Cambridge, ON | November 25, 2021 – Cowan Insurance Group, a prominent Canadian-owned and operated independent insurance brokerage and consulting operation, has been recognized as one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate CulturesTM 2021 by Waterstone Human Capital. Vetting organizations through a rigorous application process, the program celebrates Canadian organizations that proactively work to create inspiring, high-performance corporate cultures.
With compelling insight into the pandemic’s impact on sustaining culture in remote environments, Cowan Insurance Group’s application focused on its targeted strategies for fostering employee engagement, including robust education and mentoring opportunities, thoughtful performance management, and a “promote from within” culture. Cowan has devoted additional effort to employee well-being by actively soliciting employee feedback and input throughout the pandemic. The company also continues to engage its employees in a fulsome corporate social responsibility program, giving back to the communities where it does business.
“I am so proud of the commitment, professionalism, and resiliency of our employees as they adapted to a changing work environment and continued to deliver exceptional service to our valued clients,” says Janet Peddigrew, President, Cowan Insurance Group. “Our culture is built on the foundation that if we get it right with our employees, then we know we will get it right with our clients. This has been more important than ever with so many of our employees working remotely. We continued to focus on open, frequent communication as the glue keeping our organization’s culture intact. Our company has taken a proactive approach to staying connected and leverages technology to keep our culture healthy and vibrant. I’m proud to say that many changes we have made directly result from employee feedback. It’s an honour to have our efforts recognized as we’re designated one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures for 2021.”
The Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures program creates a benchmark of success for all those who are nominated, assessing organizations across four revenue-based categories (Emerging, Growth, Mid-Market, and Enterprise) and one not-for-profit category. Cowan has been recognized in the Growth category, which typically sees up to forty nominees from among Canada’s most innovative and engaging organizations. The company’s commitment to culture was assessed across several criteria: vision and leadership, recruitment and hiring for fit, people development and talent management, cultural alignment and measurement, corporate social responsibility, and organizational performance.
“At Waterstone we believe corporate culture drives performance and that it’s your organization’s greatest asset,” says Marty Parker, President and Chief Executive Officer of Waterstone Human Capital and Chair of the Canada’s Most AdmiredTM program. “Each of the 2021 award recipients puts culture at the centre of everything they do and demonstrates a commitment to culture as competitive advantage. They set an excellent example of how crafting and sustaining a high performance culture can drive incredible growth and performance.”
In addition to allowing winners to use the Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures designation for three years, the program provides access to networking and learning opportunities, as winners engage with a community of like-minded organizations that place culture at the centre of their strategy and operations. Cowan was also recognized as one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures in 2018.
As a prominent Canadian-owned and operated independent insurance brokerage and consulting operation, Cowan Insurance Group provides real value in insurance and risk management solutions to businesses, organizations and individuals. With over 500 employees and operating out of 10 locations across Canada, we partner with leading national and international insurance companies to advise on and create retirement, group benefits, disability management and international benefits programs for employee groups. We also offer wealth and asset management as well as financial and succession planning services to individuals, and specialize in property, casualty and credit insurance. For additional information about Cowan Insurance Group, please visit cowangroup.ca.
At Waterstone Human Capital, we inspire organizations to build high performance cultures. We’re a human capital management consulting firm specializing in retained executive search, cultural measurement and assessment, and leadership training and development. We have successfully helped hundreds of entrepreneurial-minded, high-growth organizations across North America recruit, measure and train for fit. Waterstone is also the founder of the Canada’s Most AdmiredTM Corporate Cultures and Canada’s Most AdmiredTM CEO programs. These national programs annually recognize best-in-class Canadian organizations and CEOs, for fostering cultures that enhance performance and help sustain a competitive advantage. For more information, please visit waterstonehc.com or canadasmostadmired.com.
For more information, contact:
Joanna Swan
Manager, Communications
Cowan Insurance Group
Tel: 226-808-4155
joanna.swan@cowangroup.ca