BC's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 20
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BC’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
At BCFSA, the opportunities for growth are endless
W
hen Archana
Nirad joined
BC Financial
Services
Authority
(BCFSA) in January 2020, just
weeks before the pandemic, she
already knew she wanted to be in
public service since it aligned with
her own sense of purpose.
“I wanted to work for an organization with a cause,” says Nirad,
who has a diverse educational
background spanning economics,
literature and psychology, as well
as an MBA in finance. “BCFSA
ticked a number of boxes for
me. At the time, it was a growing
organization in the financial
services sector and was just being
established as a Crown agency. So,
I applied and was successful as
the director of solution design and
delivery.”
Right from the start, Nirad
benefited from BCFSA’s supportive culture that values growth and
professional development.
"People here are very generous
with their time," says Nirad. "You
raise your hand, ask for help and
they’re there to support you.”
When Nirad expressed an
interest in growing into the chief
information officer role, her
leaders were very supportive,
providing valuable feedback and
guidance.
After spending a year and a half
building her competency through
a technology leadership program
at the UBC Sauder School of
Business, she successfully competed for the position when it became
vacant, a role she’s held now for
nearly three years.
“The culture at BCFSA is very
collaborative and high energy,”
she says. “Everybody wants to do
their best. I think being in public
service, you have that mindset that
you want to make a difference.”
Kevin Thien, chief human
resources officer, says BCFSA
aims to provide the resources and
support for employees to grow
and develop in the directions they
choose, rather than prescribing a
rigid path.
“Team members get to make
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BCFSA offers a culture that is collaborative, innovative, and supports employees with professional growth.
their own adventure at BCFSA,
where our model of learning
development is nurture, grow and
thrive,” says Thien. “It’s almost
like gardening. We want to make
sure we’re putting in the soil and
sunlight and water, but how individual employees decide to grow,
we encourage them to do that.”
You raise your hand, ask
for help and they’re there
to support you.
— Archana Nirad
Chief Information Officer
“It’s more of a partnership
because the employee has to take
accountability for where they
want to drive their career and we
give them the tools. That’s the
model we're working towards.”
BCFSA is committed to continuous learning and development
for its employees, including
mentoring, job shadowing, leadership development and technical
courses. The organization has invested significantly in its learning
management system, providing
employees access to thousands of
online courses and micro-learning opportunities. Additionally,
BCFSA recently introduced its first
co-op program for post-secondary
students, providing opportunities
for the students to gain relevant
work experience for their future
careers.
“Three years ago, we didn’t
have a learning and development
team and now we have three
full-time staff,” says Thien. “We’ve
spent a lot of time reimagining
