DAIR SDI empowers Fleet Canada Inc. in starting a corporate culture transformational and strengthening journey
About the Downsview Aerospace Innovation and Research Supplier Development Initiative (DAIR SDI):
The DAIR SDI has proven to be a vital resource in strengthening and growing the competitive edge of southern Ontario’s aerospace supply chain by providing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the right environment for transformation. With its simple but highly effective methodology, the SDI supports SMEs in assessing challenges and issues, prioritizing areas of improvement and undertaking action to enhance their maturity, expand their competencies, develop new capabilities and innovate.
The need and interest for such an initiative has been recognized by SMEs who applied in masses to this selective program, which was supported by the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).
While receiving financial support and a privileged mentor-mentee relationship through the SDI, an SME gets unprecedented access to a collaborative platform to bank on outside expertise and knowledge from various coaches and subject matter experts. Together with the SME, they work to determine and scope improvement projects to resolve identified gaps, innovate and enhance competitiveness.
Fleet Canada Inc. engagement with the DAIR SDI:
As a participant in the DAIR SDI, Fleet Canada Inc. (Fleet) pinpointed that the company’s culture needed its utmost attention. With the guidance provided by the SDI’s assessment, Fleet identified that targeting company culture was necessary before embarking on projects to improve processes and implement strategy. Despite a long history of success in the sector and a dedicated leadership team, Fleet realized it had drifted away from its intended direction in recent years. This revelation was surprising as many leadership team members had come up through the ranks, almost all through internal promotions.
With the DAIR SDI, Fleet is harnessing the expertise and experience of outside experts specializing in cultural transformation. The company is striving to understand how senior leadership decisions are perceived by their employees, how to communicate these decisions to them, in what priority order these decisions should be communicated, and which decisions are necessary to be communicated with their employees. Fleet is building an intentional culture that is increasing employee engagement and buy-in and, by prioritizing transformation, it is strengthening its culture to sustain long-term success in the aerospace industry.
The leadership team has recognized that their approach needs employee involvement from all levels of the organization. With high transparency and pulse surveys, a Fleet task force of employees across departments is monitoring and reporting back on their progress. With an ageing aerospace workforce, Fleet will have the culture in place to retain and attract new talent. Benchmarking high-performance companies to its current and desired standing, Fleet is now poised for growth.
“At Fleet Canada, the DAIR SDI has been incredibly valuable and transformative. The SDI has had a positive impact on our employees and our vision. It has been a much-needed breath of fresh air. It has brought our management team to a common understanding and provided us with effective tools for organizational improvement.”
Sal Moledina
Vice President, Fleet Canada
