It wasn’t PCL Construction’s employee-ownership program that piqued Thai Nguyen’s original interest in the company — it was his love of basketball.

“I always wanted to work for PCL because of the Staples Center [now Crypto.com Arena] and growing up a diehard Los Angeles Lakers fan,” says Nguyen, district manager with PCL’s California Buildings office. PCL built the arena in 1999, and it remains one of the company’s most defining sports and entertainment projects.

Nguyen completed three internships with the same general contractor while pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. But during his fourth and final internship, with PCL in Hawaii, he discovered more than a job — he discovered the place he wanted to build a long‑term career.

“I freaking loved it,” he says about his internship, so when he was ready to join the construction industry full time, he knew PCL was the right fit. “Something about PCL just felt different.” That “something” was PCL’s ownership culture.

Nguyen says the opportunity to become an employee-owner by purchasing shares in the company was a major deciding factor for him when he accepted his first PCL job as a field engineer in 2008. “The idea that I could build long-term financial security for myself, while creating something meaningful with a team of like-minded owners and professionals, was a game changer for me.”  

Employee ownership has been central to PCL’s culture for almost 50 years, resulting in mutual success for employees and clients. 

“The employee-ownership model means that clients aren't hiring just any construction team; they’re hiring partners who are personally invested in their project, in the community and long-term success,” explains Nguyen. “Team members go out of their way to double check safety procedures, help a co-worker or catch an error and flag it for a client — not because someone asked them to do it, but because it’s the right thing to do and they genuinely care.”

Employee ownership is a financial investment that succeeds at PCL not just through structure, but through a philosophical connection to the company’s values. When personal values and company values align, ownership becomes truly powerful. Individuals feel empowered to act with autonomy, accountability and a shared commitment to long-term success.

Walk into any internal meeting at PCL, and almost everyone at the table is an employee-owner working toward fulfilling PCL’s shared purpose: to build a better future, together.

“Ownership makes everyone feel like they belong to something bigger, creating a culture where collaboration and trust thrive,” says Nguyen. “We can proudly say, ‘I own part of a construction company, and a damn good one at that.’”

PCL fosters a culture where leaders emerge at every level of the organization, and Nguyen says the company’s emphasis on leadership has profoundly influenced how he approaches his work as an employee-owner.

“Employee ownership raises the bar on leadership. I view every decision I make through a long-term lens, whether it’s about staffing, cost control or client relationships. I’m not just managing for a quarter; I’m stewarding PCL’s legacy and driving forward long-term relationships by contributing to our clients’ legacies.”

Part of building a legacy is the mindset that your efforts make a difference, says Nguyen.

“People want to do their best when they know their contributions directly shape the company’s future,” he says. “I’ve seen project engineers take initiative to solve challenges beyond their scope because they understand that success for our clients is success for the company and for them. That kind of discretionary effort is hard to teach, but ownership inspires it.”

Nguyen’s experience reflects a broader sentiment at PCL, where 94% of employees say they see value in the share program and just as many feel personally accountable for the business and its financial results. Notably, PCL also has a lower-than-industry benchmark for retirement age, with employees retiring on average five years ahead of employees in peer organizations.

PCL launched its employee-ownership program in 1977, when then-CEO Bob Stollery spearheaded the program with owners John and George Poole, sons of company founder Ernie Poole. The model grew out of Stollery’s simple philosophy that sharing is good for business.

He and the Pooles believed ownership would foster loyalty, entrepreneurial spirit and stability in a challenging industry. They transferred company ownership to the first 25 PCL employees to become owners under the new model. Today, more than 85% of full-time salaried PCL employees participate in the voluntary program by choosing to buy shares.

The company is 100% employee-owned, and its share program is unique in the construction industry — offering ownership opportunities to salaried employees at all levels of the business. This approach gives PCL a strategic edge in attracting and retaining top talent, ensuring the company has the best builders for its clients’ projects.

While many publicly traded companies offer shares to employees as incentives or through purchase programs, employees typically represent only a small portion of the shareholder pool. Most shareholders in those companies are external investors with no direct connection to the company’s day-to-day operations.

Another differentiator of PCL’s share program is its focus on long-term stability and accessible ownership — not on chasing market-high share prices. Only current employees can own shares, which creates a limited share pool that strengthens the connection between employee efforts and company success.

Danny Dodds, vice president, treasury, calls Bob Stollery’s thinking visionary and generous because the notion of sharing is the critical aspect that often deters privately held companies from introducing an employee-ownership program. Yet it’s that philosophy that has created success for PCL and its employees and clients.

“Sharing permeates the organization in terms of pride of ownership,” says Dodds. “Everyone pulls in the same direction, and it pays off significantly for the company in employee retention, loyalty and initiative, and in the overall organizational excellence those qualities drive in service of our clients.”

Like Nguyen, Sara O’Malley, senior project manager with PCL’s Toronto office, started with the company as an intern and joined the company full time in 2011. “I was fortunate to have an uncle who worked at PCL for many years,” explains O’Malley. “He got me thinking about the value of working for an employee-owned company, so that idea was ingrained in me before I started my PCL internship.”

She saw how her uncle benefited from PCL’s share program, and she says he also helped her understand that it’s a long-term investment, not a quick win. “He said that it would take several years before I’d start experiencing the financial rewards of the program.” It’s worth the wait, she adds. “I’m on my way with retirement savings, and I’m setting myself up nicely because of it.”

O’Malley’s decisions are driven by a deep sense of accountability to PCL’s clients and employee shareholders and made with a strong degree of autonomy.

“Our ownership mindset is front and center all the time, and our solution-provider mentality feeds into that,” says O’Malley, who’s currently working on a major health-care infrastructure project in Nova Scotia. “Our goal is to create solutions that realize our clients’ vision while strengthening PCL’s role as a trusted long-term partner.”

In her career, O’Malley has approved large expenditures that saved the client significantly more over the life of their building. She says while it may seem like a lot of money at the time, as an employee-owner, it’s critical to consider the future when making decisions.

“At PCL, we consider the long-term effects of our decisions, and we make more sound decisions for ourselves and for our clients because of it.”

Visit any PCL office in the United States, Canada or Australia, says Nguyen, and what stands out is PCL’s special brand of ownership culture. He compares it to examples from the fast food and beverage industry.

“A Coke should always taste like a Coke no matter where you go, and a Big Mac should taste like a Big Mac,” says Nguyen, highlighting that while there could be regional nuances in taste or visual presentation, the product has a consistency that people expect.

“You get that within all of PCL’s offices,” says Nguyen. “Our ingredients may be slightly different, but the recipe is inherently the same — and that’s our employee-ownership model.”