Canada’s 50 best managed companies – D.L.G.L., Quebec’s Longest Track Record – La Presse

LaPresse LogoLA PRESSE, MONTREAL, MARCH 25, 2014
Special section - Best managed companies
Guy Paquin - Special Collaboration
D.L.G.L.’s record is impressive. The software company ranks for the 15th consecutive year as one of Canada’s best managed companies. Again this year, D.L.G.L. is the one with the longest track record amongst Quebec companies.

La Presse 25/03/2014

Strengthened with this performance, the company continues with development. Over the next year it will make its software tools for human resources and payroll management easier to access via tablets and smartphones.

“The concept is that employees can access our software themselves to enter their work time, overtime, next week’s schedule, etc.”, company president and founder Jacques Guénette explains.

Based in Blainville, D.L.G.L. offers V.I.P., a modular suite of human resources and payroll management software. From an integrated database, an organization can add from a series of flexible modules such as payroll or pension management, learning management or e-recruitment.

 

D.L.G.L. IN NUMBERS

  • $15 to 20 million in average annual revenues
  • 25% of revenues from Quebec clients
  • 70% of sales from the remaining Canadian provinces
  • 5% of revenues from the U.S.
  • Over 500,000 current V.I.P. users
  • 30% increase of users over the last 5 years

JACQUES GUÉNETTE’S PHILOSOPHY

  1.    “Instead of trying to create value for our shareholders first, we’ve inverted the pyramid by first creating value for our employees.  They decide when to take their vacation, if they want to work at home on Friday afternoons, etc. Happy employees create value for our clients, and eventually they create value for our shareholders.”
  2.   Our formula must be the right one, I guess. For 6 years, we’ve had the same employees and average tenure is 16 years.  We’ve had zero turnover in the last 6 years.”
  3.   “We don’t intend to become the biggest.  We foster a mentality of medium-sized organizations.  We’ll simply be happy to be the best.”
  4.   “We don’t target the biggest clients or those with the most excessive demands.  About 95% of external stress is created by 5% of the clients.  We target the biggest, but only if they have reasonable expectations.”
  5.   “Our employees work an average of 38 hours a week.  We walk away from contracts that would require our people to sacrifice their week-ends or evenings on regular basis.”
  6.   “Hyperactive and overzealous people are not welcome here.  They take up too much space, thrive on conflicts and then leave after a couple of years.  In our company, everybody’s on the same bonus plan.  Performance reviews are done by peers.  Undesirables are quickly kicked out by the group.”
  7.   “For the current year, we’ll be happy to add one or two new clients.  It’s the fit with our products and our approach that counts, not the quantity.”

LA PRESSE, MONTREAL, MARCH 25, 2014

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