Kai S., Health, Safety, & Wellness Specialist, is the recipient of the 2022 Eileen Morgan Award for Customer Service – as part of our Spotlight Awards series.
As a Health, Safety, and Wellness Specialist Kai wears many hats with a variety of responsibilities.
“My favourite part of my job is being able to help my colleagues,” she says. “They play a vital role in the community by providing care to our clients, and the passion they show for their work inspires me in my own work.”
On a daily basis Kai helps manage the absence and leave process for employees, by collecting essential data and consulting with employees about leaves related to an illness or injury. She also ensures Circle of Care’s COVID-19 health and safety and IPAC protocols are being practiced and updated, while also providing direction to employees with questions on specific situations. And finally, Kai also focuses on the physical and mental health wellness of Circle of Care staff, by providing valuable resources and education on a healthy and happy work-life balance.
“I often try to be a source of support for our staff,” she says. “If they’re going through a difficult time, I help direct them to available and valuable resources with Circle of Care or provide them with external resources.”
On top of these responsibilities, Kai sits on and chairs many different committees with different focuses within Circle of Care. She is a valued member of the Social Committee; the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee; the Joint Health and Safety Committee, the Documentation Committee, and the Workplace Wellbeing & Employee Engagement Committee. She also sits on the North York Toronto Health Partners Wellness Forum, an external Wellness Forum with wellness leads from across the Ontario Health Team (OHT).
“It makes me feel good and hopeful that I’ve made some positive contributions to Circle of Care, especially in the areas of health, safety, and wellness, because these areas have a direct impact on our workplace culture and the experience of our employees,” she says.
Kai led the initiative for Circle of Care to apply for the Canada Awards for Excellence (CAE) Program, a coveted awards program that recognizes organizations for outstanding achievements. In September 2021, Circle of Care achieved the Canada Award for Excellence – Bronze Certification in Excellence Canada’s Healthy Workplace Standard.
“I identified areas of improvement so that we could better meet the standard, and prepared evidence for this project,” says Kai. “Achieving this award was important because our organization had to provide the evidence that we adhered to a national standard for a healthy workplace, proving that we met these standards and achieved this award.”
Though she has many priorities, Kai manages to ensure excellent customer service when communicating with staff or external partners. To help stay organized, Kai creates a variety of ‘to-do’ lists with calendar reminders and ensuring she prioritizes tasks on a daily basis.
“I think empathy and kindness are integral parts of customer service,” says Kai. “These can be easily incorporated into any conversation.”
In December, 2022, Kai was presented with the Eileen Morgan Award for Customer Service as part of our Spotlight Awards series. This award is given to a non-union staff member who exemplifies customer service. This award supports our values of exceptional client-centred care, excellence, accountability, collaboration, equity, and innovation.
“I am inspired by Kai’s passion, energy, and compassion for others every day,” says Karman, Human Resources Director, who nominated Kai for the award. “She is an exemplary employee that strives to do exceptional work in every aspect of her role.”
