Gowlings once again named one of Canada's Best Employers

05 November 2015

For the sixth straight year, Gowlings has been recognized as one of the Best Employers in Canada by Aon Hewitt, a world leader in employee research and human resources consulting.

The annual Best Employers list, which is based on the results of a comprehensive survey of employees from companies across Canada, honours organizations with the highest levels of employee engagement and workplace satisfaction. It is also the only national ranking of employers that uses employee feedback as its primary source of measurement.

“Being named one of Canada’s Best Employers for the sixth straight year is an incredible achievement — one that we are extremely proud of,” said Rob Landry, Chief Operating Officer at Gowlings. “Our people truly care about each other, our business and our clients, and everyone works hard to make Gowlings a collaborative and positive work environment.”

Highlights of the employee experience at Gowlings include:

  • A strong commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace: Gowlings is one of the founding members of the Law Firm Diversity and Inclusion Network, and, in 2014, we launched a firm-wide Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. As part of this strategy, senior management participated in unconscious bias training, and the firm held events celebrating Mental Health Awareness Week and the International Day of Pink.
  • The spirit of community service that encourages staff across the firm to give back to the communities in which they live and work, including supporting causes such as the United Way, CIBC Run for the Cure, Seniors Secret Service Program, Purolator Tackle Hunger, the Y’s Chill Zone, Dress for Success, Indspire and many more.
  • A fitness program that reimburses employees for 50 per cent of the cost of gym memberships, fitness classes, exercise equipment and other fitness expenses.
  • Frequent employee recognition events throughout the year, including an annual staff appreciation week, long-term service awards and many holiday-themed events.
  • Ongoing professional development opportunities, including training programs and courses, “lunch & learn” seminars, and regular performance reviews and feedback.

This year, approximately 287,000 employees from over 236 companies across Canada took part in the Best Employers survey. Employee engagement levels are measured by how positively employees speak about their company, how likely they are to stay in their current place of employment and how committed they are contributing to the overall success of the organization.

The complete list of the Best Employers in Canada for 2015 will appear in the December issue of Canadian Business (on newsstands Nov. 5), as well as the Dec. 10 edition of La Presse.

In January 2016, we’ll be joining forces with Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co to create a new international legal practice called Gowling WLG. With more than 1,500 legal professionals in 18 cities across Canada and around the globe, Gowling WLG will continue to embrace a people-first culture and approach, and provide clients with world-class legal support.

Gowling WLG will be an international legal practice providing services to clients around the world through various separate legal entities. Learn more about the Gowling WLG structure at gowlings.com/GowlingWLG.