Alberta's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 16
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SPONSOR CONTENT
ALBERTA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
AFSC’s mission inspires employees at all levels
C
oming from a
farming family – her
grandparents farmed,
her parents farmed,
and her two brothers
are farmers – Carmen Pezderic
was delighted to land a job at
Agriculture Financial Services
Corporation (AFSC) in June 2020.
But there was another, equally
important reason she was happy
to join the organization.
“One of the most important
things for me was working for an
organization that really matters,”
says Pezderic, sponsorship and
event marketing coordinator. “No
matter how big or small your
role is at AFSC, you’re essentially
contributing to that mission of
feeding the world.”
Headquartered in the Central
Alberta community of Lacombe,
AFSC has 38 branch offices
throughout the province. The
organization provides producers
with crop and livestock insurance
and lending options.
“A lot of people who join our organization start in one role,” says
Melanie Ducholke, chief people
officer. “But as they get to know
AFSC and the different areas,
there are a lot of different career
paths team members can take.”
AFSC places a heavy emphasis
on professional growth and
development. “Every employee
has access to Percipio online
training from the moment they
start,” Ducholke says. “They can
design their own learning through
that program, or our corporate
learning team can curate playlists
based on where their career paths
are going.”
Employees are expected to have
professional development plans.
“Every year, I have to identify
what I am doing, what books I’m
reading and what courses I’m taking,” says Pezderic. “You can tag or
earmark all of those resources and
say I’m going to complete these
this year. Right now, I’m working
on a marketing course.”
The corporate learning team
focuses on development at all
levels of the organization. “This
fall, we launched a partnership
with the University of Alberta,”
says Ducholke. “We’re putting
all our leaders through their
leadership program. We’re focusing on people management as a
leadership function as opposed to
just the technical aspects of being
a leader.”
A lot of people who join
our organization start in
one role. But as they get to
know the organization and
the different areas, there’s
a lot of different career
paths that team members
can take.
— Melanie Ducholke
Chief People Officer
Employees at AFSC are encouraged to prioritize their long-term development through professional courses
and Percipio online training modules.
The organization also supports
employees who are pursuing
external certifications or degrees
or attending conferences. “One
of the great things about my role
is that I have been able to go
to a professional development
conference for a couple of years in
a row,” says Pezderic. “It’s a threeday conference about branding
and marketing. Chief marketing
officers from companies across
Alberta, Canada and the United
States attend. It really helps me
elevate my work.”
Slightly over two-thirds of the
employees at AFSC are women
and 47 per cent of the managers
are female. “There is room for
