August 2012 Employee of the Month

Meet Angela, a BWC claims service specialist

At statewide meetings last fall, BWC Administrator/CEO Stephen Buehrer introduced this inspiring video to agency staff. BWC also showed the video at the annual Ohio Safety Congress & Expo in March. It features injured worker Terry Morgan — and served as a reminder to BWC employees of why we're here: to serve real people and real businesses who are our customers.

Supervisor's nomination
“Less known is Terry's claims service specialist (CSS Angela), who shies away from the spotlight, but deserves mountains of praise for her work with Terry and others like him,” said Angela's supervisor, Karla, in her nomination material. "As Terry's testimonial indicates, Angela believed in him from the beginning — believed he could survive, believed he could overcome the obstacles in his way …. Had this been one instance of good customer service, it would have been enough for Terry. But Angela consistently performs this quality of work for every injured worker in her service. … As I hear her on the phone with injured workers, I can't help but think, 'if I'm ever in their position, I hope I have someone like Angela.'"

Sharing the spotlight
Angela acknowledges the praise of receiving Employee of the Month recognition, but does so in what seems to be her typical fashion, by also shining the spotlight on others. "It's rewarding," she says. "You get paid to do a job. If you get recognized, that's a bonus."

She adds that although the honor is humbling, "I don't know that I do anything different from others — especially on my team. We have a great team. The whole team supports and backs up each other. They add to the success of what we do."

Angela credits the great rapport she has developed with many employees at BWC locations throughout the state over the years for helping her do the best job possible for injured workers.

A CSS for more than 17 years, Angela started at BWC in January 1995. Ask her what she likes best about her job, and the answer is "everything!"

Professional bond
She takes pride in helping injured workers get the medical treatment they need. "The return-to-work piece is most rewarding. I've had some folks with pretty debilitating injuries — one who just returned to work after six years. And you can just hear it in her voice how ecstatic she is," says Angela.

As for Terry Morgan, Angela expresses similar heartfelt sentiments — revealing the bond she often develops with her clients. "I’ve worked on that claims team since May 1995 and after all these years you can't just help but be touched. I'm so proud of him. He has just come so far and he did it with such grace. I'm just speechless when I talk about him. It's powerful stuff!"

Angela's human connection to her work is exactly why Karla nominated her. "She always takes the time to explain the claims issues. She is patient when the person on the other end of the phone needs reassurance. She takes the time to make phone calls to the managed care organization, the employer or whoever is needed to make things easier for the injured worker."

Practicing the golden rule
According to Angela, the key to her empathetic and compassionate service is "getting to know an injured worker as a person versus a claim number. They are individual people with various different circumstances." That's why she says she finds it critical to always take a step back and put herself in the customer's position.

Camera shy
All this may explain why Angela shuns the spotlight even when, like now, it is shining so brilliantly on her. She explains that the honor of receiving the Employee of the Month recognition is more about the work than herself. Even having her photo taken for winning this monthly award gave Angela pause. "It's not about me," she says. "I don’t want to advertise myself."

Surprise from administrator, many other congrats!
But without even advertising, many have stepped up to congratulate Angela for this award — including many colleagues and BWC's top leadership. "It's not every day that you get an email from the administrator," says Angela. "That was thrilling." And her service office plans to mark her achievement by presenting her with the administrator's certificate at a special meeting.

Angela also holds dear the appreciation she occasionally receives from clients via letter and phone calls, including the sentiments expressed in this recent letter to her supervisor (excerpted below).

I'm writing you to express my deep gratitude for the work Angela gave to me through my struggle to return to a productive individual. … I've had the same job all of my working career... So when I was injured … my life was turned upside-down. To begin with, just being able to do my daily activities was a struggle. To this day I have to learn to accept what I'm able to do…. Through all my ups and downs, Angela was there to encourage me. I know I would not have been able to move on and accept that I would no longer be able to pursue my life's career without her kind words. I was lost, but there was Angela to encourage me and provide me with the people to help me decide on what I would do now for a living. … She always encouraged me and helped give me different strategies to gain employment.

I truly believe her parents knew how special she would be when they named her. She is an angel and the BWC along with all of her case workers are very lucky to have her in their lives.

I want to thank the BWC for not being that organization that so many people falsely (accuse) it of being and thank the system for having insight to hiring people such as Angela.

"We (CSSs) don't always get recognized much in this way," says Angela. "When we do, it feels good to know we're making a real difference in other people's lives."