Alberta's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 66
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ALBERTA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
Shell’s core values support new ways of thinking
I
n a recent Shell Canada
Limited leadership meeting
in Calgary, says Maria
Paquet, vice president of
human resources, those present spoke about times when they
felt included at work and times
when they did not. “People shared
stories, and it became a conversation about how to have real
conversations in the workplace,”
Paquet says.
“Being open yourself and starting with a bit of vulnerability goes
a long way, we realized. Otherwise,
you’re never going to get that
openness from your employees.”
Safe spaces and real conversations are a bedrock for a workplace based on Shell’s core values
of honesty, integrity and respect
for people, says Paquet. When it
comes to employee mental health,
she continues, the company
has supports, notably a $1,900
wellness spending account and
bringing in experts to speak about
mental well-being. “But creating
trust and a feeling of safety comes
from having real conversations
about how our real selves are
feeling,” says Paquet.
“Shell’s values and practices
together support both our
authentic selves and the mindsets
and behaviours the company and
its people need to manage the
changes we are seeing as a society
and as individuals.”
Tim Duncan, production unit
manager – chemicals, easily
agrees. “Shell’s values, and the way
they shape the workplace, make it
easy to come to work and do the
right thing. We’re inclusive and
really supportive of developing
new skills and new ways of thinking,” says Duncan, who is based at
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Shell fosters a learning mindset through various leadership development programs, mentorship
opportunities and education reimbursements for employees.
the company’s Scotford Complex
northeast of Edmonton.
I always tell young
engineers starting out, ‘If
you want to change the
world, come work for Shell
– but you’ll need a learner
mindset, because that’s
how we will discover the
solutions.’
— Tim Duncan
Production Unit Manager –
Chemicals
“We have a good history at
Scotford of testing a technology
and then scaling up. We installed
a five-megawatt solar farm here to
help power our chemicals facility,
found it was working well, and
recently joined with a partner to
start up a 58-megawatt facility to
provide the refinery with solar
power. We don’t just talk about
change, we affect it,” Duncan says.
“I always tell young engineers
starting out, ‘If you want to
change the world, come work for
Shell – but you’ll need a learner
mindset, because that’s how we
will discover the solutions.’”
Shell is committed to fostering
that mindset through its leadership development programs,
education reimbursements and
the high value it ascribes to
mentoring, Paquet says. Some of
the latter is formal and not location-bound – Duncan is currently
mentoring an engineer in Sarnia,
Ont. – while informal mentoring is
a constant at work sites. Shell also
provides abundant opportunities
