Inspirational People in our Midst
Posted on Sat, Jan 09, 2010 @ 03:36 PM
Author: Beth Stec
The best thing about MCPc is its people. I have had that statement as my scrolling screen saver ever since joining MCPc in 1998, and am fortunate enough to be in a position where I see people at their best (and worst) as Director of Human Resources. But as we move on from the holiday madness and strive to start the New Year at our very best, there is no better time than to recall the wonderful stories of some of the heroes of MCPc who are truly "just" the great employees who come to work here every day.
Helping Each Other Through Difficult Times
I'm not going to lie to you. As HR Director, I geek out about being the go-to person when someone needs to talk or share a secret. But it can also be pretty dreadful depending on the situation. For example, one day an employee received a call from her sister that the USS Cole had been bombed. Our associate's son was on that ship. He received minor injuries but what I'll remember most is her appearing in my doorway literally about to pass out from fear. An astute fellow employee who saw her walking to my office was kind enough to follow her and the two of us physically held her up while she told us what happened. I couldn't have held her up on my own.
And then there's the story about one of our associates, a single mom, who was dying of cancer. One of her co-workers who didn't even know her that well, stopped into my office one morning and handed me a wad of money. I never counted it but there was hundreds of dollars there. He asked me if I could drop it off to her on my way home, and told me that he wanted to be sure the donation was made anonymously. Although it wasn't remotely on my way home what an incredible privilege for me to be able to present her with that cash.
All Work and No Play? Not at MCPc!
We have another employee who works all year writing a hilarious Halloween skit that he performs for the office just for the satisfaction of making people laugh. (And you thought just a bunch of computer geeks worked here!)
There's another associate who is renowned for working literally through the night in critical situations to make sure our customers have the products they need, when they need them.
And every summer, whole crews of managers take hours out of their busy schedules to wash their direct reports' cars as a part of a campaign to raise money for a local charity. The manager in the picture below wanted to make sure we took a picture of his "best side" - and intentionally posed with his backside towards the camera!
You better believe that I mention these examples every year in our NorthCoast 99 application! I am positive they contributed to our win this year.
There are no doubt nice employees everywhere, but MCPc fosters them in our culture. It helps inspire the rest of us to make our workplace better than how we found it.
Beth Stec is the Director of Corporate Communications and Human Resources at MCPc, and is responsible for the development and management of personnel programs and policies. Connect with Beth on LinkedIn.