Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Coworker and Caretaker

This article relates to the Coworkers competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It tells the story of a coworker whose performance consistently facilitated effective cooperation, collaboration, and communication between the employees within one organization. While the Team Dynamics competency focuses on relationships within a single group, this competency targets coworker topics spanning the entire organization over multiple work units. This competency investigates your organization's ability to successfully work in partnership on projects with one another and between groups to reach the common goals of the organization.

This short story, Coworker and Caretaker, is part of AlphaMeasure's compilation, Tales From the Corporate Frontlines. It illustrates how one coworker's knowledge, compassion, and dedication to the common goals of her company made getting the job done a joy for her entire work team.

Anonymous Submission

Every workplace has one. The employee who keeps the operation moving, the "go to" person who can always be depended upon to know the answer to any question. The person who always has time to hear your thoughts, and everyone in the office feels comfortable talking to. In short, the exceptional coworker.

Mary Ann retired from our office last week after 40 years of faithful service. She knew every client, sales rep, contact and associate of the company and in particular, her manager. She knew her own job duties completely, and was acquainted with the responsibilities of every other employee in the office.

Mary Ann was not management material, it was said around the office. I don't believe that statement was true. I think she could have done anything she wished, and quite successfully. But she didn't want to lead. She seemed quite content to do her part to keep things running smoothly - behind the scenes. She was the office "mom" - the birthday celebration organizer, the office supplies coordinator, the interior decorator. Her work was always finished, flawlessly, and she made herself available to train new employees and help them fit into the office family. Mary Ann put together lunches when coworkers retired or moved on, and always did a major part of the holiday party planning.

Always even-tempered, even under stress, she consistently had a good word for everyone who stopped at her desk. She could be depended on for a dose of common sense and practical wisdom. Whenever a crisis came up, and there was mass panic or chaos in the office, Mary Ann would enter and bring calm to the situation with her mere presence. She'd assess the facts, make a few suggestions, and everyone would begin to get back to reality and set about making things right again. "The Voice of Reason" we called her, and rightly so.

She will be missed. It will be interesting to see how our office gets along without her, and if anyone will move into her position. Any volunteers?

-------------------------------------------------------------
� 2005 AlphaMeasure, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
This article may be reprinted, provided it is published in its entirety, includes
the author bio information, and all links remain active.
-------------------------------------------------------------

Measure. Report. Improve your organization with AlphaMeasure employee surveys.

Josh Greenberg is President of AlphaMeasure, Inc.

AlphaMeasure provides organizations of all sizes a powerful web based method for measuring employee satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention.

Launch your employee engagement survey with AlphaMeasure.

---

Conflict Resolution Training- When Personal Safety is an Issue

Conflict generally arises by having your needs, desires, perceptions and... Read More

Parenting Your Employees to Better Performance

Have you ever worked for someone who was such a... Read More

How to Create a Trusting Manager-Employee Relationship

BUILDING TRUST AS A MANAGER: 1. Be reliable. Follow through... Read More

Can Your Business Run Without You?

If you are a business owner or a business owner... Read More

Empowering Others - Giving Them Some Control

It's been a pretty good weekend around the place -... Read More

The Email Trap

If you sit at a computer for most of the... Read More

Help Your Employees Prepare for a Performance Appraisal

PREPARING EMPLOYEES FOR THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL INTERVIEWS: Remind employees to... Read More

New Leadership For A New War

Military analysts call this "asymmetrical" war (as if war has... Read More

6 Steps to Effective Communication

Effective leaders are known for being excellent communicators. Here's what... Read More

13 Comments on Bad Meetings

Bad meetings are a cultural malady that senior executives pass... Read More

How to Create Trust

People buy from you, offer help, and grant rewards based... Read More

The Top Six Reasons to Buy Rather Than Build an Inventory Management Solution

Is building your own inventory management solution really your best... Read More

How to Make the Best of it - Take Your Weather with You

I once worked in a place where there were three... Read More

Innovation Management ? changing the world!

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Quality Improvement is Free

The point of a quality improvement program should not only... Read More

Organize your Office- Seven Solutions

1. Create a filing system with broad categories such as... Read More

Crisis Management Essentials - How to Communicate Effectively During a Crisis, Emergency or Disaster

A crisis, emergency or disaster can happen at anytime and... Read More

Finding Proactive Solutions: A Key to Demonstrating Your Management Fitness

In my book Talking Points: 25 Tips for Clear, Credible... Read More

Leadership Style: What Makes A Good Boss?

In today's competitive environment, companies realize that a good boss... Read More

You Get the Behavior You Reward

On consulting assignments, here are some of the questions I... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: The Best Incentives are Free

This article relates to the Recognition competency, commonly evaluated in... Read More

What are Your Best Practices?

Best Practices StudiesThese studies can be defined as inquiries into... Read More

Look Good on Voice Mail

Your use of voice mail tells others a lot about... Read More

The 10 Realities of Change

I've seen several articles that begin with lines like "the... Read More

Hiring Productive Employees: A Checklist for Assessing Their Appeal

The characteristics of job applicants have a strong influence on... Read More

Pricing Strategy for Retail Flower Shops

When you create your profit and loss statement to assess... Read More

Conflict at 36,000 ft

This was supposed to be one of those sleepy flights... Read More

Manage or Lead ? Why the Difference Matters and What to Do About That Difference

Many books have been written about managing people, and an... Read More

Medical Collection. How Organized is Your Office?

At one time or another, all of us have experienced... Read More

Employee Turnover: Seven Reasons Why People Quit Their Jobs

There are many reasons why good employees quit and go... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management: Generating Better Ideas

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Lone Rangers Suffer without Tonto

A lone ranger is someone who prefers working in solitude... Read More

Keep The Faith - Transform The Fear

FEAR! To what extent does fear rule your life? How... Read More