Martin Gauthier is going on 26 years as a driver with Tiger Trucking, and Nicole Kelly is approaching three years in her role as a Tiger Trucking Supervisor, but they both echo the same sentiment about the company culture at Giant Tiger. The focus on cultivating a people-first organization is what has kept Gauthier working for Tiger Trucking and is what makes Kelly want to stay.

“I’ve always felt valued and respected as a driver, a part of the team,” says Gauthier when asked about what sets Giant Tiger apart, adding that drivers have an open dialogue with management that makes each member of Team Tiger feel heard and that any concerns that come up are listened to.

Giant Tiger, established in 1961, is a leading Canadian-owned family discount retailer committed to providing on-trend family fashions, groceries, and everyday needs at the lowest prices possible. An integral part of delivering merchandise from an ever-growing warehouse system to stores is Tiger Trucking. Although Gauthier and Kelly have different roles- their mission remains the same, and that is ensuring the process of transporting the goods is smooth and helping to support the needs of stores across the country.

Company Culture

Giant Tiger is a proven leader as a people-first organization, with some drivers having been with the company for 30+ years. The drivers employed for Tiger Trucking has grown from 22 to more than 140 drivers over the years and has less than a 2% turnover year to date for drivers, which speaks to the type of workplace culture Giant Tiger has worked hard with employees to create.

Gauthier and Kelly emphasize the all employees, from the top-down, are directly involved in shaping the culture at the company and are encouraged to do so in many different ways. For Kelly, that includes joining one of Giant Tiger’s Employee Resource Groups (ERG), which works to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion and includes members from various departments across the company.

Another standout both members of Team Tiger spoke to was Giant Tiger’s emphasis on the importance of employee work-life balance. “The company believes that your family time is just as important as your business time,” said Kelly, with Gauthier highlighting that he is most fond of the flexible hours, which allows him to always feel confident and safe doing his drives from Johnstown, ON, to Rivière-du-Loup, QC.

“When you feel supported, listened to, and cared about, it makes your job easy,” said Gauthier.

Room to Grow

Giant Tiger also prioritizes empowering their employees to reach their professional goals, providing education and training for members of Team Tiger to build their skills. In Kelly’s opinion, having recently been promoted after two years with Giant Tiger, is what makes the company an employer of choice.

“I always encourage the drivers I manage to apply for new positions in the company they might be interested in, and we have the tools to help them get there,” said Kelly, who started as a dispatcher herself and was promoted to a Transportation Supervisor managing 70 drivers.

Tiger Trucking will continue to lead the charge of fostering a people-first organization within the industry. The same message is echoed by Kelly and Gauthier, “We are all one team from different departments. Whether you’re a driver, working in the stores, or at head office- we are all Team Tiger.” To learn more about hiring opportunities at Tiger Trucking, please visit gianttiger.com/careers.