EMPOWER
BALANCE
We built a firm on the employee's side to sustain the work we do on the owner's side.
ABOUT
Vigilant's orientation toward the owner is not separate from how the firm is run internally. A professional services firm's output is the judgement and care of the people on the file. Culture and policy are not separate from project delivery. They are the conditions under which good project delivery is possible
People-First Approach
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Better Together, Built Together
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A Focus on Quality
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People-First Approach · Better Together, Built Together · A Focus on Quality ·
Our Principles
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100% flex time since 2016
Vigilant does not track hours for salaried staff. There are no fixed desk times and no expectation that presence equals productivity. This policy was introduced in 2016 and covered by CBC Newfoundland and Labrador that November, nearly a decade before the current conversation about workplace culture.
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Unlimited vacation with a floor, not a ceiling
Vigilant does not count vacation days. The only hard rule is that every full-time employee must take at least two weeks off each year. The firm also closes for roughly ten days over Christmas and New Year as a paid company-wide break. Internal tracking has shown staff taking between 3.5 and 5 weeks of vacation annually.
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Parental leave top-up for every kind of parent.
Vigilant tops up EI parental benefits on a sliding scale tied to tenure, reaching 100% of salary at four years of service. The top-up applies equally to birthing parents, non-birthing parents, and adoptive parents.
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Accommodation as written policy
Vigilant's drug and alcohol policy recognizes substance addiction as a disability under the Federal Human Rights Act and commits to accommodation through adjusted duties, leaves of absence, and structured return-to-work plans.
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A flat structure, not just a flat org chart
Vigilant uses "team members" deliberately. Everyone, partners included, rotates through office upkeep on a shared chore chart.
WHAT SETS US APART
These policies are not marketing copy Vigilant produced about itself. They have been covered independently by CBC Newfoundland and Labrador (2016), Huddle (2020), and Daily Commercial News (2020). Terry Hussey was named to Atlantic Business Magazine's Top 50 CEO list three consecutive years (2016-2018).
WHY THIS MATTERSRetention of cost professionals, architects, engineers, and project managers is what allows a client's project to be staffed by the same senior people at month six that they met at the pitch. A firm that treats its own people as stakeholders is structurally better positioned to treat a client's project as something worth protecting.
LET’S GET STARTED