72SPONSOR CONTENTALBERTA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)UFA plants success with support and flexibilityWhen Alan Liuwas hired in anIT support roleas a studentintern at UFACo-operative Ltd., he worriedthat he was in over his head andwouldn’t be able to provide theexpertise needed to help his fellowemployees with their computerand technical issues. Luckily, thesupport person was given his ownsupport.“My supervisor assigned me amentor that I bombarded withquestions about how thingsworked and what the proceduresand protocols were,” Liu says.“That went on for a few monthsuntil I finally felt I could confidently take a ticket, investigateit and know how to solve it.And then I started to be the onepeople asked for advice, which feltamazing.”Jennifer Beatty is seniordirector of human resources atthe Calgary-based co-operative,which supports agriculturalproducers, commercial customersand other related rural businessesin Western Canada. She points toa suite of employee developmentprograms for both new employeesand potential leaders that involvementorships and formal training.“Our employee value proposition states that we help each othergrow,” she says. “We’re activelyexpanding our business, and asthe organization grows, we wantour employees to grow with it, andthat could be through innovations,special projects, career development or skills development.”UFA’s new hire orientation isheld in person for people workingin the office and online for thoseworking in remote locations. “Wealso have a popular componentwhere people from the office goout and spend the day visitingvarious field locations andcustomers to better understandtheir business and learn about ourcooperative,” Beatty says.As the organization grows,we want our employees togrow with it, and that couldbe through innovations,special projects, careerdevelopment or skillsdevelopment.— Jennifer BeattySenior Director of HumanResources Alan Liu, technical support analyst at UFA, maintains cardlock machines and card readers across the UFAnetwork.It’s something that Liu, nowa technical support analyst forUFA’s cardlock machines, whichallow for fuel transactions acrossthe UFA network, has been able totake part in.“We took a group of peoplefrom our head office out on a tourbus to see how things work in thefield,” he says. “We visited a cardlock site and saw our impact, howour actions directly support thecardlock and the farm store. Thatwas an eye-opening experience,and worth so much more than anykind of instruction.”Liu also appreciates thecompany’s health and wellness
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