Talent development and engagement

Attracting and developing employees with the right skills and aptitudes remains a constant priority for our organization. We believe that to meet our business goals and create long-term shareholder value we must continue to attract and retain the most talented people through continuous learning and performance reward programs.

Our commitment

We are committed to developing a highly skilled and performance-based workforce. We empower our people to develop their teams in ways that reinforce our responsible management culture within a tradition of strong and disciplined leadership. Our objective is to create positive working relationships with our employees and to provide them with opportunities for career growth, as they contribute to the success of our business and of society as a whole.

Programs

Our talent development strategy is based on building leadership capabilities, creating a responsible management culture, and recognizing and rewarding performance.

Talent development focus
Programs

Building leadership capabilities

Skills development programs are offered through relevant internal and external training sessions stressing specific competencies and job responsibilities, including professional development, continuing education courses, seminars and conferences.

On-the-job coaching and development opportunities within our group companies are provided to employees so that they can broaden their perspectives, gain a better understanding of the diverse activities within our group, and share their experiences.

Opportunities are offered to work with executives and leadership teams to gain knowledge through exposure to leadership practices and strategies and to develop individual talent to its fullest potential.

Creating a responsible management culture

Our employees receive regular reminders of our responsible management philosophy and core values as espoused in our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, and they are required to annually attest their compliance to our Code and our related corporate policies. As part of the mandatory annual training session on our Code, we raise awareness and educate our people on key sustainability themes such as conflict of interest, anti-corruption, data privacy, respect at work, human rights, and the environment. 

Rewarding performance

Our performance and career management program focuses on four performance development pillars:

  • Results-based goals – we establish individualized, results-based goals that align with our core business levers towards long-term value creation, quality of execution and risk management.

  • Leadership skills – we have defined clear leadership skills to support how we achieve objectives through behaviors that are aligned with our values.

  • Career growth – we consider an employee's career growth as a partnership between the employee and their manager. As their career progresses, we invite employees to reflect on what career growth means and how it can be achieved. Career growth can be achieved through development opportunities in their current role, through opportunities with other departments or even within the Power group.

  • Development plans – we elaborate development plans that benefit employees through ongoing learning to help them stay relevant in their field or gain knowledge to progress in their career. Development opportunities include professional training, mentorship, coaching, skills training, and academic training, to name a few.  

Our performance and career management program includes a formal annual performance review process for all eligible employees at the holding company level.  

We offer progressive compensation packages, comprised of a balance between fixed and variable remuneration programs and competitive pension, savings and benefits programs.

Engaging employees

We engage with employees through a variety of communications, training, awareness sessions, and other employee activities. For further information, visit the Stakeholder Engagement page of this microsite. 

Power Corporation encourages and supports engagement with the not-for-profit sector and personal giving by employees through its Employee Giving Program. The program recognizes and rewards employees’ efforts in two ways: by matching personal charitable donations and providing grants to eligible charitable organizations where employees volunteer. 

Highlights from our group companies

Employee Engagement

Great-West Lifeco and its operating companies are committed to fostering employee engagement across the group companies. For instance, GWL Realty Advisors believes that employee engagement remains a critical measure of organizational health. Its 2025 employee engagement survey results showed an overall engagement score of 87.1%, a notable improvement since the survey was last conducted two years ago and a reflection of the strong alignment, collaboration and pride across the organization. 

IGM Financial strives to create a sense of community and build an inclusive culture that enhances productivity, engagement and overall satisfaction. The company’s annual employee engagement survey helps measure the health of the organization and short pulse surveys provide feedback on specific topics. The 2025 engagement survey revealed an overall engagement score of 82%. Moreover, the survey's results revealed that 87% of employees are proud to work at IGM. Leaders are given access to their business area’s anonymized engagement survey results to facilitate post-survey conversations and action plans. 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING

IGM Financial facilitates employee professional development through formal training, feedback, coaching and on-the job experience – all supported by individual development plans that employees create annually with support from their leaders. Leaders are required to set clear expectations on performance objectives and competencies and provide ongoing coaching and feedback. Annual objectives are aligned with company strategy and leaders hold quarterly meetings to review progress. The competency framework gives employees clear indicators of what’s expected of them at each career level and helps create their development plans. Formal reviews are completed through a digital talent-management system that integrates performance management and compensation tools. Moreover, IGM’s learnings portal, IGM University, is the company’s enterprise learning ecosystem and serves as the central hub for mandatory training, professional accreditation and role-based development supporting employees, advisors and leaders across all stages of their careers.

IGM Financial also offers specialized training for advisors. IG University provides programming focused on financial planning, professional responsibility, products and services, AI, practice management and leadership development. For its part, Mackenzie Investments offers advisors educational resources to help them build their businesses and grow their knowledge. This includes accredited courses, available through Mackenzie’s CE Centre, to help advisors stay current with regulatory requirements, market conditions and investor needs.

Mackenzie is also a founding sponsor of Ivey Women in Asset Management (WAM), for which they supported the national WAM program in 2025 involving 48 students form 10 universities. As part of this program, Mackenzie also hosted three paid interns over the summer. For its part, IGM Financial participates actively in on-campus recruiting, attending 81 events in 2025, 40% of which focused on students from equity-deserving communities. More than 190 interns from 28 Canadian post-secondary institutions joined IGM during three internship periods (winter, summer and fall), working in various departments, completing specific projects, supporting their teams and participating in biweekly skills building sessions.

Lastly, as part of its efforts to create access to meaningful employment, IGM Financial implemented an Indigenous stream pilot in the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) training program, which provides development opportunities and support for Indigenous learners on the CPA path. Given the pilot’s success, the Indigenous stream has since become a permanent feature of its CPA program.

Great-West Lifeco’s subsidiary GWL Realty Advisors considers developing future talent an important focus. The company’s Summer Student Program welcomed 30 students in 2025, offering meaningful work experiences, exposure to the real estate industry and opportunities to learn directly from senior leaders through case studies and lunch-and-learn sessions. The program continues to serve as a valuable pipeline for early-career talent, with 17% of participants remaining with the company in ongoing roles. 

Scroll To Top
X