Fednav Limited was among the winners of the Montreal’s Top Employer award earlier this year and announced on April 28 that it has also been recognized by Mediacorp as one of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People for 2014. Fednav is the first Canadian shipping company to have received this distinction.
With the aim of renewing and growing its talent pool, Fednav is adapting to this generation and immerses the young people it employs—winners of the Fednav scholarship, interns, and summer students—into the technical world of shipping. Their internship includes ship tours, visits to a ship terminal or to an industry partner, and the opportunity to participate in an industry-related project. Recent graduates are also provided with an extensive personalized training program that features temporary assignments in various departments including its overseas offices, spending time at a shipyard abroad, and the possibility of navigating onboard Fednav ships.
This framework allows young employees to fully benefit from the shipping industry experience. The day-to-day learning process together with various social activities are crucial for both building relationships with and receiving valuable guidance from senior employees who share knowledge based on years of experience and expertise.
“This application process allows us to determine how our company compares to other employers in our area and this has been a terrific benchmarking experience for us,” explained Christine Mack, Manager of Employee Development. “It is gratifying for us to see that our program for hiring young candidates is garnering attention, and that we can be held to our promise for delivering a higher standard, by attracting bright, enthusiastic young employees.”
The Canada’s Top Employers for Young People competition is organized by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers, published by Mediacorp Canada Inc. Now in its 12th year, “Canada’s Top Employers for Young People” is an editorial project that recognizes the nation’s leaders when it comes to attracting and retaining younger workers. The competition reviews a wide variety of initiatives, from mentorship to training and advancement opportunities, important to younger Canadians starting their first careers.
“Innovation and adaptability don’t exist in a vacuum,” says Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project, which oversees the competition. “Employers that make it easier for young people to thrive in their careers, it turns out, also make their organizational DNA more resilient and able to adapt faster to change.”
“This year, we saw a wonderful range of initiatives tailored to the needs of recent college and university graduates,” says Kristina Leung, the project’s Editor. “Many of these programs don’t cost employers a lot of money or have huge budgets, but they do a great job at making young people understand they are central to the future of the organization.”