“Ask Everyone…”
When I started to think about our employee of the year nominee, the words that come to mind are passionate, smart, professional, and consistent. I thought about how our employee of the year nominee pays attention to detail, and does all the “little things” right. I was reminded about a quote I once read in a John Wooden book, “It’s the little things that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” This perfectly sums up our employee of the year nominee.
If you ask the Director of Nursing at our facility, about our employee of the year nominee, she would tell you that this person is the most important team member at our facility. The director of nursing stated this employee might be more important to her than the administrator and the ADON. Our employee of the year nominee not only does the schedule but also takes care all of call-ins, vacations, applicants/new hires, interviews, license verifications, references, assists with payroll and much more. Our employee of the year takes calls all day, all night, that’s 24 hours a day, even on weekends. And this is done simply because this staff members cares for our facility, our residents and has pride in doing a quality job with the work entrusted to our nominee.
If you ask the staff about our employee of the year nominee, you will see them smile and hear them speak glowingly about someone they view as a true friend or some say “were so close, were like family”. Our employee of the year nominee takes time and listens to all peoples concerns, personal problems and if they need to vent. One employee said, “ when I speak with the nominee, I feel comfortable and like I am valued”. Our employee of the year nominee truly takes our motto of “our family, caring for your family, for generations to come”, to a new level.
If you ask most of our residents about our employee of the year nominee, they probably wouldn’t even know what specific position of employment this person holds at our facility. Our residents know our employee of the year nominee is not a CNA or a nurse, but they know our nominee works with the nursing staff and will assist them with anything possible. Our employee of the year nominee can often be found on the floor braiding resident’s hair, running a quick errand for a residents, just talking to them when they need someone to talk to, pushing their wheelchairs when they just want a change of scenery or when they want to go outside to the back patio for some fresh air. Our employee of the year nominee again truly embodies our motto of, “Our family caring for your family” and always does it with a big smile.
Our employee of the year nominee goes above and beyond in every task at hand. Our employee of the year nominee doesn’t drive, and can rely on a ride most days from spouse, who is also a tremendous employee at our facility. When not able to get a ride, I know our employee of the year has walked more than a couple miles in very cold temperatures to come to work. I know of multiple instances when our employee of the year nominee walked to work when not scheduled on the weekends to help when there’s a shortage of staff, our nominee helps pass the trays, answer call lights, clean up the dining room or just sit with residents.
Our employee of the year nominee is truly a jack-of-all-trades. Our nominee is extremely valuable to the management, the staff and the residents at our facility. Our employee of the year nominee might not do heroic things but our nominee is proof that you don’t need to do be a hero to make a true difference! We are so fortunate to have our nominee on our team! As previously stated multiple times, our nominee truly embodies the motto of our facility “Our family caring for your family for generations to come.”
Bart B. – Administrator
