Tampa Electric Celebrates Key Contributors

“Times are tough. Don’t spend any more than you have to. If a budget item doesn’t directly impact our bottom line — cut it.” That is a frequent refrain heard by managers during periods of belt tightening. As tempting as it may be to skip this year’s employee recognition event, top-performing companies know that celebrating the contributions of their best employees is crucial during tough economic times.

Last week I had the pleasure of presenting the keynote at one such celebration. Tampa Electric’s Pulling Together Celebration luncheon honored 50 of the call center’s Key Contributors. In addition to celebrating a successful year, the event kicked off an innovative project headed up by Kree Morales. She introduced my book, The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey to her team of supervisors a few months ago.  After brainstorming possibilities, they decided to use the book in their team meetings to reinforce core values and as a coaching tool to support call quality.

The front-line reps honored that day were extraordinary. To be selected as a Key Contributor for 2008 they had either consistently performed well above the standard, participated in special projects or had perfect attendance. Fifty individuals from other departments whose efforts made it possible for the call center to be successful were also honored.

Imagine the logistics and the resources required to take about one third of TECO’s reps off the phone in the middle of the day to attend this event. Judging by the positive energy in the room and the broad smiles on the faces of those present, whatever it took to make it happen was well worth it. Three key contributors were selected to speak to the group of 100 and share their secrets of success. One of the most inspiring moments was when Derek spoke from his heart, telling us that he learned at an early age not to let setbacks prevent him from pursuing his dream. He said it was that  “never give up” attitude that enabled him to be promoted to supervisor recently.

Will this event raise the bar for the other employees who weren’t selected this year? You bet. Will these 50 Key Contributors continue to do their best to help TECO deliver another stellar performance this year? You bet. Were those budget dollars worth the investment? Absolutely.