Carlton Gatling Honored as October Employee of the Month

President Broderick and Carlton Gatling

October's Employee of the Month is well known throughout the campus - not only because he gets around, but also because he leaves a lasting impression after the job is done.

Carlton Gatling, manager of the moving and special events operation for Facilities Management, received the monthly award Wednesday during a surprise reception at the Physical Plant. President John R. Broderick and members of the selection committee were on hand for the event.

Gatling has worked at Old Dominion since 1986, when he joined the Motor Pool as an hourly employee. He became classified in 1988, and 10 years later transferred to what was then called Moving and Hauling. He became a supervisor for the operation in 2005.

Harvey Logan, manager for support services and recycling in Facilities Management, nominated Gatling for the ODU monthly award for "successfully managing and supervising the moves of various university departments involved in the massive Spong Hall relocation project."

Logan, who credited Gatling and his crew for their tireless work, further commended him for keeping in close communication with employees throughout the moves and for his "professional, caring attitude."

"Mr. Gatling's warm, character and personality always brought smiles to everyone that he came in contact with. His can-do attitude made this large undertaking seem effortless to every customer requiring his department's services," Logan said.

Logan further observed that Gatling also made sure that his area's other responsibilities were attended to during this busy period of moves, which comprised relocating six offices of varying sizes.

As one of the many staff members from the Department of Human Resources who recently made the move to Spong Hall, Cheri Murphy, director of workforce planning, compliance and HRIS, had an opportunity to witness - and benefit from - the work Gatling and his crew performed.

"Carlton Gatling has a great crew," she said in a letter supporting Logan's nomination. "Due to his leadership and management of his crew, the HR move to Spong went very smoothly. Carlton worked with all of us in meeting our needs. He was patient as we made last-minute changes to the schedule and he had to balance other requests that first week of school. He had to deal with a number of conflicting requests for his team's time and handled it all with professionalism and respecting everyone's needs."

Murphy added: "The 'can do' attitude of the whole team stems from Carlton's work ethic and his customer service philosophy. The whole team works like a well-oiled machine. They made this hard work look easy. It was a pleasure to work with him and his crew."

DETAILS ABOUT THE EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH PROCESS

The University Employee of the Month Selection Committee encourages employees to nominate their outstanding, "go the extra mile" colleagues and employees. This program is designed to acknowledge and reward employees whose accomplishments and/or demeanor exemplify excellence, quality service and commitment to ODU. Classified and AP faculty employees receive a framed certificate from the president, $175 and one day of leave. Hourly winners get $250, since they are not eligible to receive recognition leave.

Note: The selection committee needs specific examples that relate to each applicable criterion in order to select a nominee for the award. Nominations remain active for six months from date of submission and nominators may submit additional documentation to support a nominee during the active six months.

The criteria used to nominate an employee include the following:

• An outstanding accomplishment that benefited the department/students.
• Extraordinary service to internal and/or external customers.
• Inspiring initiative/leadership.
• Enthusiasm/energy given to assigned work.
• Teamwork.
• Exemplary efforts to nurture a climate of care, concern and civility.
• Creative innovations to service, process or work tools.

For more information contact Tony Belk at jbelk@odu.edu or 3-3046, or go to http://www.odu.edu/ao/humanresources/employeeofthemonth.shtml.