Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 116
116
( 2025 )
SPONSOR CONTENT
Flexible fun is the bottom line at Northbridge
Z
eenat Taki figures if
you’re going to spend
much of your life at
work, it should be
at a company that
shares your values, like inclusion,
integrity and diversity. Which
is why she loves the career she’s
created at Northbridge Financial
Corporation.
“Northbridge is a place where
my fellow employees and I feel
safe and want to come to work
every day,” says Taki.
“You get to work with great
people, not only on your team but
with different people throughout
the organization who are having
a great time while creating that
atmosphere.”
Northbridge Financial
Corporation provides property
and casualty insurance services.
Headquartered in Toronto, it has
regional offices across the country
and over 1,900 employees. It’s provided a wide range of insurance
solutions to Canadians for over
100 years.
As lead in corporate underwriting, Taki has a unique role
that puts her at the centre of a
hub of teams providing hightech support. She helped build
Northbridge’s Android platforms
on the IT side and works closely
with the business team to help
her fellow employees deliver
insurance services to their clients.
Taki appreciates the flexibility of
a hybrid work model that allows
her to spend half her time in the
office and half working from
home. That balance allows her to
be creative and productive in her
own space while collaborating
with her colleagues at the company’s Toronto office.
Northbridge’s flexibility also
extends to perks like early long
weekend closures that give
employees a head start on their
holidays, as well as to individually
tailored career development and
personal growth planning, says
Harold Weckworth, senior vice
president of people and culture.
“We want to provide meaningful
experiences for our employees
and we want to really empower
them to bring their best selves to
work while having fun,” he says.
“That creates a ripple effect
across the organization that impacts wellness and is inspirational,
which is important because we
want to give all our employees an
opportunity to excel.”
“We want to provide
meaningful experiences for
our employees and we want
to really empower them to
bring their best selves to
work.”
— Harold Weckworth
Senior Vice President
of People and Culture
Northbridge Financial hosts many fun social events for employees throughout the year, including a popsicle
pop-up to kick off summer.
Taki says one of the most
important things helping her succeed is Northbridge’s education
assistance program. Not only do
employees receive 100 per cent
support for course costs, they get a
financial bonus of up to $2,000 for
course completion – something
Taki had never run across at other
companies.
Another form of education
and training Taki has benefited
from is the company’s mentoring program, where she was
matched with a senior employee
who helped her hone the skills
she needed to build her career.
Northbridge has a wealth of
collective experience to draw on,
with employees staying for as long
as 50 years.
Weckworth says another core
company policy that employees
appreciate is Northbridge’s
