Canada's Wonderland Purpose Award winners go above and beyond to make people happy
Grace Peacock
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At Canada’s Wonderland, it’s our job to make people happy. To bring smiles to people’s faces, help them create lifelong memories with friends and family, and help them have the best day enjoying our park’s attractions and entertainment.
Many of our associates go above and beyond to achieve this, for our guests, but they also work very hard to create a fun, engaging and rewarding place to work.
Three of our associates at Canada’s Wonderland were recognized this month for doing just that. Our parent company, Cedar Fair held the first annual ‘Purpose Awards’ which celebrates those who consistently go above and beyond to make people happy.
For 2022 at Canada’s Wonderland, that honour goes to Derek Savage, Rides Electrical Technician, Ana Paulo, Senior Account Executive for Corporate Events, and Rob Karim, Operations Manager (all seen above with General Manager Norm Pirtovshek).
They were nominated by their peers and, by all accounts, are very deserving of the recognition:
On Derek Savage:
“Derek goes above and beyond while training new employees… he is very informative and helpful; welcoming as well, demonstrating great teaching and teamwork skills.”
“Derek is a consistently positive person. Ride operations staff are happy to see Derek arrive at their rides, he is reliable in his approach with a warm smile and a great sense of humour. He takes is job very seriously and works to ensure that the rides are safe and that the staff operating them get the support they need to be the most efficient in their duties. ”
“He works long hours when rides need his attention despite if it is small children’s ride or an older attraction. In his mind they are all important because they are a favourite ride for someone.”
On Ana Paulo:
“Ana is the Chair of our Employment Experience Committee and among the many initiatives aimed to bring associates together, she worked to modify our (staff) Children’s Christmas Party to include WinterFest elements and to accommodate the changing demographic of our own staff. Seeing kids and grandkids grow up each year helps everyone realize that we each have families we are going home to at the end of the day and they too are a part of working at a theme park. I am very proud of the work Ana has put in to make this event such a success.”
“Ana found unique and creative ways to have our associates celebrate milestones even during COVID-19.”
“She drove forward and volunteered her time because she saw the value in engaging employees, especially while we were all adapting to work-life in a pandemic. I appreciate her commitment to our park and our staff.”
On Rob Karim:
“He models the act of making staff feel valued and appreciated – creating positive memories for all staff.”
“Rob inspires purposeful leadership through his counselling strategy of ‘Finding your Why’. It's not just about being a leader but rather what truly motivates you as one. Rob has always been an example for me when I think about the Manager that I want to become.”
"Rob looks for the best qualities in our staff and seeks to encourage their development. For supervisory staff he provides a caring attitude, and his mentorship has been noted by countless staff over the years. Rob’s enthusiasm for our industry and teaching skills have taught hundreds of new leaders how to be stronger in their job performance."
Congratulations to our award winners and thank you for helping to make our park a great place to work, and an amazing place for our guests to play!