IMCO’s public purpose inspires its employees
In the five-plus years since she joined Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), Melanie Rettig has seen her role grow and expand. At the same time, she has experienced big changes in her personal life, including getting married and giving birth to a baby daughter.
“IMCO has supported and prioritized my professional growth,” says Rettig, senior manager business continuity and resilience. “Our company also supports employees through personal transformations in their lives.”
IMCO manages over $77-billion on behalf of eight public sector clients, including the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, Ontario Pension Board and OC Transpo. “We provide advice on asset mix and provide access to a full range of investments,” says president and CEO Bert Clark. “The range of things we work on is quite broad. It’s end-to-end solutions.”
That is one draw for employees, but there is another. “What makes us unique is that we have a public purpose,” says Clark. “For many of our employees, it’s important that the work they do serves some bigger, wider purpose. For us, that’s helping public funds meet their investment objectives and fulfil important public services.”
IMCO prioritizes professional development as a core part of the company’s culture – for both managers and employees. “We have a lot of training available for our managers,” says Clark. “Management is something everyone can be better at.”
The company works with employees to develop career plans and provides up to $2,500 per year to pursue external certifications and accreditations. “I have taken advantage of that to take professional development courses,” says Rettig. “I’ve used the whole amount specifically for management and leadership development through the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto.”
Inclusiveness is another element of IMCO’s corporate culture and the company’s benefits plan is designed to reflect that. “Not everybody’s life circumstances are identical, so we’ve made an effort to ensure that our benefits are inclusive,” says Clark. “We provide employees with discretion in how they spend their dollars.”
Benefits include five work-life balance days per year (on top of vacation days), as well as a $2,000 wellness spending account. Rettig has put both to good use. She has used work-life balance days to take care of her daughter when she is sick or to visit relatives who are ailing.
“I’ve used the wellness benefit for my child’s daycare,” says Rettig. “It’ll cover a notable amount of childcare for the year.”
She adds: “All of these benefits and policies create a soft landing for working parents. While finding ‘balance’ is a journey, overall I haven’t felt that I’ve had to compromise my family life or my career.”
IMCO encourages employees to contribute to their communities through spring and fall Days of Giving. On successive Fridays this past September, they weeded and harvested an urban garden in support of the PACT charity’s Grow-to-Learn community program.
In April and May last spring, they planted over 1,100 shrubs and trees throughout the GTA to support wetland conservation programs run by the environmental charity Ontario Streams. “It was great meeting your colleagues outside the workplace in everyday clothes and doing physical labour,” says Rettig. “You get to know people on a whole different level when you’re giving back.”