Alberta's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 24
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ALBERTA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
At ASEBP, a healthy workplace culture prevails
I
n 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.
We have a really good
purpose, and it’s rewarding
to be part of that.
— Lucian Schulte
Chief Innovation and
Finance Officer
ASEBP provides all employees with access to extensive learning and development programs, including an
annual allowance.
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
