When the pandemic sideswiped Mazda Canada, it went into overdrive to protect its employees and make the difference to customers and communities across Canada. It’s done that while maintaining the highest safety standards — and even having a little fun.
“Safety for us is our non-negotiable – it’s our number one quality standard,” says Amy Fleming, senior director, regional operations and sales.
“But we still have some fun, which really reduces the stress and helps us all get through this crisis. It’s brought our team closer together.”
Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Mazda Canada has regional offices in Montréal and Vancouver, employing nearly 180 Canadians. It has 163 dealer ships across the country and is responsible for the sales, marketing, customer service and parts support of Mazda vehicles in Canada.
The company immediately mobilized to shift employees to work from home when the COVID-19 shutdown hit. Many had the ability to telecommute, making the transition smoother. Call lines were installed so employees could take calls from home and the usual face-to-face meetings switched to virtual overnight.
Mazda Canada continued to make a difference in the community by helping customers impacted by the pandemic. It offered payment deferrals, lease and warranty extensions and other measures to take a load off customers’ minds.
Their dealerships also had their creative wheels turning. They provided vehicles to pharmacies and grocery stores to deliver prescriptions. They offered free oil changes to emergency service workers. One dealer even provided RVs to frontline healthcare workers so they’d have a place to stay to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their families.
“It’s just been incredible how our people have thought outside the box to find things we can give back to our communities,” says Fleming “It’s about showing you care about your neighbours even though we can’t get together physically. But our dealers and our company have also shown how we can connect within our own communities and give back, help each other and get through this tough time together.”
Working in an open and collaborative manner is a core piece of Mazda’s leadership values. Employees and managers worked across departments on the building safety committee to devise a comprehensive COVID-19 response. Extensive consultation and teamwork helped address everyone’s concerns, giving them confidence every possible safety measure had been implemented.
“We made sure that everybody’s needs, concerns and questions were met and answered,” says Erica Zanetti, specialist, retail marketing, who served on the committee.
“Folks respect the need to work from home, but if they do need to go into the office, there are a lot of initiatives Mazda Canada has taken to ensure everyone feels safe at all times,” Zanetti says.
Like many of her fellow employees, Zanetti found a way to contribute to her community as an individual. She signed up for the GroceryHero Canada Program that matches people with essential healthcare workers in their neighbourhoods.
“I was matched with a nurse who lives less than five minutes away from me and didn’t have access to a vehicle,” says Zanetti.
“I dropped the groceries off on the front porch and she was really grateful. I felt amazed to be able to help her and her family through all of this.”
From daily team meetings to the online talent show page in Microsoft Teams, Mazda Canada employees have embraced the challenges the pandemic has posed and reinvented the way they take care of each other as well as their clients. It’s a natural extension of a corporate culture that’s family-oriented and encourages innovative thinking.
“I just love how everybody’s sharing ideas on how we can do things differently,” says Fleming.
