Manitoba's Top Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 60
MANITOBA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2026)
60
Employees are the heart of the WCB of Manitoba
W
hile the office
space of the
Workers
Compensation
Board of
Manitoba (WCB) is in the midst
of major upgrades, Juan Bernardo
Santos is making sure his fellow
employees are supported through
it all.
Employees are the
reason we’re able to
do the things we do.
Making sure they feel
supported and heard is
extremely important.
— Merrilee Allan
Vice-President,
Human Resources
As a change management
consultant, Santos consults with
employees on major projects or
changes to “make sure everybody
has a voice,” he says. “It starts with
building awareness with staff,
making sure they know why we’re
doing these different initiatives,
and getting their feedback about
how we can support them. We
want to make sure everybody is
empowered to voice their needs.”
It’s a reflection of the
WCB’s approach to employee
engagement, which Merrilee
Allan, vice-president of human
resources, calls a “key strategic
priority.”
“Employees are the reason
we’re able to do the things we
do,” she says. “Making sure they
feel supported and heard is
Employees at Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba walk in the Winnipeg Pride Parade.
extremely important.”
The WCB does an annual
engagement survey to understand
employees’ thoughts and feelings
on the organization and shares
the results internally. Leaders
then put together a plan and
host sessions with employees
to plan actions based on the
feedback provided. The WCB
also holds town halls and looks
for additional opportunities for
staff consultation around major
projects and strategic initiatives.
Allan says the organization is
currently developing an initiative
around psychological injuries
— a particularly complex and
challenging claims area — in
response to employee feedback.
“It gave us a lot of insight into
things we didn’t know. We did a
lot of staff consultation, which
was about understanding from
our employees what makes those
cases complex, and what support
they need to be able to manage
them more effectively,” she says.
The WCB’s employee
engagement strategy isn’t all about
work, Allan says. The organization
brings employees together for
Our Diversity Our Canada Day,
an annual workplace celebration
of the province’s cultures and a
staff appreciation barbecue. The
WCB is also a major United Way
supporter; it has a week-long
campaign for employees with
donation matching and activities
like pizza lunches and a dunk tank
that employees can take turns
trying to “dunk their leader” into.
Allan has spent almost her
entire career at the WCB. She
worked a few summers in the
organization’s claims department
while finishing her university
degree in human resources and
jumped into a full-time role when
she graduated. While she left for a
