Section 6: Staffing, Human Resources, and Compensation Strategy

The key Human Resources priorities and initiatives supporting the AGCO’s People First Strategic goal are:

Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility

• The AGCO is committed to addressing head-on and with honesty the concerns and needs of our diverse workforce, increasing equity, including all racialized communities in Canada, Indigenous peoples, members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, persons with disabilities, and women. A review of the AGCO’s recruitment revealed our processes could benefit from an additional focus on a DI&A lens to ensure fairness and inclusivity. The AGCO is working on developing sustainable partnerships with a range of community resources to improve the diversity of our candidates’ pool. This work is related to having retained KPMG to complete an organizational assessment and develop a DI&A strategy.

Future of Work and Hybrid work model

• The Future of Work initiative is identifying a new strategy and implementation plan that will guide the AGCO’s work arrangements within a vision for the “next normal.” On November 15^th, 2021, AGCO launched its new Hybrid Work model. As of the same date the head office and regional offices reopened, following all public health requirements.

• The Hybrid Work model supports the needs of employees to balance their work and home lives, while maintaining an engaged, productive workforce. It enables AGCO employees, where operationally feasible, to work from multiple locations, such as from home and other locations within Ontario.  

• The AGCO instituted a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy that requires all staff, including OPP employees as well as Board members and Horse Racing Appeal Panel members, unless exempt, to be fully vaccinated by November 12th, 2021.

Well-Being Program

• Ensuring employee well-being remains a top priority, on September 1st, 2021, AGCO relaunched the Well-being Program (previously known as the AGCO Wellness Program), focusing on total Well-being (i.e., mental, financial, physical, and social health).

• The program is designed to provide more focus on awareness and available resources. In addition to that, several enhancements have been made to our benefits plan.

igaming

• On July 6th, 2021, the Government of Ontario announced the establishment of iGaming Ontario, a subsidiary of the AGCO, as a separate and distinct legal entity to conduct and manage Ontario’s open and competitive iGaming market. At that time, a number of positions were identified that would play a key role in achieving this goal.

• Extensive work has been completed to ensure timely and efficient recruitment of a number of vacancies. In particular, a recruitment strategy has been developed. All vacancies were scheduled to be filled based on priority and with the goal of attracting and retaining quality staff.

Leadership Assessment and Development / Succession planning

• Earlier in 2021, AGCO launched a new Leadership Assessment and Development program. This multi-step program will identify, assess and develop successors for C-Suite and create a pipeline of future leaders. The AGCO is planning to expand the program beyond executive and director levels to ensure a strong talent pipeline for all key positions in the AGCO.

AGCO’s Compensation Strategy

The AGCO’s compensation strategy, including employee benefits, is targeted to the market median of the Broader Public Sector market (comparator group). In the past, the AGCO has participated in annual market surveys to confirm its compensation competitiveness. The AGCO continues to follow the government’s direction on compensation, providing what was negotiated in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. According to government direction, the salary ranges for management have not changed since 2017.

The AGCO is compliant with the Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Framework. The information about the process and its outcomes is posted on the AGCO website. The AGCO provides a comprehensive benefits package including the following:

• 100% Employer-Paid Insured Health Benefits.

• Defined Benefits Pension Plan administered by Ontario Pension Board or the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Pension Trust.

• Short Term Income Protection to a maximum of six months (130 working days) in the calendar year.

Bargaining Agent

The bargaining unit for the AGCO is OPSEU Local 565, which represents 75% of the AGCO’s workforce.

AGCO Headcount

Organizational Chart