She notes that beyond benefits, there used to be various office perks, from ergonomics to parking, to attract employees. "Those are not necessarily going to be as highly valued by employees in the future," she says. "We have to be very mindful of the shift in employee culture and what employees are looking for and then respond in the best way that we can."

A key area, of course, is the large numbers of employees who have gotten used to working from home. "I've been pretty clear with my team that we are a work-from-the-office business," she says. "We do have people now who are permanently contracted to work from home, but I have a lot of concerns around figuring out how you support employees differently in a distributed workforce. We have to be mindful of their career development, of their learning, of their wellness, of the role that the workplace plays in their socialization. There are a lot of things where the onus is on employers to think them through, and make sure we adapt the workplace for something new."

As if those weren't challenges enough for SMEs, Greg Dinsdale, president and CEO of LBMX Ltd. in London, has more. His company runs a business-to-business marketplace helping independent enterprises and suppliers come together, so he's in touch with a lot of smaller companies. He's fine with a hybrid work arrangement for his staff, but he's worried about the wider business environment.

A lot of SMEs that have been successful in recent years are finding they have quite high valuations, he says. Often, too, they are run by aging founders.

"Many of them are trying to decide, do I hand it down to my kids, or do I sell?" says Dinsdale. "Significant changes are in play at the moment. Well-known local independents are all of a sudden being gobbled up by private equity or the corporate sector."

For employees, the unexpected transition can be stressful, he says, given the close workplace relationships SMEs are famous for. "They each tend to have a say in everything that's happening and become a trusted advisor," he says. "I'll often bring in junior people and get their opinion on something -- they're unlikely to get that at a larger corporation."

But lest anyone worry about the overall health of SMEs, both Pecore and Dinsdale point to their key advantage: adaptability. "They have the ability to turn on a dime if they need to," says Dinsdale. Adds Pecore: "We've always been that adaptable environment -- we are independent, we can move fast."

That's more necessary than ever now, says Richard Yerema, managing editor at Mediacorp Canada, which runs the competition. "These are the organizations that can respond quickly," he says. "They were the ones that were able to shift to work-from-home so efficiently. And now you can see that in reverse -- they will be the ones leading the way in defining future-of-work programs."

Kristina Leung, senior editor at Mediacorp Canada, notes that SMEs have indeed always pointed to their friendly workplace culture as a key attraction in comparison to large organizations. But now they are adapting in that area, too, she says, by offering major benefits that used to seem out of reach. "To compete for talent, they've had to match benefits," says Leung.

Parental leave is a key example among Top Employers. Toronto-based FreshBooks, for instance, offers a 90-per-cent salary top-up for 30 weeks, while Montréal-based GSoft provides up to 80 per cent for 50 weeks. Those were almost unheard-of perks among SMEs just a few years ago.

"These are the organizations that introduced no-limit vacation and four weeks of paid time off," notes Yerema. "And they already had these very evolved alternative or flexible work options available. Then you put that friendly culture together with being a 'real' employer, who helps employees save for the future, supports them becoming a parent, and offers a decent health program with mental health benefits -- it's a very attractive combination."

So as the CEOs indicated, challenges abound for Canada's Top Small and Medium Employers. But as they redefine the workplace in the wake of the pandemic, they are sure to emerge stronger than ever.

– Berton Woodward

This story appeared in the official magazine announcing Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers (2022), published on April 5, 2022, and featured in the Globe and Mail. Used with permission.