There’s little doubt that the workplace today has more complexity than it used to. Work location, benefit packages, and team culture are all under the microscope and evolving daily.

At the 2025 Best Places to Work Employer Summit, CraftXecs™ CEO Karen Craft (formerly Brownrigg) shared a presentation analyzing what the top employers in the National Capital Region are doing to attract, retain, and enable top talent. 

Common Themes of the Best Places to Work in Ottawa

Three common themes unite the 20 organizations who were named as 2025 Best Places to Work recipients by the Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Board of Trade. Across the board, they are: 

• Redefining workplace excellence with intentionality
• Shifting to values-driven experiences
• Recognizing that the future of work is human

Tangibly, this comes through in several emerging and re-emerging workplace trends. 

Emerging & Re-Emerging Trends Across Ottawa’s Best Places to Work 

Re-Emerging Trend: The Return of In-Person Connection

The leading organizations in Ottawa are fully invested in defining and developing a culture that enables employees to be at their best. A big part of that culture building is driven by in-person connection, which is clearly making a comeback.

The best organizations aren’t just bringing people together for the sake of it, though. They see this time together as a critical resource that must be maximized. In-person time in the office is thoughtfully structured to ensure that team members are building connections, collaborating on key projects, and building team spirit. 

Emerging Trend: Work-Life Flexibility as a Standard

The counterweight to having thoughtful, strategic face time with employees is offering flexible work models that focus more on outputs than hours.

Ottawa’s top organizations are ensuring that their team members are held accountable to their targets, while still offering them the flexibility to work however they work best. This approach is highly attractive to top talent who want an element of freedom in their work. A measure of flexibility combined with a strategic approach to in-person connection is a great recipe for high-performance. 

Emerging Trend: Leadership Pipelines Are Being Built

Another emerging trend amongst Ottawa’s top employers is that they are consciously engaging in succession planning. Promoting from within offers a lot of benefits, including maintaining internal culture and retaining historical knowledge.

Top employers understand that they need to be strategic about succession planning, and are baking internal growth into their strategy. They’re investing in the professional development of their employees and building leadership pipelines from within so that they can reap the benefits for years to come. 

Re-Emerging Trend: Safety as Culture

Leading organizations understand that innovation thrives in a safe work environment.

To create a safe environment where their people can thrive, organizations are investing in developing, socializing, and enforcing clear policies. They’re also looking at training with fresh eyes, understanding that training is a tool they can use to build trust amongst employees and teams, rather than just something that ticks boxes. 

Emerging Trend: Perks that Reflect Empathy

The top employers in Ottawa have recognized that the benefits and perks they offer need to look at the whole person, not just the person who comes to work each day.

Top employers are now designing perks that reflect empathy with the daily grind people need to manage, or the unique challenges of different stages of life. Examples of this include increased health benefits, strong parental or bereavement support, and vacation programs that employees will actually use and enjoy. There are many other examples, but the key point is that the top organizations in Ottawa are being intentional about supporting their employees in every season of life. 

Is Your HR Strategy Supporting Your Goals?

If you’re reading this and thinking “Our organization needs to make some changes”, you’re not alone. Every day we talk to excellent leaders who are looking for new ways to support their employees, but don’t know where to start. That’s why we’re here.

Our C-Suite calibre consultants share decades of combined experience transforming culture and positioning both people and organizations to thrive. Workplaces are evolving rapidly, and this evolution requires a fresh approach. We offer our clients the unfair advantage of having an expert ally who knows how to create an organization where employees feel supported, challenged, and engaged. Contact us today to get started.