AUGUST 2014
        
        
          H
        
        
          business elite canada   79
        
        
          nication among employees and distribution of
        
        
          natural light, collaboration areas for employees
        
        
          to work, a wellness center, and even a tread-
        
        
          mill workstation where people can walk to stay
        
        
          fit and active whilst working. Flat screens were
        
        
          also installed throughout the building to facili-
        
        
          tate messaging to customers and employees,
        
        
          rather than using bulletin boards and posters.
        
        
          Lakeside has enjoyed over six decades of
        
        
          growth, but that is certainly not without its chal-
        
        
          lenges in the area of hiring skilled labour, espe-
        
        
          cially with a high standard of excellence and an
        
        
          extensive hiring process of at least two rounds
        
        
          of interviews with up to six to eight people at
        
        
          each stage of the process including manage-
        
        
          ment, potential colleagues and the President.
        
        
          The company is certainly doing something right
        
        
          however to counteract the difficulties involved
        
        
          in attracting and selecting skilled labour with
        
        
          an impressively low turnover rate sitting at 5
        
        
          per cent.
        
        
          As for Houston’s vision for the next 60 years
        
        
          of the company—“I’d like to outgrow this new
        
        
          facility. I’ve got lots of people who are excited
        
        
          about the prospect of doubling the business in
        
        
          the next seven years.”