WCB steers employees toward their ‘noble work’

In most workplaces, it’s up to the employee to push their career forward. But in her six years at Workers’ Compensation Board – Alberta (WCB), Celine Kalynchuk has noticed gentle nudges from behind. Supervisors and senior managers took notice of the work she was doing, first as a claims adjudicator, then in case management, then on the treatment side as a psychological assistant. They urged her to apply for her current role as a psychologist.

“They were really good about giving feedback about the work I was doing and giving me that encouragement to apply for this position that I wasn’t even considering,” she says.

When she joined the organization, armed with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, Kalynchuk had a vague idea that she wanted to help people. Her superiors pushed her to think more specifically about what she wanted to be doing in five years and to set goals. While working full-time, she studied for her master’s in counselling psychology.

“They let me take vacation time as I needed it,” she says. Her move from handling claims at a workstation to dealing with injured and traumatized clients one-on-one was made very smooth. While Kalynchuk did not have a formal mentor, she says, “it always felt like I was talking to the right people about how to grow my career.”

“We want to make sure we understand what drives employees to offer the best possible service,” says Dayna Therien, vice-president, employee and corporate services. WCB’s focus on people and culture extends as much to employees as it does to clients who’ve been injured on the job. The two go together.

WCB’s benefits package is both generous and comprehensive, including up to $7,000 per family member for health-care expenses not covered by the provincial health plan, such as psychological counselling and massage, and a $3,000 health and wellness account for everything from gym memberships to pet care.

While WCB does have a hybrid work policy, it does not regulate in-office time, preferring to leave it to divisional leaders to manage how their teams work most effectively. At the same time, it strives to make its head office and rehabilitation centre in Edmonton and its satellite office in Calgary pleasant places to be and stocked with fresh fruit and better-quality coffee and enlivened every so often by food truck days, guest speakers on various topics and charitable fundraising events. The organization works to ensure people feel connected and productive and work better as a team.

“Flexibility is the key,” Therien says. “People don’t want to go back to the regimented world we had before. We can accommodate that as long as they still deliver results.”

What makes WCB unique, Therien says, is the sense of mission employees bring to their work. “This is noble work. It’s important work,” she says.

For Kalynchuk, who sees people who’ve suffered psychological trauma face-to-face, it’s especially fulfilling to witness their recovery.

“Even if we get them to some level of work again, it gives you a sense of accomplishment,” she says. “We really did change this person’s life. We really did make them feel a little bit better each day, to the point that they’re now back to living their life again – not just returning to work but returning to life.”

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.