Laval-based engineering firm ranks fifth-best in Canada
Published January 13, 2010
By Martin C. Barry • TLN
“When employees are happy, they do good work and we
can give more to them,” says CIMA+ president Kazimir
Olechnowicz.
Laval-based CIMA+, an engineering firm that has worked on some of the province’s largest public projects, has just been recognized by one of the world’s leading human resource consultancies as the top employer in Quebec and the fifth best in Canada.
This was the second year Hewitt Associates ranked CIMA+ near the head of its list of 50 best places to work, prosper and retire in Canada. CIMA+ was chosen by Hewitt from 106 organizations across the country, including 12 in this province. A multidisciplinary firm, CIMA+ is active in the fields of engineering and project management. It has a workforce of 1,600 employees in Quebec and around the world.
No. 1 in two years?
The company offers a full range of services for urban infrastructure, transportation, building, industry, energy, hydroelectricity, telecommunications, computer science and geomatics. CIMA+ president Kazimir Olechnowicz, while very proud of a distinction he said was the result of extraordinary employee commitment, added that he and others were determined to continue working so that CIMA+ would win the top spot across Canada in the next two years.
“I really think that when you treat your people really well, they also treat you well, and it’s a win-win situation,” he said in an interview with The Laval News. “We have given a lot over the last five years to our employees and we have still managed to make money. I think that when employees are happy, they do good work and we can give more to them. In the end, everybody wins.”
String of achievements
One of Quebec’s largest engineering companies, CIMA+ took a major step forward in 1990, when it completed a series of mergers and integrations involving engineering firms with more than five decades experience between them. Over the years, CIMA+ has built up a portfolio of achievements in construction, project management and urban services. However, the company seems to be especially strong in the domain of public transportation.
One of the larger projects CIMA+ is currently working on is the reconstruction of the Turcot Interchange in west end Montreal. So far, CIMA+ has conducted the feasibility study, the solutions study and the preliminary pre-project study for the 7-year-long, $1.5 billion undertaking. The company is currently preparing the final pre-project studies, plans and specifications for construction. More locally, CIMA+ has provided assistance to Quebec’s Ministry of Transport for technical design on the 7.2 kilometre extension of Autoroute 25, including a 1.2 kilometre bridge over the Rivière des Prairies.
On track with initiatives
François Plourde, CIMA+’s executive vice-president who has been with the firm for the past 20 years, has seen it grow in leaps and bounds. In his time, the workforce has nearly tripled. Plourde is one of 110 partners in CIMA+. The extensive partnership program is but one example of the company’s apparent willingness to share its benefits with workers who excel. An action plan CIMA+ launched in recent years to obtain maximum employee performance and loyalty included a free dental insurance program and a few other amenities.
CIMA+ appears to be on the right track with its initiatives. A pattern that emerged in past Hewitt surveys is that employees stay for the long-term if they conclude during the first few years that the employer is living up to promises made initially. This year’s study was based on survey questionnaires submitted to more than 100,000 employees and 1,200 managers at more than 200 companies and organizations. To make the 50 Best list, companies needed to have at least 400 permanent employees in Canada. They must also have been in business for at least three years. Employees’ responses in the survey accounted for most of an employer’s ranking.