Georgian College has been named one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers in a national competition – for the fifth time in 10 years.

Canada’s Top 100 Employers is an annual competition that recognizes Canada’s best places to work. The project aims to identify companies and organizations across Canada that lead their industries in attracting and retaining employees.

“What is common to all winners is that each is an industry leader. From architectural firms to community housing agencies, the employers chosen this year are leaders in their industry in attracting and retaining quality employees,” said Richard Yerema of MediaCorp, which sponsors the award.

Georgian President and CEO Brian Tamblyn said he is elated with the award and noted that winning such a prestigious designation is the result of years of hard work on the part of the college and the people who work there.

“We have consciously worked toward the goal of creating an outstanding workplace that will attract and retain the best staff in the Ontario college system,” he said. “With staff members who are highly engaged and connected to their workplace, we are able to offer an outstanding environment where students can learn and excel.”

In its strategic plan Vision 2015, Georgian specifically sets a goal of championing employee engagement, in part by fostering employees’ passion for student success.

“Our staff help to make Georgian a Top 100 employer,” said Tamblyn.”People want to work here. We receive dozens, if not hundreds of applications for every job posting.”

Judges for the Top 100 award sift through applications from more than 10,000 Canadian employers before selecting the best in each category. All winners will be honoured at an awards ceremony in Toronto Nov. 28. Previously, Georgian earned the distinction in the years 2001 to 2004 inclusive.

Canada’s Top 100 Employers cites many reasons for choosing Georgian, ranging from an outstanding physical workplace to superior financial and family-friendly benefits. Employee engagement is given an “A” rating, as is Georgian staff involvement in the community.

Additional reasons cited by judges for selecting Georgian include:

• Georgian offers great family-friendly benefits including outstanding maternity and parental leave top-up payments (to 93 per cent of salary for 52 weeks) and hosts a  daycare centre with more than 100 spaces on its Barrie campus
• Georgian encourages ongoing employee development with subsidies for tuition and professional accreditation, financial bonuses for some course completion, in-house and online training programs and career planning services
• Georgian helps older workers prepare for life after work with retirement planning assistance, options that let employees gradually decrease their hours, and contributions to a defined benefit pension plan
• New employees start with a minimum of three weeks paid vacation

Employers are evaluated by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers using eight criteria – physical workplace, work atmosphere, health, financial and family benefits, vacation and time off, employee communications, performance management, training and skills development, and community involvement.

Employers are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offer the most progressive and forward-thinking programs.

Georgian is currently ranked as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for 2011, in a separate competition also administered by MediaCorp.