As the economy slowed down and the labor shortage was already rife, digital and physical product designer NOVO found a way to hire 25 employees to meet customer demand across the country. ‘international.
“In fact, we continued to expand. We have even stepped up the recruitment of competent and qualified employees, ”explains Alexis Bilodeau, 41, CEO of the Trois-Rivières SME.
The 72-employee company he co-founded in 2007 with Christian Tiffault employs engineers, designers and software developers. “We develop products for our customers who are evolving [principalement] in the medical sector, specifies the electrical engineer graduated from the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR). We offer our expertise. ”
From mandate to mandate
Among other achievements, his team was called upon to design, at the request of a Canadian client, an oxygen therapy device. “This time on behalf of an American client, we have developed a rapid diagnostic test which will soon be marketed”, he emphasizes while avoiding, for reasons of confidentiality, revealing the details.
He argues that the Trois-Rivières company has no shortage of mandates these days. “We are working on various therapeutic fields, such as oncology, cardiology, ophthalmology,” he lists. We have projects for American, European, Asian clients, and even in Australia. ”
The SME generates 20% of its turnover in the United States and manages to squeeze through the major players in the medical device industry.
“We are progressing on the American side,” he notes. We rely on the talent of our employees to set us apart and we have been successful so far. ”
There are many technological challenges in this cutting-edge sector. And we succeed, by innovating, in maintaining our growth. It is rewarding.
Alexis Bilodeau, CEO of NOVO
Telecommuting and the office
The young CEO makes no secret that customer requirements are getting higher and higher, and to meet them, he ensures that the company meets quality standards to the letter while complying with regulatory requirements.
This of course requires the collaboration and participation of all the employees who work at the head office and the research laboratory in Trois-Rivières, as well as in Laval, where NOVO set up in 2013. Recently, in view of the postpandemic recovery, the company opened an office in the north of Montreal, in the Ahuntsic district.
There is a gradual return to the office [après 19 mois en télétravail]. We have employees who live in Montreal and who will not want to spend hours in traffic to go to work in Laval. So we decided to bring the office to them.
Alexis Bilodeau, CEO of NOVO
He sees this as a way to “retain” employees, in a context where companies are having more and more difficulty in recruiting workers.
No wonder, under these conditions, that a post of “employee experience manager” was created barely two years ago by the management of the SME.
“We have a structure [de travail] flattened, he explains. This fostered closeness between members of management and employees. ”
One thing is certain, Alexis Bilodeau has not forgotten the beginnings of the company on rue Royale, in downtown Trois-Rivières.
“We were two university colleagues,” he recalls. All we had, besides our electrical engineering degrees, was a laptop. We started in a basement. It was a crazy adventure! ”
Obviously, the adventure continues.