Empowered People
As an organization that embraces continual change, TVO is dedicated to ensuring that employees have what they need to be successful. From strengthening our culture of diversity and inclusivity to creating a productive and supportive remote-work environment during the pandemic, TVO’s values are at the forefront of everything we do: excellence and innovation, ownership, collaboration, trust, respect, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
TVO Empowered People
TVO’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Initiatives
This year, we made considerable progress as we continue to build a truly inclusive organization where everyone feels that their voice, views, and ideas are valued.
DE&I Committee
Our DE&I Committee is dedicated to promoting and creating the kind of environment where people feel a sense of belonging. They hold an annual DE&I month in February that features lunch and learns, panels, and peer-led discussions, including talks about DE&I with the CEO. The committee was also crucial in contributing to the development of our Diversity & Inclusion Action Plan.
Diversity & Inclusion Action Plan
In 2020-21, in support of our performance agreement objective, TVO’s DE&I Committee created the Diversity & Inclusion Action Plan with a focus on the following areas:
Content: We strive to tell diverse stories, and to have all Ontarians see themselves in the stories we tell and in the content we produce. We recognize that educational and media organizations, including TVO, sometimes perpetuate biased narratives and stereotypes. We are committed to being increasingly discerning about the images, content, and learning resources we provide to the people of Ontario; and to ensuring they align with our belief in and commitment to dismantling unjust systems.
Workplace culture: TVO is committed to creating an equitable workplace with a culture of inclusion in which every employee feels welcome, valued, respected and included, with no barriers or limitations to where they can contribute and what they can achieve.
Workforce: At TVO, we believe in creating a workforce that reflects the diversity of the Ontarians we serve through equity in attracting, hiring, promoting, and providing leadership opportunities for all employees and the full talent pool of Ontarians. We are continually reviewing our policies and our actions to identify any equity issues that may exist and take immediate action to address them.
DE&I Meter Survey
This year, TVO partnered with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion for the DE&I Meter Survey. The input gathered from employees across the organization is enabling us to effectively measure our progress and ensure that we continue to develop our diverse and inclusive culture.
Diversity & Inclusion Foundations Certificate Program
In December 2020, we launched TVO’s Diversity and Inclusion Foundations Certificate Program, a blended learning path developed with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion. The program helps employees build knowledge of the essential topics that shape conversations, workplace policies, and the ability to advance overall understanding of DE&I issues.
“This year has served as confirmation that—thanks to the talent and commitment of our people—TVO can adjust and adapt quickly to meet the needs of Ontarians.”
Jeffrey L. Orridge, Chief Executive Officer, TVO
TVO Empowered People
Remote, Transformed Workplace
On March 12, 2020, as the threat of COVID-19 escalated and WHO declared it a pandemic, TVO’s work-from-home plan was put into action. Within just a few days, 90% of TVO employees were set up at home desks and kitchen tables, and our on-air hosts were broadcasting from their living rooms and attics.
Keeping Employees Connected and Learning
Staying connected was key to TVO’s successful shift to remote work. Online events via Teams, like employee-led lunch and learns, webinars, and themed months focused on wellness, and diversity, equity and inclusion were key. Our People & Culture team supported over 260 initiatives like this over the past year.
Broadcasting from Home
To ensure that our in-house programs could make it to air when recording in the studio was impossible, we turned to a technology called Stage Ten—a platform that delivers the capabilities of a live production studio and control room in a browser application.
On April 2, 2020, The Agenda with Steve Paikin made history as the first program ever to use Stage Ten for a linear television broadcast. This achievement was made possible thanks to collaboration between our Current Affairs & Documentaries and Technology & Operations teams.
TVOkids hosts also made use of Stage Ten to broadcast That TVOkids Show. From blanket forts set up in their living rooms, hosts Laura Commisso, Lucas Meeuse, Greg Liow and Monica Brighton kept kids engaged with science experiments, craft videos, fitness lessons, sketches, dances, and interviews.
“Whatever was needed to get those shows to air, we did it. The team at Digital Media Services, the engineering and administrative services team, and many more, all jumped in to make sure TVO was there for the people of Ontario.”
Mark Ford, Technical Producer, Digital Media Services, TVO
TVO Empowered People
Performance Agreements
TVO uses a Performance Agreement process to set annual targets and measure performance. Each year, we start with our purpose and the pillars outlined in our Strategic Directions 2.0 to identify measurable objectives for all areas of our operations.
We start by setting objectives at the TVO-wide level, and then cascade these objectives so that every employee can see how they contribute to the TVO goals. This approach ensures all employees are aligned and focused on established priorities that have a measurable impact on the success of TVO’s business plan.
In 2020-21, we successfully delivered on TVO’s Performance Agreement.
Some of our achievements this year include:
- Achieved the objective for the number of TVOkids digital video views.
- Achieved the target for increase in number of TVO Mathify questions answered.
- Achieved the target for number of TVO mPower games played.
- Achieved the target for the number of TVO.org digital video views.
- Achieved the objective for an increase in page views for Ontario Hubs.
- Achieved our goal for all employees to complete five or more professional learning days in the year.
- While we made significant progress in our DE&I action plan, we did not achieve the goal we set for our employee survey score.
- Achieved our objective to increase our Net Promoter Score (NPS) for TVO.org, mPower and Mathify.
- Achieved the targets for self-generated revenue and cost-savings identified.
‘Best People’ Approach
In order to achieve these objectives, and serve the people of Ontario, TVO is committed to building a high-performance team by hiring, retaining and developing top talent. We empower our people to weave learning into everything they do, and to innovate and continuously look for ways to work more efficiently. By embracing change and lifelong learning, our team will continue to thrive and to evolve to meet the changing needs of the province.
“Our success is all about our relationships with passionate, talented independent producers in Canada.”
Linda Fong, Independent Production Officer, TVO
TVO Empowered People
Recognition and Awards
This year, TVOkids and our documentaries and current affairs teams brought home numerous high-profile honours—recognition that is a testament to the hard work and creativity of our incredibly talented people and producing partners.
TVOkids Honours
With a steadfast commitment to quality and diversity, TVOkids continues to win accolades for its advertising-free children’s programming and content that supports the Ontario curriculum.
2021 Canadian Screen Awards wins
Shaw Rocket Fund Kids’ Choice Award - Wild Kratts
Best Pre-School Program or Series - PAW Patrol
Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series - Odd Squad Mobile Unit
Best Direction, Children's or Youth - Odd Squad Mobile Unit
Best Writing, Animation - Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum
Best Sound, Animation - PAW Patrol
Best Original Music, Animation - Let's Go Luna!
Best Performance, Children's or Youth - Dino Dana
2021 Yorkton Film Festival wins
Best Children’s & Youth Production - All-Round Champion
2021 Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence wins
Best Program, Live Action/Non-Scripted, Ages 6-9 - Backyard Beats
Best Program, Live Action/Non-Scripted, Ages 9+ - It’s My Party!
Best Program, Live Action/Scripted, Preschool - Dino Dana
Best Program, Short Form Content, Ages 6-9 - Space Kids
TVO Documentaries and Current Affairs Honours
This year, TVO’s documentaries and current affairs journalism received over 30 nominations, and took home major awards, including the following:
Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Feature (co-winner)
TVO Original The Forbidden Reel (Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival)
Best Lifestyle Program
TVO Original Employable Me (Banff World Media Festival - Rockie Awards)
Best Non-Scripted Representation of Disability Program
TVO Original Employable Me (MIPCOM Diversify TV Award)
Best Editing in a Feature Length Documentary
TVO Original Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies (Canadian Screen Awards)
Best long-form video
TVO Original The Arrest (Amnesty International 2020-2021 Media Awards in Canada)
Central Regional Digital Award, Opinion Category
Nam Kiwanuka “Does talking about racism make you uncomfortable? Too bad.” (RTNDA Awards of Excellence)
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