Mohawk College has a value proposition for employees

Scheduling and workload officer Nansi Alkhassi says she’s always been grateful to Mohawk College for not only giving her a job, but a satisfying career in a welcoming, inclusive environment.

So, when she learned the post-secondary school was about to launch a college-wide initiative to create its first employee value proposition (EVP), she was eager to participate.

“I really wanted to share how I’ve had so many great experiences,” says Alkhassi. “No matter what you need, you will always find there’s somebody who will support you.”

Samantha Boudreau, manager of talent acquisition who spearheaded the initiative, describes an EVP as a snapshot of an organization’s culture with a two-fold purpose: to attract new employees with a realistic view of what to expect and to serve as a retention tool for current employees.

“This is a truthful and accurate reflection of who we are today,” Boudreau says about the 122-word EVP, which was launched in August 2025 and is now prominently positioned on the careers page of the college’s website. “We want employees who align with our core values, and we hope job seekers will read the EVP and determine whether it aligns with what they’re looking for in a workplace.”

The EVP places special emphasis on inclusivity and diversity, the power of collaborative and supportive teams, a commitment to work-life balance and dedication to continuous learning — both professionally and personally. “Work alongside people and teams that are dynamic, innovative and inspiring!” it says.

The simplicity and clarity of the EVP offer no hint about what went into its creation. In consultation with an outside human resources advisory firm, Boudreau and the project team spent over a year collecting, analyzing, testing and retesting the data that informed the EVP.

One key challenge was reflecting the diversity of the employee base. The workforce includes contract, part-time and full-time employees in myriad roles encompassing support and administrative staff and faculty who teach in more than 180 programs.

In addition to reaching out via online employee engagement surveys, the project team conducted 12 focus groups to collect employee feedback.

Boudreau says participants were promised anonymity, so their names and any identifying references were removed before her team tackled the next hurdle — parsing the mountain of information they’d collected.

“This was a very data-driven process,” Boudreau says. “We had 1,500 lines of data that we went through repeatedly with a fine-toothed comb.”

For her part, Alkhassi says she’s pleased she took part in a focus group. “This really opened my eyes to some of the things I didn’t know about the college.”

That said, Alkhassi has discerned a lot since 2012 when she enrolled in one of Mohawk’s co-operative education programs — computer systems technology, software support. The programs enable students to earn money in a full-time, paid position that’s relevant to their field of study.

Since graduating, Alkhassi has held a progressive series of contract and permanent jobs with responsibilities for an extensive range of administrative and technical support functions for students, staff and faculty across different faculties and departments. She says she’s happy that the EVP reflects her positive view of the college.

Boudreau, with the hard work behind her and any revision of the EVP likely years in the future, goes a step further. “This just might be my favourite project I’ve ever worked on,” she says.

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Hamilton-Niagara's Top Employers winners, published January 15, 2026 in Hamilton Spectator. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.