We recognize that our people are extremely important since our product is essentially the creative output of our individual people – it’s a product of their creativity. We also realize that because the TV industry is very fast-paced and comprised of people who are extremely passionate, our culture isn’t for the faint of heart - so bringing in the right people is critical to our success.

In addition to the Canwest values, there are other key things we look for in people as well. We look for people who love what they do and have passion for the industry. We want people who wake up in the morning and look forward to going to work. Finally we want people who have that absolute creative spark at their core – people who want to try new things and are always coming up with new ideas.

IQ: Can you describe your hiring process?

CAN: We always start our hiring process by first defining the role and determining exactly what it is we’re looking for. After that all positions get posted internally first - we always give our current employees first access to openings. All internal applicants automatically get an interview as well.

We also post all our openings on our Canwest website and on working.com. Once posted, the process is as follows:

Step 1: Filtering by HR

Because we work in a ‘sexy’ industry, we usually get a large number of applicants for positions posted externally. Our first step is for HR to go through all the resumes we receive and distill them down to only the relevant candidates.

Step 2: First Round Interview with Hiring Manager

Once HR has filtered all of the applicants down to a list of relevant candidates, the Hiring Manager conducts the first round of interviews. They’re interviewing for corporate fit, team fit, as well as for specific skills and experience that the candidate would need to succeed in the role.

Step 3: Second Round Interview with Senior Manager & HR

The second round of interviews is typically conducted by a more senior person within the given business unit. Often this will also include a member of HR being present in the interview to provide additional questioning.

Depending on the level of the role, additional rounds of interviews may be conducted.

Step 4: Final Check

We do extensive reference checks on all final candidates. In some cases, we will also ask prospective candidates to complete a project to confirm their skill level.

IQ: What are some of the challenges you’ve encountered in hiring?

CAN: One of our biggest challenges is that sometimes the right candidate for a certain role is already with another broadcaster. The challenge lies in the fact that there are now relatively few broadcasters in Canada. And because there are so few broadcasters, people seem less willing to move around or “cross the street”, so recruiting great people away from our competitors is sometimes difficult.

IQ: What steps do you take to retain top talent?

CAN: We have a very specific focus on identifying, retaining, and developing our top performers – in fact it’s ingrained in the thinking of our management. Team leaders are responsible for identifying top talent within our various business groups. This is typically done through annual goal-setting and performance reviews, and via a formal talent assessment and succession planning process.

For those that are identified as top talent – high-performing, high potential employees - development plans are put in place and we communicate to these top performers that they’ve been identified as such. We don’t see any reason to hide that from people – if anything it makes them feel valued, appreciated, and aware that the work they’re doing matters. It’s these people that get the chance to do cross-training and the opportunity to do work on some unique projects outside of their typical role.

In terms of our compensation philosophy, we aim to be at the mid-point of the industry average on base compensation, but our Total Rewards program is a performance-based bonus plan that usually brings us up to the 75th percentile. We’re an entrepreneurial company and definitely believe in rewarding top performers.

IQ: What differentiates Canwest to candidates?

CAN: The thing that differentiates us most initially to candidates is our top consumer brands – they’re unique to us and candidates realize they can’t find them anywhere else. There’s only one Showcase, there’s only one Food Network. People who are particularly passionate about one of channels are naturally drawn to us.

Over time though, I think it’s the multiple opportunities we offer and our broad portfolio of brands that truly differentiates us. Once people are here they realize the many different directions they can go and various areas of the business they can move into. We feel that’s incredibly attractive to employees – to know you don’t have to leave your employer if you want to try something new or work in a different area.

Canwest’s Top 3 Tips for Hiring and Retaining Top Talent:

1. Be honest with people in terms of expectations, performance, opportunities, and challenges – you get much more out of people if they know where they stand.


2. Lead by example – if the leaders don’t live, breathe, and exemplify the vision and values of the company, then how will the employees? Leading by example results in more committed employees.


3. Be a nice person – people like to work with and for nice people. They perform better and it makes work more enjoyable for everybody.

- Bruce Powell, Managing Partner, established IQ PARTNERS as a leading recruitment firm to help entrepreneurial companies hire better, hire less, and retain more.
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