TELUS named to Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures Hall of Fame

TORONTO, ON, Feb. 4, 2013 /CNW/ - TELUS announced it is being inducted into Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures Hall of Fame at an awards gala tonight hosted by executive search firm Waterstone Human Capital. The national program, now in its ninth year, recognizes Canadian companies for having a culture that has helped them enhance performance and sustain a competitive advantage. TELUS joins the just five other Canadian companies that have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

"We are deeply honoured by this recognition from Waterstone Human Capital as it is a great testament to the dedicated efforts of our over 40,000 team members to support our clients and give back to our communities," said Darren Entwistle, President and CEO, TELUS. "The best path to achieving a sustainable competitive advantage is through the development of an innovative and winning corporate culture. In building a high performance culture, we have significantly differentiated the TELUS brand in the hearts and minds of our customers, employees and communities while delivering meaningful value appreciation for our investors. Indeed, TELUS has outperformed its global incumbent telco peers in total shareholder return for more than a decade, generating a 208 per cent total shareholder return since the beginning of 2000."

TELUS was selected for its leading corporate culture, distinguishing itself by:

• Putting customers first. In 2011 TELUS introduced its 'YOU' campaign, declaring its commitment to customers that at TELUS, 'we put YOU first'. TELUS has introduced a number of customer friendly initiatives including clear and simple pricing; anytime smartphone upgrades; the elimination of activation fees; and innovative Optik TV apps such as Remote Record, Smart Remote, Facebook and Twitter on Optik, and Optik on the go.
• Creating talent development programs that drive innovation in building a world-class team. TELUS' Future Friendly Workplace strategy, which leverages the most advanced telecommunications technology available anywhere, allows team members to work where and how it makes sense for them and the customers they serve, while simultaneously reducing the organization's carbon footprint. TELUS has achieved an 80% team engagement score, the highest for any company of its size in Canada and in the top 1% globally, according to an Aon Hewitt survey.
• Embracing a belief in the overarching importance to give where we live. The TELUS team's passion to give where we live with our hearts and our hands has inspired the company, its team members and retirees to contribute an unparalleled $300 million to charities and non-profit organizations, and perhaps more importantly, volunteer more than 4.8 million hours to positively affect the lives of millions of Canadians. TELUS was the first Canadian company ever to be honoured as the most outstanding philanthropic organization globally by the United States based Association of Fundraising Professionals.
• Building a globally-leading brand that sets the standard for all of our human interactions with customers, team members, communities and shareholders. These efforts to date have realized a brand valued at over $3.6 billion by the Brand Finance organization.
  
  

"Culture is perhaps the most valuable asset an organization can have and TELUS has been repeatedly recognized by the Canadian leadership community for having a phenomenal corporate culture that drives results," said Marty Parker, Chief Executive Officer of  Waterstone Human Capital. "By inducting TELUS into the Hall of Fame, we are formally recognizing its strong corporate culture and its great accomplishments."

Waterstone Human Capital, a leading executive search firm, has been running the Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures' program since 2005. The program surveys 500 senior Canadian executives annually, where respondents are asked to nominate Canadian organizations they most admire in terms of having a corporate culture that impacts performance. Nominated organizations are then asked to complete a formal submission, which is evaluated and voted on by Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures Board of Governors.

The program's findings have demonstrated, on an annual basis, how the winning organizations are outperforming their peers.

About Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures:
Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures is founded and presented by Waterstone Human Capital, a leading retained executive search firm specializing in recruiting for fit. This national program now in its ninth year annually recognizes best-in-class Canadian organizations for having a culture that has helped them enhance performance and sustain a competitive advantage. This popular program begins in the spring of each year with the nomination process and culminates in an annual awards gala. www.canadasmostadmired.com www.waterstonehc.com

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading telecommunications company in Canada, thanks to $10.8 billion in annual revenue and 13 million customer connections, including 7.6 million wireless subscribers, 3.5 million wireline network access lines, 1.3 million Internet subscribers and 635,000 TELUS TV customers. Led since 2000 by President and CEO, Darren Entwistle, TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet Protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed more than $300 million to numerous charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 4.8 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Fourteen TELUS Community Boards lead TELUS' local philanthropic initiatives. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.

For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.

SOURCE: TELUS Corporation