Alberta Retirement Teachers’ Association CEO on building a workplace people want to stay in
Daniel Mulloy is approaching his 15th anniversary as CEO of the Alberta Retired Teachers' Association (ARTA), and the organization he stepped into bears little resemblance to the one he runs now.
“When I started it was an organization on making a decision whether to grow or to stay small and we chose to grow,” he said, adding when he started, the organization had 8,000 members. Now they're almost at 35,000.
That growth is the backdrop for ARTA's recognition as a BPM Top Employer for 2026. Mulloy credits the recognition to the roughly 80 people on staff, along with his leadership team - COO Gary Sawatzky, CIO Amanda Shaw, CFO Scott Tywoniuk - and a hiring approach that weighs cultural fit alongside skill.
"When we hire people, it's not only on skill, it's on the ability to fit in a culture that's very unique, and that really is a place where you want to come every day and you enjoy your colleagues, you enjoy the work you do, and you feel fulfilled at the end of the day," he said. That environment, he argues, feeds directly into output and an award-winning culture.
"When you're happy and you're engaged, your, your performance speaks volumes," he added.
According to Mulloy, ARTA covers retired teachers and similarly placed professionals across Alberta and beyond. Its health benefits program includes emergency travel, extended health, dental, and paramedical coverage, but Mulloy frames the offering as broader than insurance.
"We also look at the holistic view of retirement," he said, pointing to wellness and advocacy programs built around what he calls an "engaged lifestyle in retirement."
To be recognized as a BPM Top Employer, employees at ARTA were asked to rank the organization on several factors from benefits coverage to parental and maternity leave and workplace perks and organizational development.
Two of the survey's higher scores - team building and social activities at 4.59 (out of 5), employee recognition at 4.51(out of 5) - point to deliberate work on the culture side, Mulloy noted.
"We believe in having fun so we try to create events where we can get the team together," he said, citing a recent bowling outing. He is also wary of structural drift as the staff grows. "I don't like siloing in an organization. So in order to break down those silos, you have to create events that mix people up and get them talking," he said.
Recent outings like a company bowling night serve the same purpose. One that’s less about the activity and more about exposure across departments. On the formal side, shout-outs for strong performance are deliberate, Mulloy suggests, noting the recognition programs run from anniversary milestones to gold stars handed out at staff meetings. But Mulloy said the underlying logic is about mixing people across teams as headcount grows.
“We do shout outs. We recognize people who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. And we want to make sure people hear that,” he said. “Because what happens is when you get that little bit of recognition, it may encourage others to do the same. We do it subtly, but at the same time, we want to make sure that our employees feel that they're important to us because they are. They're the backbone of our organization. And without solid employees, we wouldn't be as successful as we are today.”
Part of that success also means having a strong professional development program, which ranked a strong 4.6 out of 5. Mulloy ties that score back to the organization's DNA, underscoring an association founded by retired teachers is, by extension, an organization that treats education as a core operating principle.
According to Mulloy, staff are encouraged to build development plans that go beyond their current role, up to and including leadership-track preparation. He sees the spend as self-reinforcing: employees gain skills and confidence, and the organization gets a more capable workforce in return.
Moreover, staff at ARTA also skew towards a younger demographic, a contrast of the organization’s greater mission. Mulloy believes the younger employees on staff have shown a natural empathy toward the retiree membership, something he likens to “a grandparent dynamic,” where members want to share stories and connect, and younger staff are genuinely receptive to that.
ARTA has been able to promote from within as those hires develop a deeper attachment to the work, and that the age mix across the organization has been a net positive rather than a tension point, Mulloy added.
On the benefits side, Mulloy acknowledged how ARTA tackled a structural problem in plan economics by opening a pharmacy - first in Edmonton, then a second location in Calgary after the initial venture proved successful. The move created a new revenue stream to keep premiums manageable for retirees on fixed incomes, but it also produced an unplanned benefit internally.
Beyond the pharmacy, ARTA has adjusted its employee coverage in response to what staff are telling them, boosting vision benefits and increasing mental health coverage.
"It's very interesting to see how much our staff appreciate having a pharmacy in house where they can also address their needs," he said. "We always look at the environment, and we also ask our employees what's important to them and we try to make changes that make fiscal sense to the organization but more so make sense to our employees.”
To that end, ARTA recently hired a dedicated wellness lead, tasked with auditing existing programs and surveying staff to identify gaps. Mulloy emphasized the organization views wellness broadly, spanning physical, mental, financial, and emotional dimensions, and wants to ensure employees not only have access to supports like EFAP but know how to use them.
“We want to make sure that if programs aren’t meeting our employees needs that we develop and we create or we invest in programs that will ensure they will for years to come, both while they're working and in retirement. It’s a primary focus for us and we've invested in resources to be able to support that venture."
