diversity of the nation’s Black communities.
So, she and other BRG volunteers organized a cultural event in 2024 where assorted vendors and entertainers could showcase a variety of African and Caribbean cuisines, performances, games and other activities. African drummers and a henna artist from The Gambia were among them.
Still, Adeniran says she wasn’t sure how many of her co-workers would attend the event. “We were expecting 40, maybe 50 people, but more than 100 came,” she says.
“Many of them told me they had such a good time that we should do it again next year.”
Celebrating diversity and connecting through social events is just one of the ways that IGM is promoting and embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) throughout the organization, including IG Wealth Management and Mackenzie Investments.
One of Canada’s leading wealth and asset management companies, Winnipeg-based IGM also hosts annual events like Summer Sizzle and other cultural celebrations such as Lunar New Year, Diwali, International Women’s Day and Pride Month.
Chief human resources officer Cynthia Currie says IGM wants all employees to feel seen, supported and valued. “We are committed to promoting awareness, understanding and a culture of respect,” Currie says, adding that IGM also celebrates and honours all major religions.
The marketing department, for example, applies a DEI lens to all its promotional materials to make sure they are culturally and religiously appropriate.
Indeed, advancing DEI is not only a guiding principle but a daily practice throughout IGM. Recruiters, for example, partner with universities, student organizations and professional organizations to hire diverse, qualified talent.
Furthermore, people leaders all have DEI goals, such as development plans, for their teams. Meeting those objectives, Currie says, is part of each manager’s bonus.
As for the executive suite, a DEI Council meets regularly to ensure IGM’s comprehensive range of policies and initiatives are accomplishing their intended goals.
“We don’t wait until the year end to look at our programs,” Currie says. “We regularly monitor our progress so we can take action right away if necessary.”
IGM encourages employee feedback through a variety of channels and the results of regular engagement surveys, in particular, provide key DEI indicators.
Recent survey responses are the most positive to date, Currie says. For example, 89 per cent of employees agree that IGM has created an environment where people with diverse backgrounds can succeed while 86 per cent indicate they are comfortable voicing their ideas and opinions, even if they’re different from others’.
Other data shows that 20 per cent of employees belong to IGM’s seven BRGs, a percentage that has increased dramatically in recent years, Currie says.
The BRGs, which are closely aligned with IGM’s business strategy and goals, provide career development, mentoring and networking programs to their members and allies.
Adeniran, who became co-chair of the Black BRG in March 2024, says it’s not unusual for individuals to belong to more than one BRG. And members or not, they support each other’s events and programs.
“We’re all about building community,” she says. “Allyship is one more way we can be inclusive.”