Issued by City of York Council
City of York Council is asking residents to help celebrate the work of its unsung heroes for its annual ‘eXtra factor’ staff awards.
The authority is seeking nominations for the awards which help highlight the dedication, diligence and enterprise of staff serving the city in a huge range of roles.
With the largest and most diverse workforce in the city, the council’s eXtra factor awards celebrate teams and individuals with the “eXtra factor” – be they architect or archeologist, care worker or cleaner, librarian or leisure centre worker, planner or plumber, warden or waste operative – who show eXtraordinary care, commitment or creativity in their roles.
Last year’s winners included the Flood emergency response and Sport and Active Leisure teams as well as a librarian at Strensall Library.
Nominations are now being sought for this year’s awards from local residents up until 1 November.
People are being asked to nominate individuals or teams they think have gone the “eXtra mile” to make sure they have got the information, advice or help they needed or who they think display exceptional care and commitment in their work, whatever it may be.
This year they are also seeking nominations for employees who have worked to improve life in their communities in their own time or helped to ensure people of all ages, abilities, incomes and origin have equal opportunity and access to services.
Kersten England, chief executive of City of York Council, said: “Every day we know there are many examples of people across the council giving excellent customer service, demonstrating a real passion in their roles and pulling out all the stops in their work.
“We also know that many of our staff dedicate their own time to improving life in and supporting their local communities in a number of ways and we’d like to recognise those individuals too.
“The eXtra factor awards aim to officially spotlight these cases where people are really going the extra mile and give individuals and teams, often doing difficult jobs in difficult circumstances, the little bit of ‘extra’ recognition they deserve.”
Councillor Dafydd Williams, Cabinet member for Finance, Performance and Customer Service, City of York Council, said: “Last year’s awards event was a fantastic occasion and a great opportunity to shine a light on the diversity of services we provide our customers and celebrate the dedicated individuals and teams delivering them.
“This scheme plays an important part in the council’s Customer Services and Workforce Development strategies, which aim to establish a reputation for excellent service in all that we do and help develop and support our employees.
“The awards help us to build on the many positive examples and experiences that people tell us about year after year and are greatly appreciated by the staff who receive nominations.”
This year’s categories include:
Service Excellence
The individual or team who has gone the extra mile and provided outstanding customer service in an office-based role for customers.
Out and About Service Excellence
The individual or team who has gone the extra mile and provided outstanding customer service out and about in the community.
Unsung Hero
The individual or team whose care or action has helped change someone’s future.
Community Champion
The individual or team who has helped engage residents in activity leading to positive outcomes for their community space.
Equalities Champion
The team or individual who has/have played a vital role in encouraging and promoting fairness and equality of opportunities within the York community or working environment.
Volunteer of the Year
The team or individual whose volunteer work has made a difference to a community space or individuals within that community.
How to nominate
People can nominate a member of staff by completing a form available at council reception points and libraries where there are drop boxes for the forms or they can post them to the Freepost address or complete one online on the council’s website.
Nominations can be submitted up to and including Friday 1 November.
A celebration evening will be held at The Park Inn on 2 December where there will be a prize and award ceremony and entertainment for the shortlisted candidates.
The event is kindly fully sponsored by suppliers, partner organisations and companies with local connections and, as last year, sponsors will also be judging the categories and donating and presenting prizes on the night.
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