January 2013 Employee of the Month

"Detailed and accurate . . . great ambassador of customer service . . . willing to help any way that she can . . ."

These are just a few of the phrases used to describe BWC January Employee of the Month Leah Gore. A clerk 3 in the Portsmouth Customer Service Office, Leah is in her 15th year of service at BWC. According to her nominator Lisa Adams, a claims rep 4, it's been a stellar decade and a half. "[She] has been a joy to work with from day one of her employment here at BWC," said Lisa. "She is always willing to help in any way that she can."

Lisa Buckler, an injury management supervisor and Leah's supervisor, agrees. "Leah always maintains a positive working relationship, not only with her team, but with the entire office. She is definitely a team player. She is a great ambassador of customer service — both internally and externally. She is always willing to take on special projects and to assist whenever she is needed all the while maintaining a positive and cooperative attitude."

Leah was astonished with the news of her win. "I am very honored and surprised — I just try to do a good job and earn my paycheck," says Leah. "But it is nice to be appreciated."

Leah began her BWC career in Portsmouth as a clerk 3. However, for a short period she also worked as the interim administrative secretary and continues to play a big role there. She indexes in the central indexing queue, schedules exams for injured workers, mails the claims services specialists' correspondence and types lump sum settlement letters. In addition, Leah assists the settlement team in typing letters that need delivered to the parties of the claim, mails documents and images settlement packets. Leah also types court settlement orders and helps with any clerical aspect of the settlement process that she can.

Leah says her Portsmouth co-workers are "like family," and this flexible, affectionate attitude helps lighten the mood and workload. Clearly, she believes in helping wherever she's needed — with scheduling of medical exams, coverage of the front desk and much more. Her co-workers much appreciate her can-do work ethic.

"Knowing she is there to support the settlement team definitely makes it easier for me to focus on settlement reviews, negotiating the settlements and to ultimately get claims closed to benefit the bureau as a whole," says Lisa Adams. "She is very detailed and accurate in her typing skills, and I know that whenever I have asked her for help on typing, mailing and faxing settlements documents to the parties of a claim that I can always count on it being done correctly and timely."

It's not just co-workers who benefit from Leah's dedication — employers and injured workers often receive her commitment to customer service.

"I have heard her on the phone speaking to injured workers who are in transit to a scheduled exam. She is very patient with them and helps them with directions and on some occasions even stays on the phone with them if they are close to the exam location to give them step-by-step instructions on how to find the exam office," said Lisa Adams. "She is probably the most dedicated and honest person I have ever had the privilege to work with."

But again — it's all simply part of the job as far as Leah is concerned. "I just try to put myself in the other person’s place," she says.