Canada's Top 100 Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 39
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( 2025 ) SPONSOR CONTENT
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Labatt sees its culture as its competitive advantage
ow 177 years old,
Labatt Breweries of
Canada has not only a
rich cultural heritage but
a deep dedication to innovation.
Those company aspects are two sides
of the same coin, says Bea Grubesic,
Labatt’s vice-president, people.
“We have always honoured our
legacy and our guiding principles –
that’s what allows us to innovate, and
that’s why we see our culture as our
competitive advantage,” Grubesic
says.
In tribute to what has brought the
company to this point and looking
forward to the future it’s building,
Toronto-based Labatt has decided
to introduce its latest innovation:
October’s Cheers Fest. “We regularly
get our people together,” says Alexia
Lee, manager, employer brand and
employee engagement. “But Cheers
Fest culminates all of that in a halfday event hosted live from Labatt’s
brewery in its London, Ontario,
hometown.
“We have always honoured
our legacy and our guiding
principles – that’s what allows
us to innovate, and that’s
why we see our culture as our
competitive advantage.”
— Bea Grubesic
Vice-President, People
It brings together employees from
coast to coast to celebrate three focus
pillars: our brands, our impact on
our communities, and our people.”
In regard to the first pillar,
Labatt’s dedication to showcasing its
portfolio of over 70 brands – from
Corona and Budweiser to Michelob
Ultra and NÜTRL – is apparent
in one of its 10 guiding principles:
“Build brands consumers love.”
Christine Hamilton, marketing capabilities manager, explains: “Working
for Labatt instills a sense of pride because our brands are deeply woven
into Canadian culture and social life.
They symbolize national identity
and bringing people together.”
As for community impact, Labatt’s
commitment goes back to its earliest
days, Grubesic notes, when founder
John Kinder Labatt donated 1,000
pounds of flour to a London soup
kitchen during an economic depression in 1859. It continues in Labatt’s
current Disaster Relief Program, in
which production lines in London,
and now Halifax switch from
producing cans of beer to cans of
water destined for people in need in
stricken areas of the country. Labatt’s
long history also informs another of
its guiding 10 Principles: “We grow
when our communities grow.”
Labatt’s “we are owners” workplace culture was evident to Lee
from her start as an intern in 2022,
she says. “Ownership isn’t just about
results – it’s about the people. When
you are part of a team that shares
your passion, their commitment becomes yours, and together, you build
something greater. This is something
that has been evident to me since day
one.”
The Cheers event wrapped
up with what Grubesic calls a
cross-Canada happy hour, a time,
“for our employees to get together
in their locales after the broadcast
to celebrate the day and enjoy our
products.”
Employees at Labatt Breweries of Canada celebrate Cheers Fest at
the organization’s on-site pub.
“Cheers Fest let us display our culture in a way that resonated the same
with someone, say, in the logistics
team in Moncton as with someone in
sales intelligence in Vancouver,” Lee
says, “so everyone could really feel it,
rather than just know it, by stepping
aside from their work for a time and
coming together.”
But the showcase is not only for
1,082
jobs available last year
current employees. “To continue to
be recognized as a Top Employer
for 12 consecutive years and beyond,
means we need to make the next
workforce generation aware of our
culture and the people who shape
it,” says Grubesic. “We also want to
communicate it externally, to the
new generation that we’re looking to
hire.” ¢
$
1,500
mental health coverage per year
