Indeed, Canada's Top Small and Medium Employers (SMEs) regularly pioneer new ways of working. Today, notes Kristina Leung, managing editor at Mediacorp Canada, it's much more common among Top SMEs to see unlimited vacation policies, in which employees work out with their managers when they can take time off for anything they need – holidays, personal time, cultural days, medical needs, even in-law visits – without regard to total days. "It only matters that the work gets done," she notes.

And employers of all sizes are moving towards more flexible, if not unlimited, time off, again led by SMEs. "They're saying, we've got to have flexible time-off policies to make sure we're meeting the needs of our diverse population," says Leung. "We don't know what you might need the time off for -- maybe for your children or to preserve your work life balance – but we want to make sure that you're doing well so you can also be well at work."

Some 27 per cent of Top SMEs now say they provide at least four weeks of vacation to start, with some going up to six weeks, says Yerema. And within that group, more than half define their policy as unlimited vacation, a major increase in recent years.

It's a familiar pattern, and it's why so many people like working for Canada's Top SMEs – there is so often a creative atmosphere in the workplace and an open approach to new ideas. In fact, notes Yerema, the pandemic showed how well-served SMEs were by the flexible model they began developing almost a decade ago.

"Suddenly almost anybody could work from home with a laptop, and the smaller employers were the ones that could adapt to the technology and create greater flexibility for work-life balance," he says. "So they were able to adapt during the pandemic with much less disruption, and now they've come out of it much more easily than large organizations, like the federal government. They can keep the flexibility because that was their culture before. I would say the model has proved its mettle."

Moreover, the old trade-off of a friendly workplace at a SME versus better benefits at a larger employer is pretty much out the window. "They're all competing for the same talent," notes Leung. "So the Top SMEs are matching the benefits to make sure they're comparable. People are getting the best of both worlds." These days, Top SMEs typically provide health and wellness benefits, maternity and paternity top-ups and RRSP matching contributions, just like large employers.

SMEs also compete just with the breadth of the things they do, from technology to manufacturing to services of all types. This often means a job-seeker can find a smaller company with a friendly vibe offering better opportunities than a large one that may be more formal. And Canadian SMEs often punch above their weight.

Take CPCS, an Ottawa-based management consultancy. It has just 82 full-time staff, but it is involved in important projects around the world, mainly in transport and power, and it competes with the top global professional services firms to win them, says Marc-André Roy, co-managing partner.

"Because we always had this kind of small-company mindset – and I say that in a positive way – it means we're very flexible and pragmatic and open to bringing in good people wherever we could find them," he says. "Likewise, our market is global, and so by focusing on what we're really good at and love, we've had a lot of success doing projects basically everywhere."

Roy is well aware his highly educated workforce could easily be attracted elsewhere, so he emphasizes "fun", meaning both the work and pizza days. "Fun is such a big part of what we do in a small company," he says, "because we can't rely on having a big name. So it really has to be about finding a place where people love what they do. I find in a small company, there's a lot of flexibility to do that."

Yes, the model is working.

– Berton Woodward

This story appeared in the official magazine announcing Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers (2023), co-published with the Globe and Mail on April 4, 2023. Used with permission.