By Sanam Islam

This is the final winner profile for Waterstone Human Capital's 2008
10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures program. This week, Marc Tellier,
chief executive of Yellow Pages Group, tells Sanam Islam how the
company demonstrates excellence in the five criteria used to evaluate
companies nominated for the program.

Company Yellow Pages Group CEO Marc Tellier

Number of employees 2,500

Annual revenue 2007 $1.62-billion

Vision and leadership

Yellow
Pages Group (YPG) defines its culture by six corporate values: customer
first, compete to win, teamwork, open communication, respect and
passion.

Since 2002, the company has grown rapidly, making several successful acquisitions in Canada and the United States.

"We
think our approach to culture gave us the leg up in creating a common
environment for our new colleagues after the acquisitions," Mr. Tellier
says.

In the past several years, the company has successfully
extended its reach online, and Mr. Tellier's vision is for YPG to be
part of every local search.

Cultural alignment, measurement and sustainability

An
annual review process, partially based on the demonstration of
corporate values, measures employee performance. The company also
trains employees to personalize their development plans to meet company
goals. When communicating with managers, leaders ensure "priorities are
clear, well communicated and understood," Mr. Tellier says.

Rewards and recognition

YPG's
recognition program, Bravo, gives employees and leaders the opportunity
to commend colleagues for a job well done. In its first year, the
program saw more than 4,000 cards exchanged.

As well, the
company's President's Gold Circle program rewards its top salespeople,
with the brass ring being the opportunity to earn a trip.

Corporate performance

Mr.
Tellier says he is proud that YPG is an industry leader in many areas:
The company has the highest advertiser renewal rate globally at 90% and
the highest market penetration of any directory service in the world,
serving 40% of all Canadian businesses.

YPG also reaches 40%
of all online Canadians on a monthly basis. Its annual organic revenue
growth is 5.3%, compared with the industry average of about 2%, and it
ranks second globally in its industry.

"We've come to the conclusion that culture has been the cornerstone of building that success," Mr. Tellier says.

Corporate social responsibility

For
the past five years, the Canadian Cancer Society has been YPG's
national charity of choice. YPG also launched Make it Real, where
businesses that contribute to their communities are rewarded with
$10,000 to execute their project.