Hilborn:ECS together with partners CCEOC Inc. and The Goldie Company congratulate the recipients of the third annual Canadian Nonprofit Employer of Choice (NEOC) Award. This year, 13 organizations from across Canada fulfilled program requirements to be named a Canadian Nonprofit Employer of Choice. The 2017 award recipients are:

• Alberta Retired Teachers` Association (AB)
• Brantwood Community Services (ON)
• Centre 454 (ON)
• Chilliwack Society for Community Living (BC)
• CMHA - York Region (ON)
• Équiterre (QC)
• Lakeridge Health Foundation (ON)
• The Participation House Project (Durham Region) (ON)
• The Society for Selections: A Career Support Service (AB)
• St. Paul's Hospital Foundation Inc. (SK)
• The Ottawa Mission Foundation (ON)
• UNICEF Canada (ON)
• York Support Services Network (ON)

All winners successfully completed the NEOC Organizational Profile and Employee Commitment Survey achieving a minimum overall score of 75% to qualify for the award.

In a quest to create "decent workplaces" thought leaders are debunking the myth that employees in the nonprofit sector are willing (and should be expected) to work in exchange for the opportunity to "do good." Today, talented people can find a socially meaningful career outside a traditional nonprofit organization, which intensifies the competition for qualified staff. And, while there are larger systemic issues, Imagine Canada found there are also practical human resource (HR) issues at the organizational level that cause young professionals to leave the sector including: inadequate HR management, challenging organizational cultures, lack of clarity around job expectations, and limited training and career development.(1)

The Nonprofit Employer of Choice™ (NEOC) Award is a tool that measures a nonprofit's HR practices. The NEOC program provides a framework to evaluate an organization's talent management issues and start constructing a corrective plan of action. This program further enables the board and senior staff to probe and analyze the issues and start the transformational change needed to achieve the impact the donor rightly expects.

"We are thrilled with the interest and positive feedback we've received from the sector on this program." said Jeff Doran, president of CCEOC Inc. "All of the winning nonprofits showed strong leadership qualities, particularly in the areas of communication, employee engagement and involvement. These organizations can now take advantage of continuous improvement initiatives to help make their organizations even better places to work."

Other supporting partners of the NEOC Award program include: Associum, Canadahelps.org, the Sustainability Network, and PGgrowth.

Applications to participate in the 2018 NEOC Award program will be accepted starting March 1, 2018. 

Footnote

1. Imagine Canada, "4 Myths About Young People and Non-Profit Work," August 2016