Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures™ Hall of Fame Spotlight

Flip

Winner: 2014, 2017, 2020, 2024 – Mid-Market Category

Flipp is a leading retail technology company that is reinventing the way people shop. Founded in 2007, they help North America’s largest retailers and brands transform digital merchandising by creating, curating, and distributing local promotions and savings content to millions of highly engaged shoppers every day. Guided by their mission to help shoppers make smarter shopping decisions, Flipp is building the most trusted digital merchandising engine for every household to discover savings and deals.

Leadership that powers a high-performance culture

At Flipp, every “Flipper” embodies their fundamental values: Hungry, Humble, Highly Intelligent, and Other-Centered. Leadership is treated as a way of working, not a title.

“We have a startup ethos and vibe, but big company discipline. You will see people exhibit leadership at any level,” shared Adam Halim, Senior VP of Product and Marketing.

Flipp places a strong emphasis on identifying and developing leaders who can drive both innovation and culture. Leaders at every level are seen as catalysts for product innovation, business development, and inclusivity – stewarding Flipp’s employee value proposition and steering cultural impact across the organization.

Here are some examples of how this shows up in practice:

The executive team meets monthly to review strategy and goals, and revisits their Mission and Vision every six months to keep strategic priorities sharp.
Company-wide town halls spotlight “WOW moments” – standout achievements that exemplify Flipp’s values and move their mission forward.
Leaders actively champion DEIB initiatives through Flipp’s Employee Resource Group called Unity Group and company-wide initiatives.
A holistic leadership assessment process (including values orientation and motivations) helps leaders understand themselves and their teams, accelerating growth and strengthening culture.
Open communication and active listening are built into the cadence: monthly town halls, strategy office hours, training sessions, and regular team check-ins ensure clarity, connection, and two-way dialogue.

A destination for growth and development

Flipp aims to build a thriving workplace culture where people grow personally and professionally, making the company a true destination for learning. Their approach blends learning by doing with structured feedback loops: a three-month probation review for new hires, annual goal setting, mid-year check-ins, year-end reviews, ongoing 1:1s, and tailored coaching and development to each employee’s needs.

Investment follows intent: Flipp provides annual learning budgets and curated, on-demand and live learning programs through Absorb and their Divisional Learning Program. Internal mobility is a visible outcome of high-performance culture – personalized progression paths lead to promotions, expanded scope, and stretch assignments.

The result: reduced attrition and accelerated career growth. As Graham Venus, Director of Partner Development, shared: “Flipp is quick to recognize its team members’ abilities and ambitions, regardless of role or title. I am afforded far more responsibility, challenges, and scope in my role at Flipp than in equivalent ones, which has helped me accelerate my career development.”

Championing diversity, inclusion, and community impact

Flipp’s commitment to DEIB is both principled and practical – enriching employee experience and strengthening business outcomes.

What that looks like:

Unity Group ERG: 15 cross-functional employees collaborate with the Executive Team to foster a sense of belonging and spark meaningful conversations.
Inclusive hiring: All interviewers complete Unconscious Bias training, recruiters received live training on “Recruiting Indigenous Talent” (led by Indigenous Link), every search starts with a discussion of current team diversity composition.
Equitable total rewards: Regular gender pay analyses help identify and address potential gaps.
Comprehensive DEIB-based learning curriculum: Inclusive team-building skills are cultivated at all levels of the organization.

Their Other-Centered value (thinking about others before thinking about yourself) extends beyond Flipp’s walls, shaping their business model approach and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. The company’s model helps retailers reduce print flyers – saving paper – while helping shoppers save 20-40% on weekly shopping bills. Every full-time employee is encouraged to take up to 10 volunteer days annually; over the last year, Flippers contributed more than 300 volunteer hours to organizations such as Ronald McDonald House, Kids Help Phone, and local park cleanups.

A high-performance culture driving sustained business results

Flipp’s deliberate focus on culture has powered its evolution from small startup to industry leader in digital retail marketing. Investments in employee development and wellbeing have helped control regrettable turnover through periods of change, while a refreshed Employee Value Proposition has sharpened the organization’s ability to attract top talent aligned with its values. A Remote-First policy – created from feedback taken from Flipp’s anonymous engagement surveys sharing the need for clarity on their remote-first approach – reinforces their commitment to autonomy and accountability.

Their high-performing, inclusive culture – one that prioritizes accountability and development – drives sustained business results and market relevance: In recent years, they’ve delivered consistent growth and today, Flipp reaches more than 1 in 3 households in Canada.

Flipp’s dedication to building a high-performance culture led to its 2024 induction into the Canada’s Most Admired™ Hall of Fame. The company now sits on Waterstone Human Capital’s Canada’s Most Admired™ Board of Governors, helping recognize organizations that turn high-performance culture into real business impact.

The Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures™ Hall of Fame designation is awarded to organizations who have won the Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures™ award four times. Canada’s Most Admired™ is a national program presented by Waterstone Human Capital to recognize best-in-class Canadian organizations for having cultures that have helped them enhance performance and sustain a competitive advantage.

Learn more about the Canada’s Most Admired™ program and how Waterstone can help your organization build a high-performing culture through our executive search and leadership and culture advisory services.