Dear colleagues,  

The Louis Riel School Division (LRSD) is committed to “creating a Comprehensive Workplace Safety and Health Program to promote and support safety, health, and wellness,” as stated in Strategic Action 1.2 in the Multi-Year Strategic Plan 2023-2027. As part of this commitment to responding to the needs of our employees, we are beginning to share meaningful insights from the Guarding Minds survey, with more updates to come. 

Why did we engage with Guarding Minds?  

The decision to use Guarding Minds in LRSD was simple. Coming out of the pandemic, we recognized that many people were struggling with their mental health—a reality reflected in widespread news coverage.  

In April 2022, LRSD participated in a “Safety Culture Assessment” through Safe Work Manitoba, which confirmed the need to more robustly develop our Workplace Safety and Health programming. Later, in March 2023, Blue Cross provided a usage rate report on the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for non-teaching employees. This report did not provide identifying employee information. It indicated that there was a decline in access to the available supports. It also highlighted areas of primary concern of employees accessing EAP, which were Personal (68 per cent), Family (14 per cent), Couple (10 per cent), Employment/Academic (5 per cent) and Addiction (3 per cent) in 2022. The division was unable to access EAP usage rates for teaching employees through Manitoba Teachers’ Society (MTS).  

This data, paired with our awareness of a significant increase in Canadians reporting challenges with their mental health (Source: Canadian Mental Health Association), led to our desire to better understand the wellness of LRSD employees in the workplace. 

Guarding Minds is a research-based survey tool that Workplace Strategies for Mental Health developed (then called the Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace) in 2007. The survey is run anonymously and independently from the organizations being surveyed. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), which is responsible for preserving the confidentiality of all data collected, hosts it. 

Why did it take so long to share the report? 

One of the most frequently asked questions throughout this process has been, “When will we finally see the report?”  

The typical timeline to complete the Well at Work Guarding Minds in the Workplace survey is six to 12 months. From the outset, we anticipated the final report would be completed in early 2025 as stated in September. Several factors influenced our timeline, including the size of our organization, the structure of the school year, and our commitment to equitable engagement. 

• February 12, 2024 – Survey launched
• February 26, 2024 – Survey deadline extended to March 15, 2024, based on Well at Work’s advisement due to low participation rates from the casual/substitute and the custodial, maintenance, and bus driver groups. Through additional steps including increasing communication to the casual/substitute group and leveraging a staff learning day in March 2024, where custodial, maintenance, and bus driver groups were gathered, overall participation increased from 53.9 per cent to 59 per cent, with some groups participating at an 80 per cent plus response rate. 
• Survey completion: 2,009 out of 3,388 permanent, term, and casual employees participated. Well at Work recommends participation rates above 50 per cent. Our participation rate was 59 per cent. 
• Spring/Summer/September 2024 – Well at Work reviewed survey data 
• October 2024 – Focus groups launched, centring on employees from historically underrepresented and oppressed communities. Anonymous, off-site sessions supported by external facilitators from those communities were attempted. However, Well at Work reported participation was insufficient to conduct the focus groups. 
• October to December 2024 – Individual interviews were launched. Well at Work increased the number of individual interviews to account for the lack of focus groups and ensure participation from historically underrepresented and oppressed communities. The timeline was extended to include voices from all unionized and non-unionized employee groups. 
• December 2024 to February 2025 – Well at Work reviewed data from interviews 
• February 19, 2025 – Well at Work submitted the draft report to the Division 
• March 12, 2025 – Well at Work submitted the final report to the Division  
• March 18, 2025 – Presentation of final report to the Board by Well At Work 
• March 19, 2025 – Release of final report  

The release of the final report marks an important milestone, but it is not the end of the process. There will be ongoing planning, learning, and action to ensure that employee wellness remains a key focus in LRSD. We are committed to using this data to inform meaningful changes and to continuing conversations with staff about workplace well-being. 

What have we been doing? 

Our commitment to exploring employee wellness in LRSD is what led us to contract Well at Work and conduct the Guarding Minds survey. The survey provides us data to inform our next steps, but we have not waited for the results to take action. We recognized that our Division is not immune to the broader societal and global challenges affecting employee wellness. Over the past two years, LRSD has implemented numerous initiatives to support staff well-being which include but are not limited to: 

• Strategic Actions in the Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP)
  • Strategic Action 1.2: Creating a Comprehensive Workplace Safety and Health Program to promote and support safety, health, and wellness.
  • Strategic Action 4.6: Fulfilling the aspirations, protocols, and practices of the Employment Equity Policy (Policy GBA – Employment Practices: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion).
• Targeted Staff Learning
  • Divisional Training for Educational Assistants in response to data from incident reporting.
    • May 2023: Mental Health and Wellness by Care for All in Education
    • February 2024: Working Effectively with Students
  • Braving Polarizing Conversations Learning Series for all interested employees by Community Economic Development Association (CEDA) 
  • Workplace Safety and Health Committee and Site Rep Training 
• Structural Changes to Enhance Collaboration and Support
  • Adjustments to School and Classroom Support Team meetings to allow professionals in these support roles to collaborate across disciplines and align with MYSP goals. 
  • Changes to Leadership Meeting structure to foster collaboration among school leaders and the School and Classroom Support Team. 
  • Creation of policy working groups and policy review committees to enhance collaboration and involvement. 
• Policy & Program Development
  • Creation of a divisional Communication Policy.
  • Development of an Attendance Support Program to provide early intervention and streamline access to Disability and Benefits (additional details to follow).
  • Formation of a Fail-to-Fill Working Group to explore strategies for addressing unfilled staff absences (additional details to follow).
  • Implementation of Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (additional details to follow).
• Investment in Employee Wellness
  • Approval in the 2025-2026 budget for dedicated funds to support employee wellness, including external partners.
• Existing Support & Training
  • Policies addressing resolution of concerns and harassment.
  • Ongoing training initiatives including Smarter U.
  • Move to online incident reporting to remove barriers.

What have we learned?  

From the outset, we recognized the value of the survey’s thirteen psychological factors and began integrating them into our work as a Division. For example, the factor of Involvement and Influence played a key role in shaping our Multi-Year Strategic Plan. 

While our LRSD data compares favourably to national results, it is clear we have work to do. Our engagement with this survey reflects our commitment to understanding and addressing the needs of our employees. The data and recommendations will provide critical insights, allowing us to strategically allocate resources and take informed next steps to support workplace wellbeing. 

Where are we going next?  

The report includes key recommendations that the Division will carefully review and integrate into the Comprehensive Workplace Safety and Health Program (Strategic Action 1.2). To ensure meaningful action, we will: 

• Continue soliciting feedback from employees and external partners to deepen our understanding of the data and its implications. 
• Engage specialized experts in the areas identified.  
• Strengthen our ongoing partnership with MTS Disability and Benefits and with Blue Cross to enhance support for employees. 

These efforts reflect our commitment to creating a safer, healthier, and more supportive workplace for all staff. 

Thank you for your ongoing engagement in this important conversation. 

Regards, 

Christian Michalik and Chris Sigurdson  

On behalf of the Senior Leadership Team and the Board of Trustees