Connexion Corner: ESDC's Monthly Learning Bulletin
May 2021 Edition
No matter your role within our department, you can find something to fit your unique needs and interests within Connexion Corner: your one-stop-shop for everything learning related at ESDC!
Building a Healthy Workplace Together
With May 3-9 being Mental Health Week, Indigenous Awareness week taking place May 25-28, and the month of May being Asian Heritage Month, what better time to learn about how we can continue to build a healthy workplace together?
As ESDC employees, each and every one of us has an important role to play in fostering a workplace that celebrates diversity, provides inclusive and accessible services, and prioritizes overall well-being. To help you to fulfill your role, this month’s edition of Connexion Corner features learning and resources that focus on the Healthy and Inclusive Workplaces and Services learning priority.
Ready to start learning? Browse the learning options below to register for the offerings of your choice, or send this page to your colleagues to make it a team event.
Spotlight on!
Take a personalized approach to your learning with the Mental Health Learning Path!
In honour of Mental Health Week 2021, and to continue to support the well-being of ESDC employees, we are pleased to announce the arrival of ESDC’s Mental Health Learning Path.
Be among the first to try this newly launched one-of-a-kind tool that allows you to browse nearly 200 mental health learning options. Specially designed filters will produce search results tailored to your learning needs. After all, a topic as personal as mental health deserves a personalized approach.
The Mental Health Learning Path is designed by ESDC employees, for ESDC employees! Your comments and feedback are valuable to us, and help us ensure that the Mental Health Learning Path is responsive to the changing needs of ESDC employees. We encourage you to share your thoughts on the new tool by contacting the College GD Mailbox: nc-college-gd@servicecanada.gc.ca.
Explore these online learning offerings at anytime
- LifeSpeak – Your Virtual Library for Total Well-being
- Mental Health in the Workplace: A Shared Responsibility!
- Think Well... Live Well!
- Be Happy First: Breakthrough Performance In Times Of Change
- At the end of my rope: managing stress and preventing burnout
- Building on Differences – A conference by Serge Bouchard
- Understanding the basics of Indigenous culture : A First Nations Perspective (recorded Katy Tanguay webcast)
- Update for employees on addressing racism at ESDC
- Your Role in Workplace Diversity (W004)
- Bridging the Diversity Gap (W003)
- Making Your Services Accessible for People with Communication Disabilities (W098)
- Workplace Well-being for HRSB – My Mental Health
- Mindfulness Moment Mondays
Do more learn more
Ask Coco!
Dear Coco,
As a manager, I see the ongoing pandemic and other factors taking a toll on some of my employees and at times, my own well-being. Given that Mental Health Week is around the corner, I would like to host a discussion with my team and share some tools and resources that may be helpful for all of us. Do you have any recommendations?
- Seeking Support
Dear Seeking,
If mental health resources are what you’re looking for, you’ve definitely come to the right place! The well-being of employees is our Department’s priority, especially during these trying times. ESDC has put forth a variety of great resources and events in honour of Mental Health Week 2021, which are available to all employees:
- Start by sharing this bulletin with your employees, of course! It’s loaded with great learning opportunities that support Healthy and Inclusive Workplaces.
- Visit the Resilience Gym: a brand new suite of tools, resources and daily practices that can help you to develop your resilience “muscles” and equip you to best cope with change.
I hope that these resources will provide you with ample information, activities and tips, and support you in leading this important discussion with your team.
Preventing Burnout
English: May 4, 2021, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM (EDT)
French: May 4, 2021, 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM (EDT)
Learning Priority: Healthy and Inclusive Workplaces and Services
- Description:
-
Are you constantly in professional and personal overdrive? Pushing yourself to perform, to advance or to compete can help you meet your professional goals. However, staying in that state for too long comes at a price and for some, the price is burnout. The aim of this presentation is to increase the participant’s understanding of the causes of emotional and cognitive exhaustion by increasing self-awareness and environmental awareness. Tools and strategies to minimize your risk of burnout will be shared and discussed.
#GetReal for Mental Health Week: Alcohol Consumption and Substance Use During COVID-19
Date: May 5, 2021
Time: 1:30 PM – 3:00 pm (EDT)
Language: Bilingual
Learning Priority: Healthy and Inclusive Workplaces and Services
- Description:
-
Anxious? Stressed? Depressed? No matter how COVID-19 has you feeling, this Mental Health Week, you're invited to #GetReal about how you feel by naming, not numbing, your emotions.
Our expert panel will tackle the topic of Canadians' increased alcohol consumption and substance use in coping with their mental distress during the pandemic and how these challenges may manifest themselves in the workplace.
Join us for this national conversation on mental health and substance use and learn about:
- drivers that can lead to substance use and addiction
- signs that someone may be struggling with substance use
- starting and sustaining the conversation to encourage help-seeking behaviour
- suggesting healthier coping mechanisms and referring to the right resources and much more!
Brave Conversations
Date: May 6, 2021
Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM (EDT)
Language: Bilingual
Learning Priority: Healthy and Inclusive Workplaces and Services
- Description:
-
Join practitioners from the Office of Informal Conflict Management for a session on brave conversations, where you will gain insight into the importance of having effective and meaningful conversations in day-to-day communication. Make sure to register by Monday, May 3rd, 2021.
Psychological and Wellness Support Services for LGBTQ2+ Communities
Date: May 17, 2021
Time: 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM (EDT)
Language: Bilingual
Learning Priority: Healthy and Inclusive Workplaces and Services
- Description:
-
In honour of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, Public Service Pride is pleased to partner with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, Health Canada's Employee Assistance Program, and the Canada School of Public Service on a panel discussion about psychological and wellness support services for public service employees. The session will focus on how these services offer safe, sensitive and effective support to diverse clients, particularly those who self-identify as members of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two-spirit communities. A question-and-answer period will follow the panel discussion.
Communicating with Indigenous Peoples During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Date: May 20, 2021
Time: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM (EDT)
Language: English, with interpretation in French
Learning Priority: Intercultural Competence
- Description:
-
Communications has played a pivotal role in Canada's COVID-19 response to minimize the health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic on Indigenous Peoples. Join us to learn how Indigenous Services Canada achieved their communications objectives through creativity, innovation, and trial and error, and why it is important now more than ever that these efforts be sustained.
Registration deadline: May 20, 2021, 10:00 AM
Elder Talk: Storytelling
Date: May 26, 2021
Time: 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM (EDT)
Language: English, with interpretation in French
Learning Priority: Intercultural Competence
- Description:
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Storytelling is used to make sense of our lives and our world. Stories are powerful enough to shape and transform our reality. Indigenous Peoples have used the tradition of storytelling since time immemorial. Join us as Dr. Reg Crowshoe shares his perspectives on storytelling.
Registration deadline: May 25, 2021, 10:00 AM
Team check-in tool
Date: Various dates
Time: Various times
Language: Available in English and French
Learning Priority: Healthy and Inclusive Workplaces and Services
- Description:
-
This facilitated workshop will allow participants to experience a team check-in exercise that explores each person’s current mental/emotional state in relation to their work. In an almost entirely virtual work environment, maintaining connection with staff (as a manager) or with colleagues (as a team member) is more important than ever. This tool is for all participants to be used individually (to pause and self-reflect) and at the beginning of team meetings.
Well-being Check-in for Self and Team (Managers)
Date: Various dates
Time: Various times
Language: Available in English and French
Learning Priority: Healthy and Inclusive Workplaces and Services
- Description:
-
This facilitated, interactive workshop will teach participants to take the pulse of their current mental/emotional state in relation to their work using a simple infographic. Participants will then learn how to use the infographic to spark ‘real’ conversations and build trust among team members. In an almost entirely virtual work environment, maintaining connection with staff (as a manager) or with colleagues (as a team member) is more important than ever. Come ready to share and learn!
Try this!
The month of May is Asian Heritage Month! The year’s theme, Recognition, Resilience, and Resolve, embodies the myriad contributions peoples of Asian descent in Canada have made and speaks to their experiences. It also recognizes and celebrates communities of Asian descent in Canada, their experiences, and stories which are rooted in resilience and perseverance. We invite you visit the Asian Heritage Month website to learn more about this year’s theme, noteworthy Canadians of Asian heritage, important events in Asian Canadian history, and much more!
Sneak Peek
Your Connexion Corner theme for June is “Creativity and Innovation”.
- National AccessAbility Week is taking place from May 30 – June 5, 2021!