2 Flakeboard's team of decision makers.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: 5 Great Places To Work - Flakeboard Company Ltd., human resource management - Company overview

Sault Ste. Marie's Flakeboard Company Ltd. has collected many corporate and community accolades for its Kaizen-like performance ethic and its well-documented safety culture.

But the MDF (medium density fibreboard) producer has a stellar local reputation as one of the best worker-friendly employers in the city.

That high standing within the community was evident last year prior to the opening of their new laminating plant.

"When we advertised for technicians we got 1,000 resumes for 12 roles," says Carla Belanger, Flakeboard's Human Resources manager, who sifted through the candidates' paperwork.

Beginner technicians slotted for either their MDF line or working across the yard at the laminating plant receive a starting salary of $38,525. Their progress on the pay scale depends upon yearly performance appraisals.

To remain competitive on salaries and compensation, non-unionized Flakeboard annually conducts a survey of local companies and the industry.

Electricians and millwrights are always in demand, but to join Flakeboard, Belanger says job applicants need only their Grade 12 and a good attitude.

"All the skills we need for an operator, we can train them for. We look for someone who has the ability to learn."

The job seekers come from all walks of life. Some arrive with valuable forklift skills but many have construction backgrounds and general labour experience with a high percentage of them being college-trained or university graduates.

"Our turnover has been extremely low. It was high in the early days of the organization (1996) but recently it's been around one to two per cent," says Belanger. Of course, there's always the daily production pressures, but she says Flakeboard's job rotation program helps alleviate those stresses.

Flakeboard is a forest industry leader in cross-training.

The job rotation policy was introduced by Flakeboard's first plant manager, Mike Gibbon, who devised the idea of having personnel rotate into non-traditional roles.

Every six months, employees at the 122-person operation can rotate into a different job, such as press operations, shipping, dispatch, finishing, transportation, laboratory work and even into day roles like accounts receivable.

"Most people here know two or three roles at the minimum," says Belanger, who first worked in HR at St. Marys Paper before signing on for an operations crew in 1995 before settling back into her more familiar position.

"If they don't want to rotate from being on...