February 14, 2007
Janet Wilkinson, the supervisor of the State Administration of Human Services and Health Related Stuff Phrenocaid Hotline, announced her impending retirement during a meeting Thursday afternoon.
"Oh, and by the way, I've got to go to a meeting tomorrow morning," Wilkinson said toward the end of the two-hour meeting to discuss the forthcoming Foster Care project. "It's at RES [Retiring Employees Services] headquarters and I'll be there most of the day, so I really can't get these reports done by tomorrow like you want. I'll just have Ronnie or Beth do it for you, okay?"
Under Wilkinson's eight-year tenure as hotline supervisor she has successfully maintained a strict 9:30 to 4-ish schedule, during which time she has been appointed lead point of contact on numerous trend-setting Phrenocaid projects that were eventually undertaken by others on staff, as well as delegating to others the ability to make key decisions on program policy.
"Jan's a real asset," Beth Mapplethorpe said, following Wilkinson's abrupt and early exit from the meeting. "It's going to be very different with someone else in that position. You know, actually here on a regular basis."
Co-worker Ronnie Juniper agreed. "I'll probably miss the calls and pre-meetings most. Then again, I try to miss all her calls as it is now so that's no big thing. You know, keepin' the volume low on the phone and ducking below the cubicle wall to escape. That'll be my game." Juniper further explained Wilkinson's faithful attendance at pre-meetings. "Oh, she wouldn't be missin' those – she usually has been focusing on other important things – like her cat that got lost in the building last week - so she'll grab Beth an' me fifteen minutes or so early for us to explain to her what the meeting's about. That way she's prepared."
Juniper and Mapplethorpe have expressed confusion on why tomorrow’s meeting is the one meeting in Wilkinson's four years with the unit that they haven't been asked to attend in her place.
"I guess I'll also yearn for those moments when she'd stop by and talk about her kids or her vomiting cat, or some of the stories of her following her husband when he supposedly is 'going to lunch.' More than anything, it's going to be different when she's really retired, not just acting the part, as she's done since she was hired."
Wilkinson was one of two people selected for the hotline supervisor position in 2002, and immediately made a name for herself by educating employees of other buildings about her new job. In 2003 she "got in on the ground floor" of the Phrenocaid Improvement Project that sought to reclassify eligibility records for over 10,000 clients. During the summer of 2004 and 2005 she spent time in the London, Glastonbury, and Bath, England. Earlier this year she began a daily "tea time" meeting to allow hotline staff to ask procedural questions of anybody but her.
Wilkinson's retirement party, tentatively scheduled for Friday, June 17, 2011 from 2-4 p.m. in the Majesty Mountain conference room of the Los Ritos complex, will undoubtedly be pawned off to other staff to organize and facilitate much like other meetings during her tenure.
Wilkinson was unavailable for comment Friday afternoon.
"Oh, it's Friday," explained coworker Marnie Geech, "an' she usually has to get her hair done or care for a sick relative over in Phoenix. She'll probably be back Monday, but don't come by until nine or so."
A selection is under way to promote one of the two people who were already doing Wilkinson's job to the supervisor position before the end of the month, or alternatively to just give Mapplethorpe and Juniper a dual-supervisory role.
No comments:
Post a Comment