‘I have a job in a big company that is successful, so I count my blessings every day’

For Geneviève Bich, corporate culture is not an abstract concept — it is the foundation upon which her employer, Metro Inc., operates and differentiates itself in a competitive retail landscape.

 “Our business and our business model is similar to that of our competitors. We all sell the same product, [with] prices that vary somewhat, to consumers that are looking for the same type of value,” says the vice president of human resources.

“So, it’s not really the business model that differentiates us — it’s our culture and the way we make decisions here at Metro, what is important to us, our purpose, nourishing the health story and well being of the communities in which we live and work, that’s key.”

As a retailer, franchisor, distributor, manufacturer, and provider of eCommerce services, the company operates or services a network of roughly 980 food stores under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C, Food Basics, Adonis and Première Moisson, and 640 pharmacies primarily under the Jean Coutu, Brunet, Metro Pharmacy and Food Basics Pharmacy banners.

And Metro’s focus on culture guides the organization’s strategic decisions and day-to-day operations. For bich, culture serves as the thread that ties these priorities together, influencing everything from recruitment and talent development to decision-making at the highest levels.

“We hire, we move people, we promote them, we develop them through learning and experiences. And a component of all of that is how they model our culture,” she says.

“It becomes a key component in our decision-making, so we invest in people because our culture will live through each and every individual.”

Cross-country culture at Metro

With about 98,000 employees and operations spread across Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick, Metro must strike to maintain a cohesive culture in a large organization — no small task.

“In a big company like this one that is geographically diverse, your ability to create cohesiveness around key cultural tenets is important,” Bich says.

 Metro achieves this through intentional decision-making, ensuring that employees at every level embody the company’s core values.

 “We start by making all our people decisions with our culture in mind, because… you need to make sure that you have people who can model constantly what our culture is all about,” she says.

Consistency is further reinforced through HR initiatives, all of which emphasize the company’s values and priorities.

“In everything we do, whether it’s communications, whether it’s assessing performance, whether it’s events, we try to always ground our messages in our culture and in our purpose,” Bich says.

Five pillars for people and business

The number one priority as an HR function at Metro is to contribute to the company’s business priorities around growth, around supply chain modernization, around digitalization of the business, including AI loyalty, she says.

“[It’s about] developing the best team and delivering against our corporate responsibility agenda, and we do that through five pillars.”

After the first pillar of culture comes talent, which is about ensuring the company has the right people in place to achieve its business goals.

“It’s a big priority for Metro to make sure that we have, of course, the talent that we need to deliver against our mission and our vision, our purpose,” says bich.

To support talent development, Metro invests heavily in learning and development initiatives, as well as succession planning and retention strategies.

“We need to make sure that we teach them the things they need to know, help them in their development, so that we can help them be the best version of who they can be, because Metro will benefit from that as a business,” she says.

Given that 95% of Metro’s workforce is unionized, the third pillar—employee relations—is particularly key.

 “It’s really important for us to have healthy relationships with our employees, our unions, because these are two key partners to our success as a business,” bich says.

Strong leadership at the management level is another priority under this pillar, which involves reinforcing management’s competencies in leading their people and their teams, both operationally and from a leadership perspective, she says: “If you have a great leader, it solves a whole lot of problems in a business.”

The employee experience forms the fourth pillar, encompassing various HR-related areas.

“It’s things like total rewards, so making sure we continue to offer flexible compensation, flexibility in terms of how work is executed, and create engagement,” she says.

Finally, operational excellence at Metro makes up the fifth pillar.

 “Operational excellence is about our ongoing investments and systems processes so that we can be, yes, more efficient, but also offer a much better experience to our people,” bich says.

From law to HR leadership at Bell

Bich’s ability to lead HR strategy at such a large organization is grounded in her extensive experience and educational background. She began her career with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from McGill University, followed by a law degree from the Université de Montréal.

These two disciplines—understanding human behaviour and navigating legal frameworks—gave her a unique perspective on the dynamics of the workplace.

“I loved business and I wanted to be part of decision making, while also being able to combine that to my passion for leadership and people. But overall, it took me a bit of time to put all of these things together.”

Bich’s first role as a labour and employment lawyer at Bell Canada introduced her to the complexities of workforce management.

“That’s where I discovered my interest for business, for organizations, their purpose, their objectives, and the decision-making that makes organizations great,” she says.

After about 10 years there, bich pivoted into HR, wanting to take part in some of the business decisions being made: “[It was about] taking responsibility for getting us closer to our objectives, and also having impact from the leadership and development of our people,” she says.

Bich spent two decades at Bell, and held 18 different assignments, which gave her a comprehensive understanding of business operations and leadership.

“[What] I’m most grateful about when I think of my time at Bell is that I was given a ton of opportunities to learn and develop,” she says.

“It was a great opportunity… to get to know people in the business and get exposed to so many talented people and leaders. I learned a lot from the people that were there, people that were on my team, my colleagues, and the leaders that I reported to.”

Joining Metro: vision and challenges

In 2013, Bich joined Metro Inc., drawn by the company’s strategic vision and the leadership of its CEO, Eric La Flèche.

“He’s the reason I joined,” she says. “He described a vision for business, for customers, our partners and our people, that really inspired me in terms of building something that would be sustainable, that would have impact.”

Bich was also motivated by the challenges that came with joining such a complex organization.

“There’s nothing I like more than the big, hairy problem,” she says. “And so there was that a plenty in joining Metro.”

La Flèche’s leadership style—a mix of humility and determination—deeply resonated with bich.

“Eric is one of the two true level five leaders that I have met and I’ve had the privilege of working with in my career,” she says, referencing Jim Collins’ concept of a “level 5 leader.”

 “That mix of great humility and fierce resolve... was super inspiring.”

Empowering others through HR leadership

Despite her impressive career, Bich remains humble, emphasizing that her success as an HR leader is a reflection of her team’s efforts.

“I have a job in a big company that is successful, so I count my blessings every day,” she says. “Any success that I have is because I have the best team, and I’m surrounded by a lot of smart, generous people who know their profession, know their customers, are connected to our business, and they’re generous — they share their knowledge, they share their experiences.”

Bich views her role as a “privilege” in enabling her team to succeed.

“My job is to make sure that the team can do what they need to do, but they do all the doing,” she says. “They’re great at it, so that helps in being successful.”