Everyone knows the saying “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” The PECO leadership team believes that idiom applies to their respective teams working on the PECO programs: Customer Care, Low-Income Usage Reduction Program (LIURP), Multifamily Income Eligible, Single Family Income Eligible and the combined programs of Health and Safety / Defacto / Safe and Efficient Heating Program.
That was the inspiration for a daylong “PECO/CMC Employee Recognition Day” at a Fort Washington hotel for all of the CMC employees working under the PECO program umbrella early last month.
“We planned this day to help create bonding opportunities between the teams,” said Steven Cobb, LIURP program manager. “We all are working together, but we don’t have many opportunities to meet each other in person. You can see people greeting each other and how excited they get when they can meet someone in person that they’ve only met in a Teams meeting.”
Cobb, Sofia Jurema, Michael Schaeffer, Kaleigh Schott and Josh Smith, all program managers, saw the day as a fun way to help enhance the team’s business acumen about the various PECO programs, have some fun and award some prizes.
More than 40 employees working on the PECO programs spent the day together, learning about each of the programs they support, expressing gratitude for jobs well done and playing “mental health bingo,” which had people exploring how they dealt with stress, for prizes. There was a special recognition for Elba Ramos, Customer Care supervisor, who was praised multiple times for being the “glue” that held all of the teams together.
“Through the programs we work on, we help decrease the energy burden for people,” Smith said. “Each one of you helps reduce how much a customer is paying for their electricity. It can make a big difference for that person or family.”
Cobb noted that although the PECO team was out of the field for the better part of a day, the benefits of the recognition day will be felt for months.
“Today, we set the course for what we need to do as a team to meet our respective program goals,” Cobb said. “You can see the energy in the room and that enthusiasm will carry over for the coming months. Plus, we’re building a stronger team with real connections. That can translate into better working relationships between the programs, which ultimately benefits the customer.”