Canada's Top Employers for Young People (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 64
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CANADA’S TOP EMPLOYERS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE (2026)
Unilever’s special ingredient is employee engagement
W
hen Tanvi Patel
was studying
at York
University’s
Schulich
School of Business, she wasn’t
sure what the future held for her.
But when a friend told her he’d
had a really positive experience
interning at Unilever Canada,
Inc., she thought she’d explore
that company.
I think all of the
managers really make
me feel like I can grow.
— Tanvi Patel
Associate Category and
Insights Manager
What she found — from
her very first moment in a job
interview until now, a year and a
half (and two jobs) into her tenure
there — was a company whose
managers are highly supportive
of employees’ interests and
strengths.
Her hiring manager, for
example, recommended projects
in areas she was interested in
learning more about.
“He was very supportive, basically a cheerleader, connecting
me with people from departments
that I was interested in learning
more about,” she says.
Meanwhile, her key account
manager sets aside office hours
each week “for me to just talk to
him about any questions I have
and tell him what I was interested
in and ask him about anything I
wanted to learn from him.
“That really gave me the space
to learn,” she says.
Another way she feels supported
Brand ambassadors for Unilever Canada attend a school recruitment event.
by managers is through the business resource groups at Unilever,
such as the Asians at Unilever
group that helped her share
similar experiences and where she
got to meet other managers “who
made me feel seen,” she says.
“I think all of the managers
really make me feel like I can
grow.”
Patel — who started as a customer analytics associate working
on the customer development
team focused on Unilever’s Sobeys
Inc. account — was recently
promoted to associate category
and insights manager for the
entire skin cleansing category at
Walmart.
Patel’s story isn’t unique at
Unilever. Whether students come
into the company through its
four-month, highly competitive
internship or straight out of
university into a full-time job
at the company, “you get the
opportunity to work with great
leaders and own the work you are
doing and get the freedom and
flexibility to shape your role,”
says Tanja Lauc, head of human
resources.
For example, the company also
holds “speed mentoring sessions”
where leaders from different areas
of the business meet with junior
talents and give a quick mentoring
session over a chat.
And the Unilever Learning
Team curates programming
globally so employees can sign up
for sessions in their time zone.
There’s also U-Connect, which
was set up to “foster a sustainable
culture of learning, networking
and fun among early career
professionals,” Lauc adds.
Events include intramural sports
