Alberta's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 32
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ALBERTA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
Claystone Waste supports local employees
ackie Sargent never thought
she would be excited about
waste management until
she experienced a tour of
the Claystone Waste Ltd.
Regional Landfill Facility in
central Alberta’s Beaver County.
“When I got up to the top of the
hill and saw the trucks and loaders
working, I was awestruck,” says
Sargent, now communications and
public relations advisor. “Waste
affects everybody.”
When Sargent arrived at the
head office in Ryley, there was a
delicious aroma coming from the
kitchen. The human resources
manager was cooking lunch for
the staff meeting later in the day.
“That says a lot about the culture
of the organization,” says Sargent.
“We put a premium on get-togethers, often with a barbecue, a food
truck or a holiday event in a local
venue.”
Claystone is a waste management and landfill corporation
with a 30-year history servicing
residential communities and corporations. It became a municipally
controlled corporation in 2020.
“We’re one of the largest employers in the county,” says Jeanie
DeGrande, human resources and
payroll manager. “As part of the
community, we do things a little
differently to benefit our rural
employees.”
The company does this in
a number of ways. DeGrande
has created personalized shifts
tailored to landfill equipment
operators, farmers and others
who want to work three days at
Claystone and then get back to
other work. “Our operators do 40
hours over a three-day period,”
she says. “We had to get a labour
standards variance to be able to
do it.”
Administrative employees have
a hybrid work environment where
they work three or four days in the
office and one or two from home.
Another way Claystone stands
out is through benefits. “We
cover 100 per cent of health and
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Jeanie DeGrande, human resources and payroll manager, at Claystone Waste.
dental for employees and their
families,” says DeGrande. And
beyond insurable benefits, the
company provides $500 per year
for wellness pursuits, from a gym
membership to fees for a child’s
skating lessons.
We’re one of the largest
employers in the county.
As part of the community,
we do things a little
differently to benefit our
rural employees.
— Jeanie DeGrande
Human Resources and
Payroll Manager
The company is growing and
has recently opened the Claystone
Waste West Edmonton Transfer
Station. “We offer local jobs where
people can come home at night,
rather than commuting a long distance or living in a camp for work,
and now that includes another
location,” says DeGrande.
A local job where she could
work on site was a selling point
for Sargent. And as a mature
professional, she wanted a
position where she could be
strategic as well as operational. “I
told the CEO not to be afraid to
give me work and he has handed
me the reins,” says Sargent. “I feel
empowered to do my best work.”
Sargent met the Claystone management team at a staff meeting
her first day on the job. She was
encouraged to book a meeting
with each member of the team.
After two weeks, she didn’t feel
like the new person any more.
