Recognized as one of Alberta's Top Employers (2023):
Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors (Jan 30, 2023)
Here are some of the reasons why Keyera Corp. was selected as one of Alberta's Top Employers (2023):
- Keyera is piloting a virtual work program that features a set number of days for remote work per year (for eligible employees) -- when working at the company's head office, employees can take advantage of a number of amenities and perks including sit-stand workstations, indoor food trucks, fresh fruit weekly, and free access to onsite fitness facilities
- As part of the company's health benefits plan, Keyera offers a health spending account equivalent to 4.5 per cent of their salary plus an additional $3,500 each year, which can be used to top-up existing levels of coverage or allocated as savings, cash, share purchase options or RRSP
- With the help of local community investment committees, Keyera supports a number of charitable initiatives each year, focusing on environmental innovation, Indigenous reconciliation, and community resiliency -- the company also encourages employees to get involved with two paid days off to volunteer each year, donating over 4,800 volunteer hours on company time in the past year
For Keyera’s workers, it’s the small(er) things that count
Can a midstream oil and gas company with more than 1,000 employees have a workplace with a “family feel” to it? Well, that’s precisely what Ryan Davis has found during his four years working at Keyera Corp.
“It feels like we’re basically one big team, all with the same goal of keeping a safe and reliable plant site,” says the mechanical engineer. “I really enjoy that.”
Davis found his new family when a friend (and now colleague) told him about Keyera, whose workforce was a fraction of the size of his previous employer – just what Davis was looking for.
Now, he works with about 70 other people at the company’s Fort Saskatchewan facility. He likes the fact that, because of Keyera’s smaller size, he is able to use more of his diverse skill set.
“I know a lot of engineers who get pigeon-holed into, ‘Oh, you’re the pump mechanical engineer, and you’re only gonna look at the pumps,’” Davis says.
“With Keyera, I look at every piece of equipment because our plant size is small enough that we don’t have a specialist at every position.”
While the Fort Saskatchewan site has a “one team” sentiment, he finds that extends to the headquarters staff in Calgary as well.
“We hear a lot from them, and it definitely still feels like they’re part of the team and part of the family, which, to me, is what separates Keyera from other companies,” he says.
Joanna Williams, safety and operational excellence general manager, also feels that Keyera truly values its employees.
Williams would know, having worked with several different companies – as either an employee or contractor or sometimes both – over the course of her career.
“I’ve seen quite a range of cultures and this is the closest I’ve come to feeling valued as an individual for the true diversity that I bring to the organization. I really feel heard and valued,” she says.
“This is the first time I have truly felt like a person and not a number.”
Williams has found that senior management is approachable and isn’t distanced from the day-to-day operations.
“The senior executives make a real point of engaging with the front-line workers and making sure that they’re getting out and interacting and really listening,” Williams says, adding that, to her, Keyera’s leadership embodies integrity.
“Even within the first months, I got to meet some of the VPs and the CEO,” agrees Davis. “So that was really refreshing to me.”
Williams says she finds Keyera’s leadership group inspiring.
“I look at the senior executives and I really feel like there’s a lot of integrity,” she says. “I really feel like they do care and they want the best not only for the company, but for their people.”
A company Keyera’s size is much more nimble when it comes to making changes, Williams says, and she has already seen a number of them made in her short time there.
That many of the managers are women also resonates with her.
“Our actual diversity, equity and inclusion, again, is the closest I’ve ever come to a company truly living it,” she says. “This has been a really impressive experience for me.”
