03/02/2020
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Good Monday Afternoon MTAS,
Oh my goodness. I cannot believe it is March already. Somehow, the month of February completely ran past me. I took a vacation mid-month, so that explains some of it, but the rest…
I will try to catch you up quickly and efficiently. Let’s start with birthdays and work anniversaries. There were five February birthdays to celebrate: Sharon (9th), Michelle T. (also the 9th), Stephanie (21st), Wes (25th) and my birthday was the 17th. Now you know why I took a vacation mid-month! There were also three work anniversaries in February – Rick (on the 1st), Dawn (on the 22nd) and mine occurred on the 12th (yep, another reason to take a vacation mid-month!).
I’m going to continue with the celebrations and tell you that I received two glowing letters from customers in February. The first note came from Rex Gaither with the town of Smyrna and in it, he raved about the services received from Ralph. It said:
I wanted to let you know what a tremendous employee you have in Ralph Cross. He has been a great resource for me in my job as the Finance Director for the Town of Smyrna. He has a unique blend of experience and knowledge related to local governments. When I have a question, he has the right answer. I trust and value the recommendations he gives me.
I appreciate what Ralph and MTAS have done for me and the Town of Smyrna.
The second letter of praise came from Audra Pinson at CIS and was directed at Lisa for her help with K@te. It said:
As you know, Lisa has been helping CIS with its implementation of K@te. We are so appreciative of her analytical perspective, her focus on sustainable solutions, and her willingness to mentor CIS staff and help them develop more K@te knowledge. Her expertise is enabling us to better serve our customers, and as an added bonus, many of the improvements she has facilitated make things simpler for CIS staff!
We are looking forward to our continued work with her!
So, why do I share these with you? I want you to know that your customers appreciate what you do for them; and I want you to know that I know as well. Every single one of us has a job that matters to someone else. I like to publicly celebrate these successes. Too often we plod along and think that it’s just a job, that no one notices, and that this is the life of a public servant. Phooey! YOU MATTER, and what you do matters: to me, to your colleagues, and your customers. Keep up the good work MTAS!
This brings me to my next point – doing good work. Part of this means knowing when to stay home when you’re sick. Herb sent an email out over the weekend talking about the Corona virus and the university’s plan/state’s plan to address it. Please, do your best work at staying healthy and stay home if you are not. You’ll be helping yourself, your coworkers and your customers.Another part of staying healthy is your financial health. IPS has worked hard to make sure that UT offers a life planning seminar for employees outside of Knoxville. I strongly encourage you to attend a life planning seminar, even if you have been to one before, and even if retirement is a long way off for you. It’s never too early to plan for your future. In case you misplaced the announcement from Tomi, here it is:
Okay, that’s probably enough for today. I will do my best to get back on track with weekly Mustards. Don’t forget to Spring Forward this weekend!
Stay well,
Margaret