By Sanam Islam

Each week, the Financial Post profiles one winner of Waterstone Human Capital's 2008 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures program. This week, Sanam Islam spoke with Mary-Alice Vuicic, executive vice-president in human resources and organizational development at Shoppers Drug Mart, about how the company demonstrates excellence in the five criteria used to evaluate companies nominated for the program.

Company Shoppers Drug Mart

CEO Jurgen Schreiber

Number of employees 45,000-plus

Annual revenue for 2007 $8.48-billion

Vision and leadership

Shoppers Drug Mart's core values of ownership and accountability, passion for results, customer-driven innovation, and people and community are followed from the leaders on down. "We believe culture and values are the most powerful competitive advantage because they can't be copied," Ms. Vuicic says.

The associate ownership model created by Shoppers Drug Mart founder Murray Koffler has helped to instill the company's values throughout the company, leading to growth and achievement. "Passion for results drives us to be a winning team. People want to continue to win," Ms. Vuicic says.

She says the focus for Jurgen Schreiber, the current chief executive, has been to drive innovation and build on past successes.

Cultural alignment, measurement and sustainability

"Every program that we implement, and every person we hire, we try to align them with the company's culture and values," Ms. Vuicic says.

Corporate employees undergo a two-day orientation in which they learn about the company's history, working culture and business plan. Associate owners learn about the company's corporate culture and being an owner through a training program called LEAD (leadership, excellence and development).

Key strategies also are communicated at various annual national conferences, leadership conventions and corporate employee days.

Employee engagement and customer surveys measure whether Shoppers' culture and performance is meeting the expectations of these groups.

Rewards and recognition

Through two unique programs, Shoppers Drug Mart recognizes exemplary service and performance for all employees -- 'Beyond the Call' rewards corporate employees, while 'Extra Mile' recognizes the frontline employees in its retail locations. Winners receive awards, and they are recognized through office and store postings visible to all employees.

Other programs include annual awards for top pharmacists and associate owners. In addition, corporate employees are rewarded through a short-term incentive plan.

Corporate performance

Shoppers Drug Mart has recorded a three-year average revenue growth of 16%, and a three-year average asset increase of 23%. In 2007 alone, sales rose 8.9%, and net earnings climbed 16.8%. The company continues to expand, with the opening or acquisition of 121 stores in 2007. According to Ms. Vuicic, these results are directly related to the company's focus on customer value and regular communication with employees.

"Corporate culture is at the heart of our business model -- it's central to how we operate and probably the biggest contributor to our very strong record of performance and success," she says.

Corporate social responsibility

"One of our corporate values is people and community, and we feel, as one of the leading and most trusted retailers [in Canada], we have an obligation to be socially responsible," Ms. Vuicic says.

In 2007, the company invested more than $2-million in support of health care, medical research and pharmacy education.

In addition, the 'Tree of Life' campaign raised $1.7-million, of which 75% was directed to more than 200 health-related charities in Canada and the balance to four leading national charities.

Shoppers Drug Mart also runs a number of energy efficiency programs, and plans to cut plastic bag usage 50% by 2012. It also introduced a line of organic food, and focuses on stocking environmentally friendly household products.