McMaster University has been named one of Hamilton-Niagara’s Top Employers for the second year in a row.

Hamilton-Niagara’s Top Employers is an annual competition organized by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers to recognize the Hamilton-Niagara employers that offer exceptional places to work.

This is the second time McMaster has submitted an application to this rigorous competition – and the second time the University has won.

“With each passing year, I become more deeply connected to our incredible community at McMaster,” says President Patrick Deane.

“I’m tremendously pleased we’ve been chosen again as a top employer. This really speaks to the quality of our McMaster employees. Their talent, dedication, and expertise help to make McMaster a wonderful place to learn, work, and thrive.”

Wanda McKenna, Assistant Vice-President and Chief Human Resources Officer, notes that this year’s winning submission highlighted many new and enhanced initiatives put into place over the past year, including:

• A new Employee Career Services website, which offers career development resources, online assessments, coaching, and other services;

• New Mental Health First Aid Training, now available to all McMaster faculty and staff; and

• New, comprehensive workshops on financial wellness and retirement planning (funded by the University), as well as many other free healthy workplace sessions on everything from stress-busting, to managing your time and energy, to the science of happiness.

“Thanks to the efforts of all our wonderful employees at Mac, we’ve made significant strides in creating an environment that is more inclusive, diverse, and healthy – in all senses of the word,” says McKenna.

She also notes that many great things about McMaster have not changed since last year’s submission.

For example, McMaster’s main campus – a 30-acre pedestrian core within 300 acres of scenic property – is located next to Cootes Paradise, the Royal Botanical Gardens, and the Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.

With nature at our doorstep, the main campus is also home to the McMaster Museum of Art, the W.J. McCallion Planetarium, and world-class athletic facilities.

McMaster University also has a thriving presence across four regional campuses: downtown Hamilton, Burlington, Waterloo, and Niagara.

To be selected as a Hamilton/Niagara Top Employer, organizations must complete an extensive application, which includes eight categories: Physical Workplace; Work Atmosphere & Social; Health, Financial & Family Benefits; Vacation & Time Off; Employee Communications; Performance Management; Training & Skills Development; and Community Involvement.

Close to 100 staff members from across all areas of the University collaborated on the winning submission.

This year’s application was enhanced by the outstanding design work of Media Production Services, an on-campus service that supports the McMaster community with professional design and printing.

“Our people are our greatest asset,” says McKenna. “My sincere thanks to everyone at Mac for making this such a great place to work.”

http://www.workingatmcmaster.ca