Human Resources: Steam Whistle Brewing named one of Greater Toronto’s Better Employers

(Toronto, ON, October 19, 2009) – Steam Whistle Brewing, the Toronto independent brewery was today named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2010). The brewery broke ground in the fall of 1999 with just 16 employees and now, almost a decade later, Steam Whistle is arguably the most successful independent brewer of premium beer in Ontario with over 120 staff members working at the brewery located just south of the CN Tower. Co-founders, Greg Taylor and Cam Heaps contribute much of their success to unique human resource policies - which include surf vacations, staff beer, profit sharing and theatre-sport auditions.

Steam Whistle Pilsner is a premium quality brand known for its fun-loving youthfulness and inclusive nature, as well as being community-minded and environmentally conscious, so brewery management has been careful to recruit employees who possess these same characteristics. “We’ve worked diligently to create an atmosphere that attracts people who are Good Beer Folks – people who are impassioned to work hard, are concerned about quality, and are also good people,” explains Greg Taylor.

Once great employees have been recruited, the brewery does its best to keep them happy. “The biggest success factor we have is an atmosphere that rewards creativity and initiative, so we have to always be open-minded to staff ideas, to include them in decisions and to readily communicate with them on all aspects of our business,” shares Taylor, whose management style is what Harvard Business School coins management by walking around. And this strategy seems to be working, as the brewery is rewarded with hardworking and very loyal staff members. “We wanted to thank all the staff who made a long term commitment to us, so last year, we introduced two great programs: an all-expense surf trip for 5-year staff, and an individual 6-week paid sabbatical after 10 years. The staff are really excited!” beams Heaps, himself a surf enthusiast and great traveller.

Steam Whistle doesn’t necessarily pay top salaries within its industry, but has aligned HR benefits to support the culture and retain great staff. In 2005, the brewery introduced Employee Profit Sharing, which sees all employees, whether part-time production workers or senior managers, who have worked for one year or more, share in 5% of Pre-Tax Profits. Profit Sharing helps get all employees working towards the same goals, with financial results and marketing strategies presented at quarterly staff breakfasts. Employees are also given the chance to become shareholders with 55 staff having bought in. As well as conventional health benefits and paid education courses, Steam Whistle also offers weekly staff beer, the loan of the company’s vintage vehicles for weekends, a party at year-end, a summer BBQ, staff ski weekend, a half day off on your birthday, company sports teams, and Trivia & Karaoke nights.

“We do have a lot of fun in our workplace, but we also encourage our staff to do good,” offers Greg Taylor, who in 2007 began recruiting Steam Whistle volunteers (on paid company time and in brewery vehicles) to deliver Meals on Wheels every two weeks to downtown shut-ins. “My first employer out of university had me deliver Meals on Wheels and I remember how impactful that was for me: to see how others live, to be able to offer help and to be reminded of how fortunate my circumstances were. I think it’s easy for companies to write cheques, but more difficult to engage staff in volunteering their time.” The brewery supports literally hundreds of charitable, cultural and community events annually, through financial and in-kind donations. Particularly heart-warming for staff was to work at this year’s Ride to Conquer Cancer, handing out more than 13,800 donated servings of beer to thirsty participants. “The thank-you letters we receive from our donations are posted on the staff bulletin board to reinforce the reasons we get involved,” says Cameron Heaps.

Steam Whistle also encourages their staff to participate in the brewery’s environmental stewardship. In 2007, the company formed an Environmental Committee which has been responsible for introducing a number of energy-saving and waste diversion programs helping the brewery win an Environmental Award of Excellence at this year’s Green Toronto Awards. It’s this kind of successful staff engagement that makes Steam Whistle stand out.

About Greater Toronto’s Top Employers
Selection Criteria & Applicant Statistics: Winners of the Greater Toronto's Top Employers competition were selected from applicants to the national Canada's Top 100 Employers competition. To develop this year's list, editors at Mediacorp Canada Inc. examined the recruitment histories of over 75,000 employers across Canada that it tracks for its popular job search site, Eluta.ca. From this initial group, Mediacorp editors invited 16,000 of the fastest-growing employers to apply, plus another 8,000 companies and organizations in industries that they wanted to examine more closely. Employers completed an extensive application process that included a detailed review of their operations and HR practices. Over 2,600 employers started this year's application process nationally. The final applicant pool was up 3.7% over last year's total, which was also a record.

Mediacorp editors graded each of the applicants on eight key areas: (1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere & Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training & Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement. These criteria have remained consistent since the inception of the national competition, now in its 10th year. Mediacorp editors also publish detailed reasons explaining why each of the winning employers was selected on their job search site, Eluta.ca, where they can be read free of charge.

About Steam Whistle

Steam Whistle, an independent brewery housed in Toronto’s historic John St. Roundhouse, has a singular focus of making just one beer of exceptional quality that Canadians can be proud of. They brew their refreshing Pilsner with traditional brewing methods and only four, natural ingredients. Steam Whistle Pilsner is packaged in signature green glass bottles, cans and draught kegs, and is shipped fresh across Ontario, Alberta and more recently BC to Beer and Liquor Stores as well as licensed bars & restaurants. Steam Whistle welcomes more than 80,000 visitors to the brewery each year to the on-site retail store, for a tour or to attend one of the many on-site events and art shows. Steam Whistle Pilsner is now one of the top selling premium beer brands in Canada. Steam Whistle has also won:

* In February 2009, “50 Best Managed Companies” in KPMG’s and CIBC’s annual search.
* In April 2009, the Environmental Award of Excellence by the City of Toronto
* In 2008, Greg Taylor and Cam Heaps were joint winners of “Entrepreneurs of the Year Award” .
* In May 2007 recognized as a “Green Buildings” in the City of Toronto by the Clean Air Partnership, for their environmentally friendly practices in manufacturing.
* In September 2007, The Immigrant Success Award, in the Small Business Category, recognizing diversity in their workforce.
* 2009, “Best Pilsner” in Ontario’s Brewing Awards for the third time.

To learn more about what Steam Whistle does really, really well, visit www.steamwhistle.ca <http://www.steamwhistle.ca>
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