Employees find a fulfilling career at the ODA

When Ananya Bhattasali saw the need to get the best of the new talent and ideas that were flooding into the Ontario Dental Association (ODA) after the pandemic, she not only drew up a winning game plan for her teammates, she designed a job for herself.

“I said, ‘We need somebody to herd all these ideas — why not me?’ and pitched it to my supervisors and they agreed,” says Bhattasali, lead, brand strategy and design. “This is a place where there’s a high level of respect for employees and their ideas. People are taken seriously and valued and I think that’s important.”

Headquartered in Toronto, the ODA is the largest dental association in Canada. It’s dedicated to promoting the highest standard of dental care and raising public awareness of the importance of dental hygiene. It also advocates for public policies that affect dentistry and oral health at all levels of government.

And it offers a safe, respectful workplace for employees like Bhattasali, who appreciate the association’s flexibility, especially when it comes to work options. When health challenges made it difficult for her to commute to the head office, her managers arranged for Bhattasali to work from home.

CEO Frank Bevilacqua says that’s part of the ODA’s proactive approach to seeing the whole employee.

“Here, your health is always a top priority and we want healthy, happy employees, so we’re flexible in order to meet our people’s needs,” he says.

“Employees really appreciate that. We continue to see high productivity and we make sure that people have that good balance in their lives.”

A comprehensive approach to health, well-being and skills advancement allows employees like Bhattasali to think outside the box and come up with creative solutions to any challenges that may arise. She gets to see her design and branding ideas come to life at big stage events like the ODA’s annual dental conference, one of the top North American dental professional continuing education and trade shows.

Large-scale events like that need a motivated and enthusiastic team to make them happen. Teamwork and a sense of unified mission are foundational to the ODA’s operations and how it treats its employees, says Bevilacqua. Exercises like Anchor Days bring employees and managers together to learn about topics like food security and activities like spending a day at a local food bank.

Town hall meetings and robust online channels bridge any potential gaps in communications. Perhaps the most powerful way to network is through the ODA’s open door policy. Employees like Bhattasali are welcome to knock on Bevilacqua’s, or any other executive’s door, in person or virtually, says the CEO.

“Employees tell me we’ve created a culture with a family atmosphere and they feel like members of a family,” he says.

“People want to be part of an overall mission. A unified purpose, inclusivity and flexibility are key elements in ODA culture. That’s what attracts employees to us and keeps them here.”

With comprehensive benefits that include a defined benefit pension plan, tuition subsidies and a health-care package with improved support for mental health, the ODA supports employees’ individual career goals while engaging them in a fulfilling collective enterprise to provide Ontarians with the best dental care possible. And Bhattasali is in no hurry to go anywhere else.

“I’m a lifer. This is a place for people who want to do good work and want to move things forward,” she says.

“At the ODA, there’s a sense of professional respect and trust that you know what you’re doing and they give you a space to do it.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Greater Toronto’s Top Employers winners, published December 3, 2024 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.