Ottawa

Revealed: Best Places to Work in Ottawa

Noibu employees most pleased with their workplaces, survey says

August 25, 2021

Already named one of the capital’s fastest-growing companies earlier this year, Noibu can add another honour to its impressive list of accomplishments in 2021: the title of Ottawa’s best workplace as chosen by its employees.

The fledgling software firm topped this year’s Best Places to Work in Ottawa competition, an annual program organized by OBJ and the Ottawa Board of Trade.

Participants were ranked according to the results of employee questionnaires and surveys conducted by the U.S.-based Best Companies Group. Employees were asked to rate their workplaces’ performance in areas such as leadership and planning, corporate culture, job satisfaction, training and pay and benefits.

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“What really distinguishes these awards, in my mind, is the recipients are determined based on direct input from employees,” says OBJ publisher Michael Curran.

This year’s 10-best list includes some well-known names in communications, technology and other sectors. Noibu director of people and culture Sarah Crandlemire says she’s not surprised her company came out on top.

“I think it really has to do with the founders,” Crandlemire says, explaining that Noibu’s senior leadership team of Kailin Noivo, Dan Cardamore, Filip Slatinac and Robert Boukine gives the firm’s 45 employees the tools they need to succeed on the job – and have fun while they’re doing it.

‘Keep things light’

“While business is serious, we like to kind of keep things light as well,” Crandlemire says, pointing to Noibu’s regular social events (physically distanced during the pandemic, of course), morning trivia games and extended long weekends as some of the ways the company tries to ensure its workers don’t get stressed out.

Noibu – which placed fourth on OBJ’s 2021 list of fastest-growing companies with three-year revenue growth of 960 per cent – offers perks such as a $1,000 stipend to help employees set up home offices.

In a bid to be as transparent as possible, the privately held company also hosts monthly town hall meetings where it shares its latest financial numbers and staff are free to air concerns or questions with management.

Companies from across the region took part in the survey process. Eligible firms were required to be in business for at least a year as well as maintain an office and have a minimum of 15 employees in the National Capital Region.

The 10 recipients will be recognized at a cocktail reception sponsored by Meldrum Horne & Associates on Monday, Sept. 27. The event will also launch a virtual conference, the Ottawa Talent Summit, which will be held the next day.

This year’s Best Places to Work recipients are: