PSB Boisjoli encourages employees to stay connected and focus on professional development.Provided
After completing his internship with PSB Boisjoli LLP, Maxime Leblanc was hired as a junior auditor. Five months later, he realized he had more interest in tax. He spoke with the head of the sales tax department and she immediately invited him to join her team.
“Everyone finds what suits them,” says Leblanc, now a junior tax advisor. “People change and grow faster here than at the larger, more hierarchical firms.”
Located in Montreal, PSB Boisjoli is an accounting, tax and advisory firm that has been dedicated to meeting the financial needs of small and medium-sized organizations for more than 80 years. As a full-service firm, it offers strategic, tax and estate planning; audit and assurance services; and corporate financing and restructuring services.
“As a mid-sized firm, PSB Boisjoli has the willingness and flexibility to evolve and get better,” says Kristina Ashqar, CPA auditor, partner. “We’re nimble. There’s not a lot of red tape.”
Leblanc says he finds his work interesting and challenging. He needs to find solutions for different types of companies every day, whether in real estate or the medical field or the food industry.
“The entrepreneurs we work with are driven. It’s an agile environment,” he says.
“We’re dealing with owner-managed businesses, which often allows employees to be exposed to the breadth of the work across an organization, not just one area,” says Ashqar.
To support employees in this challenging environment, PSB Boisjoli has taken a hybrid approach to the return to work after pandemic-related restrictions. Managers recommend staff come into the office a few times a week to stay connected and focus on professional development.
In-person training sessions in the boardroom are an opportunity to network that is difficult to replicate on an online platform. And when you know your manager is in the next office, it’s easy to pop in and ask a question. The firm offers a free lunch in the kitchen three days a week to encourage attendance and connection.
Employees are also supported to develop in their specific areas. Leblanc and his colleague are taking a program from the University of Sherbrooke to get an overview of sales tax. They get together with their senior colleagues once a week to ask questions and go through articles in tax law.
Leblanc finds this kind of support and team spirit runs throughout the organization. Employees are encouraged to join one of the firm’s committees. He participates on the recruitment committee.
“Senior and junior staff take it seriously and put a lot of time into finding the next generation to represent PSB Boisjoli,” he says.
Other staff members participate on the green committee or the social committee. And there are social get-togethers to go bowling, as well as friendly connections at the office.
“I passed by the kitchen at lunchtime and the tables were full of people chatting,” says Leblanc. “And if I find I have too much work, people ask if they can help.”
“There is a sense of coaching and caring,” says Ashqar. “I know everyone in the audit department. It’s easy to have day-to-day interactions with partners and managers.”
The senior management at PSB Boisjoli model success. “My boss has been here 20-plus years and she’s gone from intern to partner,” says Leblanc. “I chose PSB Boisjoli because I saw they were caring. They want to give you every opportunity.”
More from Canada’s Top Small and Medium-Sized Employers
Advertising feature produced by Canada’s Top 100 Employers, a division of Mediacorp Canada Inc. The Globe and Mail’s editorial department was not involved.