RTDS Technologies looks to expand employees’ horizons

Kati Sidwall first joined RTDS Technologies Inc. on its technical sales team, drawn in by the company’s “authentic” approach to sales and the groundbreaking technology itself.

Nearly eight years later, her role has evolved, as her manager encouraged her to pursue projects that were in line with her strengths and interests. Sidwall is now the technical marketing lead at RTDS, a Winnipeg-based company that invented the RTDS Simulator, a real-time digital simulator for the power industry. The technology allows utility, manufacturing, research and educational clients to test numerous devices in a closed loop with a simulated network.

“A lot of my role is writing compelling stories about the technology for existing and potential users, and telling the story of this product. It’s absolutely ideal for me,” she says. It marries her technical experience as an engineer with a passion for creative communication. “The fact that this role could evolve into such a good fit for me was really ideal.”

It’s a story that exemplifies the company’s approach to employees’ professional development.

“Our workforce is a pretty diverse community of very smart people and they really love what they do,” says CEO Kelly McNeill, adding that more than a third of employees hold a master’s degree or PhD. “What we want to be able to do is give them the opportunity to thrive and flourish within the company, set them up for success and get out of their way.”

RTDS also hosts internal professional development opportunities like leadership training events, and completely covers tuition costs for external courses, whether to help employees expand their expertise or learn new job-critical skills. McNeill says the investment just makes sense.

“Not only are they able to expand their horizons, they’ll be able to bring that back to us as an organization and we benefit from it and keep them engaged and interested,” he says. Some employees have used the opportunity to take different career paths within the company.

Sidwall herself has benefited from that investment. She’s attended multiple conferences around the world, and her manager has been enthusiastic about having her participate in technical courses she thought would be helpful in her work.

In 2020, the company undertook a major expansion of its head office in the University of Manitoba’s research and technology hub, Smartpark. The design was focused on helping employees do their best work: the space has abundant natural light, employee lounges, flexible meeting spaces for collaboration, and closed-in cubicles for independent work. “We wanted collaboration space to share ideas, but some privacy to focus on implementing the solution,” McNeill says.

RTDS has also tried to support employees’ personal growth through philanthropic efforts that McNeill says are a major focus for the organization. RTDS encourages employee-led fundraising events through donation-matching incentives and does charitable drives for organizations like Main Street Project, a Winnipeg charity supporting people experiencing homelessness, and Cancer Care Manitoba.

Sidwall admits that in her early days at the company she felt intim- idated by the number of colleagues who were experts in their field, and wondered about the company culture. But she quickly discovered it was a “really vibrant and lovely place to work.”

It’s a culture she says RTDS has intentionally cultivated, with an active social committee and regular events, such as all-staff lunches for new hires, summer barbecues in the founder’s backyard and relay races. Those events have continued, where possible, during the pandemic.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for connection with other people in the company,” she says. “Those things really make you feel appreciated and that there’s more to it than just the work you do.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers winners, published April 5, 2022 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.