NextGenNB Awards celebrates workforce, culture
Published Friday, June 10, 2011
Mike Mullen, Telegraph-Journal
SAINT JOHN — Edmundston native Claude Francoeur has a message for New Brunswick's best and brightest.
“Young people don't have to leave New Brunswick to have a rewarding career,” Francoeur, a partner in the Saint John office of the chartered accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP, said after his team picked up the gold Enterprise Award at the first NextGenNB Awards at a noon luncheon on Thursday.
“That is the message we need to get out there,” said the 38-year-old married father of two, who makes his home in Quispamsis. “We can be very successful living here in New Brunswick and have a better quality of life living here. I think it is our job to show them the opportunities that exist in New Brunswick.” So does Geoff Flood, CEO of the innovative technology professional services company T4G, who was guest speaker for the inaugural awards ceremony that attracted a sold-out crowd of 125 people to UNBSJ's uptown Grand Hall.
“We have to get the message out (to young people) that the opportunity is definitely there,” Flood said in a post-luncheon interview. “They can do as good a career, maybe a better career than any place on the planet, and we have a spectacular environment in every way. I don't know if young people believe it,” he said. “They think ‘I have to get out of town' or whatever they think. Maybe they need to find their way, but there is a career for them in IT (information technology), the field in which I work. And IT is a great part of the future of N.B.” Flood said employers in the IT field have a “dire need” for people to enter the industry right now, including TG4, a leader in creating youth-friendly workplaces in N.B. and beyond.
“We need to get alignment with training, academia, community colleges, government and industry on what we need because we have a very well-defined list of hires, people we need,” he said. “While we don't want to go elsewhere, we can't wait.”
“What has happened with some companies in our industry is they've located to other places because that's where the people are,” he added. “It's sort of the chicken and egg thing. So, we have everything we can to one, get the people to come, and two, more importantly, to get people to stay.” The NextGenNB Awards is a project that aims to highlight the culture of management and human resources that exists in New Brunswick, and the actions of these employers in recruiting young people to the province and giving them the incentive to stay.
It is part of a bigger program aimed at gathering the best practices to achieve it. Organized by the Enterprise Network, Good & Co., the Population Growth Division of the government of New Brunswick and UNBSJ, the program recognized employers for their efforts in recruiting and retaining young people in their organizations by handing out gold, silver and bronze awards to three of the five nominees in each of four divisions. While Ernst & Young LLP took the gold in the Enterprise division, the other gold winners were: Efficiency NB (public-sector companies); Fredericton Chamber of Commerce (not-for-profits); and Professional Quality Assurance (small and medium-sized businesses).
“I think this is a fantastic program, I really do,” Francoeur said after Ernst & Young's win. “The reason for that is I really feel we need to grow talent here in New Brunswick. We are attracting a lot of people from different countries and what not, which is making us more multicultural and bringing more ideas, which is sparking innovation and is going to help us be successful. But our challenge remains to retain that talent in N.B. and demonstrate to people… we can have a really successful career here growing a family and still be involved globally.”
“I am very pleased to see this type of event in Saint John supporting younger folks in business. I think it's amazing,” said Kevin Schyf, president of Hemmings House Pictures, a nominee for the small and medium-sized businesses award.
“I am 35 and I think I'm the oldest in my company,” he said. “I joined last year from IBM, where I was the oldest on the team, and then joining (owner) Greg (Hemmings) and the team, I'm the oldest on the team bringing the median age to about 30. We are a young team, but we do amazing work and have amazing products.”
During his luncheon address, Flood outlined how his company—ranked No. 8 in Canada as the best place to work—practises the values it preaches.
“We live them every day,” he said, by “engaging everyone equally all the time” and by advancing a hidden agenda that lets employees know, “You can do anything here—and you can do more.”
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Enterprise Award: Ernst & Young (gold); Bayview Credit Union (silver); T4G (bronze)
Small- and medium-sized Business Award: Professional Quality Assurance (gold); Glenwood Kitchens (silver); Commercial Properties Limited (bronze)
Public Sector Award: Efficiency NB (gold): Service New Brunswick's Strategy, Policy and Innovation Division (silver); and Park Street Elementary School (bronze)
Not-for-Profit Award: Fredericton Chamber of Commerce (gold): Fredericton Playhouse (silver); Fredericton Arts & Learning Inc.