Pete Stankiewicz named Park District Employee of the Year

From press release

The Rockford Park District recently announced that Risk Manager Pete Stankiewicz was selected as the Rockford Park District 2009 Employee of the Year by members of the District’s Recognition Committee and Deputy Directors.

Stankiewicz has been employed with the district since June 2008, and was selected for his professional leadership in developing the district’s system to communicate expectations with easy-to-understand segments for the Rockford Park District’s Loss Control Review. This system included a consistent way for team members to collect materials for the audit, and meeting with each manager multiple times to ensure they understood the process. His efforts resulted in the district receiving the highest loss control review score ever achieved, 96.09 percent out of a possible 100 percent. Stankiewicz is a graduate of Jefferson High School, Northeastern Illinois University and Northern Illinois University.

The Employee Recognition Committee was established in 2008 to collaborate ideas for a new employee recognition program. In 2009, a new recognition program was introduced to staff and launched in the first quarter.

Throughout the year, 16 employees were nominated by team members and selected by a Recognition Committee as “Employee of the Quarter,” making them eligible to be selected as “Employee of the Year.”

The nominations for each quarter included recognition for Outstanding Performance, Creative Contributions, Notable Service to Community/Citizens, and Notable Service to Staff. Factors used to determine who received the quarterly award included special contributions to the Park District as a whole, successful completion of special projects, ideas for improved work methods, outstanding dedication to the Park District, and/or outstanding customer service.

The other employees of the four quarters who were eligible to be named Employee of the Year included:

Garrett Jones, Stacey Young, Sue Howard, Judy Roby, Deana Bingham, Karen Weis, Lynn Olsen, Dena Sanford, Curt Johnsen, Marianne Larson, Breane Cory, David Spencer, Kathleen Forbes, Josh Strand and Rita Keedi.

Deputy Director of Human Resources Debbie Gass said: “Pete did an outstanding job of developing a process and system that provided staff with confidence in their ability to establish the best safety practices so that our citizens could safely enjoy our parks, programs, and facilities. His efforts have positively affected our organization and helped us achieve the highest loss control review score in the history of the district.”