Great senior employee communications jobs don't come up very often. But there's an excellent opportunity in Alberta right now -- a career-making position with one of Canada's leading energy companies.
My former employer and current client Suncor Energy needs a manager of employee communications for its biggest business unit, its Oil Sands division in Fort McMurray with about 3,000 employees. A colleague at Suncor has asked me to help identify potential candidates.
It's a dream job in many ways:
• There's lots of growth and change - Suncor is doubling its production in the next three years, which means all kinds of growth projects with plenty of great stories to tell.
• Many employees are nearing retirement at the same time as there are hundreds of new positions to fill, so there's a big push to engage, retain and recruit, which means a big need to communicate with employees -- and lots of support from management.
• Suncor has a great communications team. I know them, and I can say this from personal experience.
• There's an opportunity to lead -- the position has three direct reports and there's room to innovate.
• The company is financially healthy and there's competitive pay, stock options and an annual bonus.
• Benefits are excellent, including personal time off days in addition to vacations and stat holidays.
For someone who's been working in employee communications for ten or more years who wants to take his or her career to a whole new level, this truly is a dream job.
The only sticking point: it's based in Fort McMurray, a booming city of 79,000 in Northern Alberta. That's about a four-hour drive north of Edmonton, which means it's fairly remote and has long, cold winters. The city is struggling as it copes with all the growth that's come with the booming energy economy, but it's got lots of pluses - it's a great place to raise a family with a huge new rec centre and lots of outdoor activities.
From my point of view, the remoteness only adds to the opportunity. Fort McMurray is a place with enormous potential. I have a cousin who moved there many years ago as a young lawyer and became a crown prosecutor and now he's a judge. His wife worked part time at the community college and is now a full-time professor. Neither of them would have achieved as much in their careers if they had settled in a big city. And there are many more stories like that, of folks who have come from everywhere to make great lives for themselves and their families.
But it's got to be the right person. You need to be able to move, so it might not work if you have teenage kids, ailing parents or a spouse who isn't mobile. The thing is, if your spouse has any marketable skills there would be plenty of opportunities for him or her, too.
[Edit - Plus, as an FYA reader quickly pointed out in the comments to this post, there are big environmental issues associated with oil sands development that add complexity to any communication role in the energy industry. Suncor is known as a responsible operator and has built a reputation as an environmental leader. But there's no question that its operations have an impact on the environment, and the industry has plenty of critics. For an employee communicator, this adds to the challenge -- and to the opportunity to make a difference.]
So, if you are interested, or know anyone who is interested in this opportunity, call me at 604-694-6037 and I'll tell you more. Here's a link to the detailed position description: Download manager_oil_sands_communications.doc.
I joined a handful of other communicators who had the pleasure of dining today with communication measurement icon 
What's clearly needed (though not so clearly to many corporate execs, apparently) is the sense of community in a business: The feeling that "we're all in this together--what can we give to each other? How can we support each other as just folks, and get business done?"
People are social for a reason: it's part of how we survived without claws, fangs and fur, along with our bigger brains. When businesses realize they have much more to gain by treating employees like valued family members and friends--while still expecting and supporting valuable skills, creativity and other contributions--then they'll get much more loyal workers.
Too often managers seem to believe that strict, bottom-line business needs of a business must overwhelm the human needs of the people who compose the organization. That's when people leave in droves.
How can we serve both needs? How can business thrive while providing an atmosphere like that of an extended family and friends at work? How the organization provide needed prestige to employees, to show everyone the truly value the workers? And how can they get the most out of an employee?
I find that one thing I need most is to be recognized for contributions that I can make to improve my job or some other area of the company, but are not requested, seen or valued by the employer. It's frustrating. And it results in a net loss for the employer and me.
Sometimes just a listening ear, an open door with a never-ending invitation to talk, can make a difference in engagement. It does for me.
My advice to company execs and managers: Ask more questions, and be open to honest answers. Ask your workers about how they would improve things for the company, and ask what would make things better for them personally. Then work to deliver it.
Don't forget to deliver the employees' messages to upper management. Smart management will listen and thank their workers for the ideas, and keep asking for more.
By the way, isn't this kind of thing, called "kaizen" or improvement, in Japan, part of what keeps Toyota and Honda at the top of the auto world in quality?