Manitoba's Top Employers (2025) - Flipbook - Page 66
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MANITOBA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
Westoba knows how to keep and care for its people
W
hen Danielle
Kenler joined
Brandon-based
Westoba Credit
Union in 2017
as a member services representative, she had no clue that seven
years later, she would be voted
Employee of the Year. “I was so
surprised!” she says. “And I was
touched that my team members
had collaborated to nominate me.”
With 13 locations across the
province, Westoba - which as of
January 1, 2025, is now a division
of Assiniboine Credit Union - is a
full-service credit union offering
personal, commercial, non-profit
banking or investment and financial planning. Now manager of
the virtual service centre, Kenler
has fond early memories of her
employer. “My dad was a Westoba
member, and when I was a kid, I
used to go with him when he did
his banking,” she says.
Before applying for her first
role, Kenler had heard good things
about Westoba from friends
who worked there. Although she
started in an entry-level teller
position, she knew she didn’t want
to stay there forever. “I wanted to
be a financial consultant, and I
was promoted within six months,”
she says.
Coaching, mentoring and
internal training helped advance
Kenler’s career. From 2020 to
2024, she was a member of the
Emerging Leaders council, which
provided opportunities to work
closely with the executive team
and board of directors and expand
her network. “Our employees have
many mentorship relationships
with managers and supervisors,
where they discuss their career
aspirations and areas to work on,”
says Elizabeth Modersohn, chief
information and culture officer.
Modersohn also joined Westoba
in 2017, as director of the project
management office and continuous improvement. Like Kenler, she
has benefited from mentorship
and training. “Employee retention
is huge for us, and we know that
through promotions, we keep our
people in our organization long
term,” she says.
Senior leaders strive to listen to
their employees, with quarterly
IMAGE 1 GOES HERE!
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Employees at Westoba Credit Union celebrate with smile cookies during Winnipeg Jets play-off day.
“pulse checks” comprising five
to 10 questions and an annual
third-party survey. The results of
one engagement survey indicated
that the benefits package could
be improved. As a result, Westoba
implemented an annual $300
health spending plan in 2024
which Kenler used to purchase
new eyeglasses and contact lenses.
We want everyone to feel
welcome and be their
genuine selves at work..
— Elizabeth Modersohn
Chief Information and
Culture Officer
As a Chinese woman,
Modersohn is proud of Westoba’s
employee-led diversity, equity and
inclusion working group, which
was established in 2022. “We want
everyone to feel welcome and
be their genuine selves at work,”
she says. “We’re always working
to understand our demographics
better.”
Modersohn also points to the
organization’s collaborative,
results-oriented culture. “The
culture is very important — to
me, a good culture is 10 times
more powerful than a good salary,
although that’s important too,”
she says. “When I joined, I already
knew Westoba cared about
their community — I thought
they probably cared about their
employees, too, and I was right.”
In return, the employees care
about the communities they
serve. Over four winters, Kenler
spent two months working at a
