workplace
team member compensation
Compensation at TELUS is designed to support our high-performance culture. For management and professional team members, TELUS compensation is both market driven and performance based. We aim to pay competitively, and high performers are able to be paid above the 75th percentile. Our pay-for-performance orientation is founded upon the establishment of stretch goals set at the individual, business unit and corporate levels. Results are measured against those goals and used to determine variable pay based on performance. For most team members governed by a collective agreement, incentive pay is also available in addition to their base salary.
In all provinces, TELUS’ lowest wage paid is approximately twice the provincial statutory minimum wage. In addition, team members are able to be owners in our business through the stock option/restricted share unit plan and/or the TELUS Employee Share Plan.
Recognizing, rewarding and sharing success
Our team members share in the success of our company through excellent compensation and benefits programs that offer choice and flexibility. Our market-based compensation for management and professional team members is aligned with high-tech companies similar to TELUS and recognizes individual contributions and competitive skills sets. To ensure our compensation remains competitive, we review compensation levels annually and on an as-needed basis.
TELUS Employee Share Plan – TELUS offers team members the opportunity to participate in an Employee Share Plan, through which they can purchase TELUS shares through regular payroll deductions. Team member contributions, up to six per cent of their salary, are matched by the company. In 2004, for every $10 a team member invested in TELUS shares, the company contributed $4. In 2005, the company contribution was increased to $4.50 for team members below director level. With ownership of 6.7 million shares, or 1.91 per cent of the total outstanding shares, TELUS team members are our 10th largest shareholder group.
Benefits program – Our benefits program is an important part of the total rewards package at TELUS. The program is designed to encourage and support health, wellness and balance. It provides protection for health, life and disability to offer peace of mind and sufficient choice to provide flexibility and promote satisfaction.
Management and professional team members participate in a flexible benefits plan, called PLAN-IT, which allows them to tailor personal benefits plans to suit individual needs. Additional information on benefits for management and professional team members can be found online at telus.com/careers.
In December 2005, TELUS introduced a new benefits plan for unionized team members. For the first time, the plan offers choice for unionized team members to allow them to select the benefit coverage that best suits their needs.
Corporate recognition programs and tools
At TELUS, we believe that recognition is not a program but a culture – a culture dedicated to providing meaningful formal and informal recognition. It is this commitment that generates excitement about the accomplishments of our people, supports our TELUS values and aligns with our strategic intent.
Team Machine® – Through our Team Machine web-based program, team members at any level of the organization can nominate and recognize the outstanding performance, superior teamwork and extraordinary results of their colleagues who exemplify TELUS values in action.
Team members receive points for Team Machine awards that can be shared with others or exchanged for a wide range of merchandise from an online catalogue. For more informal, everyday recognition, Team Machine also offers a wide variety of corporately branded e.cards for team members to send to their colleagues who have gone the extra mile.
Career Excellence – TELUS values the commitment and contribution made by its team members throughout their careers. We believe that acknowledging the personal diversity, motivation and behavioural competencies exhibited in the daily work lives of our TELUS team members makes TELUS unique. In appreciation of our team members’ personal dedication, we celebrate significant career milestones with our Career Excellence program.
TELUS team members receive career excellence recognition in five-year increments, commencing with the attainment of their first five years of service. Team members select a gift based on the level of tenure they have achieved and receive a framed and corporately branded commemorative plaque signed by the CEO to mark their milestone.