Manitoba's Top Employers (2025) - Flipbook - Page 56
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MANITOBA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
At True North, happy employees equal happy guests
E
arly in the season,
management at
Winnipeg-based
True North Sports
+ Entertainment —
owners of the Winnipeg Jets and
Canada Life Centre, among other
properties — met with its 1,800
casual employees to discuss how
to elevate the guest experience.
But the meeting soon shifted into
a forum for employee ideas.
As a result, “we came up with
the idea of the One Thing survey –
what’s one thing we can do to improve guest experience? – and we
got so many ideas from that,” says
chief people officer Dawn Haus,
senior vice-president of culture
and guest experience. “They were
very passionate about their ideas.
If we don’t listen to that, what kind
of message does that send?”
At True North, guest experience
and employee experience are
intrinsically linked. “Giving good
service to our customers is at the
heart of what we do, and it all
starts with giving good service to
our employees,” Haus says. “If you
treat your people well, they’ll treat
your customers well.”
As president John Olfert says,
True North is “in the business of
making memories, celebrating
moments — and this isn’t just for
our fans and guests.” He adds: “We
can see how our employee groups
bond together as teams, celebrate
their own unique memories, and
this translates to the experiences
guests have in our venues and at
our events.”
When it comes to employee experience, True North doesn’t differentiate between full-time and
casual employees. “It's the same
values that we communicate to
everybody,” explains Kyle Phillips,
director of guest experience, “and
just having everyone consistently
aligned on that is really, really
good.”
One of those values is commitment to the community. There’s
the formal work done through the
True North Youth Foundation,
the organization’s charitable arm
whose mission is to make a difference in the lives of underserved
Employees at True North Sports + Entertainment attend the organization’s summit.
youth in the community. Phillips
spends every other Wednesday
morning, for example, volunteering through the foundation to
teach young kids how to skate and
play hockey.
If you treat your people
well, they’ll treat your
customers well.
— Dawn Haus
Chief People Officer and
Senior Vice-President
of Culture and Guest
Experience
“We invite children that
wouldn’t otherwise have the
opportunity to play,” he says. “Just
knowing what kind of impact we
can have in the community and
being even a small part of that, is a
big rewarding piece for me.”
Participating in the foundation’s
work is something that many True
North employees feel strongly
about, Haus says. But there are
plenty of other opportunities to
get involved. One day last fall, for
example, 130 employees went to
community organizations such as
food banks and shelters, making
sandwiches, donating blood, and
much more.
“It’s heartwarming to see how
we all come together to do our
jobs every day, then take our
energy and efforts and make a
difference in the community,” she
adds. “When you’re hard-working
and you want to make a difference, this is a great environment to
be in.”
There’s lots for the True North
