36 BCBusiness december 2015
our commitment to our jobs (see p.38 for
more). According to this survey—with 100
representing the score of an "averagely"
engaged employee—B.C. employees rank
at 105; outside B.C., the Canadian num-
ber is 92. The numbers go even higher for
younger British Columbians, with a score
of 110 for workers under 35 years of age.
According to Rock Lefebvre, chief reg-
ulatory o¤cer for the Human Resources
Management Association, engagement is
a critical factor to business success these
days. "In the old days, we were making
widgets; today it's a knowledge-based
economy, and to untap the full potential
of the knowledge industry, you have to
have employees who not only do their job
but are also engaged. In the absence of
engagement, you can never optimize the
bottom line—and in business, the goal is
to optimize the bottom line."
Lefebvre says that B.C. has long been
able to trade on its natural advantages—
the so-called B.C. Advantage—to attract
and retain employees, and keep them
engaged. But he says it would be fool-
hardy to assume that millennials—more
equipped to work in a global economy
and more mobile than older genera-
tions—are wedded to the idea of staying in
B.C. no matter the career limitations. He
says that business leaders need to create
a comprehensive strate˜y to retain mil-
lennials and become more competitive.
"In B.C., in addition to providing a
great environment, we have to demon-
strate to millennials that we are equal
to other regions. Even if it has a nice cli-
mate, they will eventually leave if they
can make a few thousand dollars a year
more somewhere else. That's the way
millennials have been programmed."
1. Which of the following
best describes your
current employment
status:
employed
full-Time
employed
parT-Time
80%
20%
2. Which of the following best
describes the organizational
structure of your current
employer:
The company is based in and mainly
operaTes in your proVince
The company operaTes mainly across
canada and is based in your proVince
The company operaTes mainly
across canada and is based
elseWhere in canada
iT is an inTernaTional company
ThaT is based in your proVince
iT is an inTernaTional company
ThaT is based in canada
iT is an inTernaTional company
ThaT is based ouTside of canada
3%
4%
6%
65%
8%
14%
11%
6%
13%
54%
4%
12%
B.C.
Rest of Canada
3. Which of the following best describes
the role you play within your company:
senior managemenT
mid-leVel managemenT/
superVisor
fronT-line employee
B.C.
Rest of
Canada
7%
67%
26%
34%
59%
7%
84%
16%
B.C.
Rest of Canada
