At ASEBP, a healthy workplace culture prevails

In 2009, Wendy Sheehan joined the Edmonton-based Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan (ASEBP) because a former colleague working there said it was “fabulous.” In her prior career, Sheehan was a senior manager and admits she was terrified to apply for the benefits specialist role. “I was worried that people were going to call and yell at me all day long,” she says. “But it was the exact opposite experience.”

Established in 1968 by the Alberta School Boards Association and the Alberta Teachers’ Association, ASEBP is an employee life and health trust that provides comprehensive health benefits and services to the province’s publicly funded K–12 education sector.

Sheehan says that during her first performance review, she expressed interest in one day becoming part of the management team so she could help influence change at that level. But she’s grateful she started where she did.

“That first year was so rewarding because I loved interacting directly with, and advocating for, our covered members and getting a full understanding of who ASEBP is,” says Sheehan, now manager of client experience. “It was a journey to move into this role, and the positions I filled along the way were perfect to prepare me. I think everyone should start where I did because it familiarizes you with the benefits at a grassroots level.”

Before Lucian Schulte joined ASEBP in 2019 as a strategic advisor in actuarial services, the organization was one of his clients, so he was already familiar with some of the people. And he was ready to move from the private sector to an industry where he could see how his work supported people. “I’m really into insurance, and that’s what we do, so I feel very aligned to the mission,” he says. “We have a really good purpose, and it’s rewarding to be part of that.”

Now chief innovation and finance officer, Schulte appreciates the extensive learning and development programs available to all employees, which includes an annual allowance. “It encourages people to seek out training they think would be good for them,” he says. Schulte recently earned an executive leadership certificate and completed a business-writing course.

Informal mentorship also contributes to growth and opportunities. In his first role, Schulte had another employee job shadow him, and he continues to mentor others, while Sheehan coaches her team daily. When she was an ASEBP client consultant, she was on the road living out of suitcases in hotels, so “I can share my experience with them and understand their experiences, and coach them on the dos and don’ts.”

Sheehan also role-models healthy workplace behaviours, such as not checking her emails in the evenings, on weekends or while on vacation. Every Tuesday, she holds a casual half-hour virtual coffee chat where she and her client services team have one rule: they don’t talk about work. “It started during the pandemic, but we still do it because it energizes us,” she says.

Schulte enjoys participating in social committee events, which aim to celebrate professional and personal milestones and achievements and help create connections. He appreciates the organization’s “floating” holiday, known as a day of personal significance. “It seems to be a focus on what the organization values,” he says of ensuring employees’ well-being.

Sheehan loves the close connections she has made across ASEBP. “I was giddy with excitement when I first got here, because everyone is so happy to be here – and I’ve been here for over 15 years and that hasn’t changed,” she says. “There are so many long-term employees, and we’ve grown up as a family together – we are humans first, then colleagues.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Alberta’s Top Employers winners, published January 28, 2025 in the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.