Empowering Conversations

Virtual Discussions

Empowering Conversations creates spaces for focused, honest discussions that help public-service employees connect with themselves and each other regardless of their current work arrangement. Empowering Conversations address topics important to employees living the realities of the current era.

All sessions are designed to be held via videoconference or teleconference.

As with all JLP learning events, the target audience is employees of the core public administration. To ensure the most effective conditions for fruitful discussions, these sessions are designed for unionized employees and their supervisors/managers of the same work teams with no more than 15 participants.

Each discussion stands alone. You may request dates for any session.

Sessions available:

  • Understanding the Collective Agreement: Let’s Talk!
  • Labour-Management Consultation: Let’s Talk!
  • Mental Health: Let’s Talk!
  • Anti-Racism: Let’s Talk!
  • Returning to the Workplace: Now What?
  • Grounding Ourselves in Uncertain Times

Understanding the Collective Agreement: Let’s Talk!

(3.5 – 4 hours + up to 15 minutes of pre-session reading)

Purpose: To improve relations between unionized employees and managers in the interpretation and application of collective agreements and help promote consistent application across the public service.

Objectives: By the end of this session, participants will

  • Have identified the purpose and key features of the collective agreement
  • Be able to navigate the collective agreement comfortably
  • Be able to interpret and apply collective agreement language using a four-step approach
  • Have skills and tools to improve problem-solving and labour relations, in the workplace

Discussion Tools for Participants – Understanding the Collective Agreement: Let’s Talk!

Take Away Tool: Four-Step Approach

Discussion Tools for Participants – Understanding the Collective Agreement: Let’s Talk! (December 2021 edition)

Take Away Tool: Four-Step Approach (December 2021 edition)

Labour-Management Consultation: Let’s Talk!

(6.5 – 7 hours + up to 10 minutes for completion of a questionnaire)

Purpose: To support labour-management consultation, improve labour relations and strengthen the parties’ capacity to positively shape a changing workplace.

Objectives: By the end of this session, participants will have

  • Reviewed objectives of labour-management consultation
  • Gained a better understanding of the terms of reference, scope and structure of labour-management consultation
  • Identified ways of building trust between parties
  • Developed strategies to respond to issues that could arise during labour-management consultation
  • Identified how to prepare for and participate in labour-management consultation activities

Discussion Tools for Participants – Labour-Management Consultation: Let’s Talk!

Mental Health: Let's Talk!

(3 – 3.5 hours)

Purpose: To bring public service employees and their managers together to discuss lessons learned on maintaining mental health in difficult times and to begin identifying additional strategies for supporting workplace psychological health and safety.

Objectives: By the end of this session participants will have

  • Discussed mental health as a continuum and the factors that impact it
  • Identified workplace practices that support mental health
  • Planned for renewed attention to support psychologically healthy and safe workplaces

Discussion Tools for Participants - Mental Health: Let's Talk!

Tolerance for Uncertainty: A COVID-19 Workbook

Anti-Racism: Let's Talk!

(6 hours + up to 1.5 hours of pre-session reading)

Purpose: To bring public service employees and their managers together to define racism, discuss how it is manifested in the workplace, and to identify ways to individually and collectively dismantle racism and promote racial justice.

Objectives: By the end of this session participants will have

  • Reviewed and discussed some of the historical and contemporary context of racism in Canada
  • Defined various forms of racism and identified examples of how it is manifested in our workplaces and in the Federal Public Service
  • Discussed how unconscious bias perpetrates powerful ideas, creating stereotypes and promoting racism
  • Identified actions they can take to address race bias and stereotyping while working toward dismantling racism

Discussion Tools for Participants - Anti-Racism: Let's Talk!

Returning to the Workplace: Now What?

(1.5 – 2 hours)

Purpose: To bring public service employees and their managers together to discuss what the return to the workplace will look like.

Objectives: By the end of this discussion, participants will have

  • Reviewed the available departmental information about the return to the workplace
  • Identified questions and information needed
  • Begun planning for returning to the workplace

Discussion Tools for Participants - Returning to the Workplace: Now What?

Grounding Ourselves in Uncertain Times

(1.5 – 2 hours)

Purpose: To provide an opportunity for public service employees and their managers to connect virtually and build stronger relationships through guided discussions.

Objectives: By the end of this discussion, participants will have

  • Discussed experiences and identified stressors
  • Shared tools for managing health during isolation
  • Built stronger online connections, networks and relationships

Discussion Tools for Participants - Grounding Ourselves in Uncertain Times