Diane Massey created a mess. It was one of those innocent accidents that happens every once in a while. She dropped a three-hole punch and the paper holes flew out, coating the floor around her desk.

Massey, a manager in Health System Information Services, hopped up and went on the search for a vacuum. That’s when she ran into fellow UAB employee Stephanie Simon, an environmental services specialist.

Massey told Simon she needed a vacuum and when Simon inquired as to why, she was having none of it.

“That is my job,” Simon told Massey.

Dedication to her job and the joy she exhibits every day in doing her work are just a couple of the reasons Simon has been chosen June’s Employee of the Month.

Workers on the fourth floor of the General Services Building (GSB) have countless stories similar to Massey’s.

Gary Slaten, a senior system analyst, was cleaning his desk one day when he asked Simon for a rag to wipe down the top of his shelves.

“She stopped what she was doing and cleaned it for me,” he says.

Simon has worked at UAB for more than three years, and since she began cleaning the fourth floor everyone has noticed a difference.

“Any area that she is assigned, customers are very saddened when she departs,” says Ed Crump, director of environmental services. “Her work ethic speaks for itself and this explains why she is so well liked.”

Simon says she is flattered to be honored as the employee of the month, saying it’s the people she works with on a daily basis that keep her motivated.

“I’ve worked in a lot of places and a lot of hospitals, but none have been like GSB,” Simon says. “They are nice people, wonderful people and loving people — people that really care about you.”

Rosalyne Butts, an office associate in HSIS, says Simon goes beyond the call of duty to assure the floor looks and smells fresh and clean.

“She does this every day, not just to impress supervisors during inspections or when company is expected,” Butts says. “Vendors and visitors always offer compliments as to how warm and inviting our floor is. They often express how they would love to work in a pleasant environment such as ours.

“She is second to none in her area of expertise, and her wonderful personality is the icing on the cake.”
Simon’s sunny disposition draws the same praise as her attention to detail does when it comes to cleaning.

“Stephanie is very friendly, never failing to greet employees in the hallway or wish them good night on their way out as she goes about her work,” says Cathy Childers, clinical information system specialist.

“She is positive in her approach and never complains when HSIS has 24-hour work schedules that are accompanied by food fests to fuel the extra workers. She simply expresses concern that all is going well and puts out extra effort herself.

“Employees like her are our unsung heroes.”