Connexion Corner: ESDC’s Monthly Learning Bulletin
October 2020 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!
Great employers create thriving workplaces
October is Healthy Workplace Month and this year’s theme is “great employers create thriving workplaces”. To help this workplace thrive, ESDC is offerings a wealth of learning opportunities in support of workplace well-being for all employees.
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!
Are you up for a little challenge?
One way you can get involved with this year’s Healthy Workplace Month is by participating in the Healthy Workplace Challenge! The goal of the challenge is simple: to encourage everyone to do at least one thing to make our workplace – even if it’s a virtual one! – healthier and safer.
Each week of this four-week challenge has a specific theme and a plethora of activity ideas that are fun and easy to implement. Visit the Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month site now to find out how to partake in the challenge and contribute to creating a healthier workplace!
Do you have a colleague who’s been helping improve the way we learn at ESDC? Or do you know of an innovative and exciting new learning development that’s taking place? Let us know so we can shine The Spotlight on things happening right here within our department and they can get the recognition they deserve!
Explore these online learning offerings at anytime
- Embracing a Balanced Life: Every day stress management (Course ID 00003967)
- Workplace Mental Health: Resources at your Fingertips! (Course ID 00035412)
- Mental Health Awareness (Z041)
- Staying Balanced in a Shifting World (W013)
- Grounding Ourselves in Uncertain Times (available on request; must be requested by a manager)
Do more learn more
Ask Coco!
Dear Coco,
Since I started working virtually, I feel like I’ve had less opportunities to practice my Second Official Language at work. I have obtained a level B in oral proficiency, but with the lack of practice, I am concerned that my abilities will become rusty or – even worse – that I will lose my oral competencies in my Second Official Language completely! Do you have any tips for employees looking to maintain their language skills?
- Use It Or Lose It
Dear Use It,
Sounds like you are one of the many employees who have transitioned from a physical to a virtual workplace this year and this change can come with many challenges. If you feel like you’re not getting enough practice in your Second Official Language, you may want to consider signing up for a Second Official Language Conversation Group.
This national initiative is available to learners who hold a position that requires a B or C level in oral proficiency. Sessions begin the week of October 19th, 2020 and run through to early December, and take place once a week in the form of online lunch and learn sessions. Find out if this learning activity is suitable for you by using this Self-Assessment Tool (Level B | Level C).
Learn by participating in these national, virtual events
F.A.C.E. Mental Illness Head-on: Stories of Courage, Hope and Resilience
Date: October 5, 2020
Time: 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM EST
Language: Bilingual, with interpretation in both official languages
Learning Priority: Workplace Well-Being
- Description:
- Join us during Mental Illness Awareness Week 2020 for powerful, inspiring stories from public service employees who overcame adversity to face mental illness head-on. They will share how the skills they’ve learned in recovery help them manage their mental health during COVID-19.
Register for F.A.C.E. Mental Illness Head-on: Stories of Courage, Hope and Resilience
The Public Service Pension Plan
Date: October 13, 2020
Time: Various times – 3 hour course
Language: French
Learning Priority: Workplace Well-Being
- Description:
- Information Session conducted by the Public Service Pension Plan.
Québec Pension Plan
Date: October 13, 2020
Time: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST
Language: English
Learning Priority: Workplace Well-Being
- Description:
- The Québec Pension Plan (QPP) information sessions are designed to encourage questions from employees who contribute to the program, thereby making the sessions interactive and relevant to participants’ needs. When participating in a session, it is strongly suggested that you have your Statement of Participation in the QPP with you, which is available via the online tool at Retraite Québec.
Digital Futures: Speaker Series
Date: October 14, 2020
Time: 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM EST
Language: Bilingual – simultaneous translation services French, English
Learning Priority: Digital Mindset
- Description:
- The Digital Futures Speaker Series focuses on the digital opportunities and challenges of tomorrow. This event aims to gather key national and international experts on a wide range of digital fields of work, who will let us hear their vision of a digital future possibly 50 years from now. Each presenters is to talk about their own digital future and the work currently on the way toward this future, national and international best practices for digital government and transformation of public sectors towards these ambitious future states.
Using an Objective and Key Results Approach to Measure Performance
Date: October 14 and 16, 2020
Time: 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM EST
Language: French
Learning Priority: Strategic and Analytical Thinking
- Description:
- This two-day course will support teams in developing their Achieving Results competencies. You will learn to define and implement goals and related key results in order to meet the organization’s priorities and clients' needs.
Register for Using an Objective and Key Results Approach to Measure Performance
Healthy Workplace Month 2020 Events and Activities
Learning Priority: Workplace Well-Being
- Description:
- Just because we are working virtually, doesn’t mean there aren’t events and activities planned for ESDC employees! This year’s Healthy Workplace Month calendar – just like every year! – is jam-packed with Mental Health learning opportunities. You can commemorate Healthy Workplace Month by participating in a variety of virtual learning events, accessing helpful Mental Health resources, and much more…the possibilities are endless.
Register for Healthy Workplace Month 2020 Events and Activities
Try this!
Want to be a leader in Reconciliation and raise awareness of Indigenous cultures among your colleagues? If so, take a minute to read this blog post from the Canada School of Public Service to learn about acknowledging traditional territory and why it’s done. Plus, you’ll find tips on how you can start your next meeting or presentation with an acknowledgement, too!
Sneak Peek
Your Connexion Corner theme for November is Tolerance and Inclusivity. The following learning options are now available for registration:
- The Public Service Pension Plan – November 3 (English) Register now!
- Communication skills and strategies and application to virtual modes – November 5 (French and English) Register now!