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Donna Melson's job description might involve performing "routine" cleaning for Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Services, Palm Harbor, Florida, but there's nothing typical about the passion she puts into her work. Melson does such a good job vacuuming, dusting, sanitizing and disinfecting offices that she's been offered a supervisor position at Office Pride on several occasions. What's remarkable about Melson is that she has actually turned down the promotions because she wants to be sure her customers never receive anything less than the quality care she gives them.
"Donna takes her job very seriously and refuses to let anyone down. She simply refuses to take a day off for fear that her accounts will not be taken care of the way she sees fit," says Andy Moyer, owner of Office Pride of Nashville-Berry Hill in Tennessee. "In fact, she has not taken a day off in more than 10 years — until now."
Donna was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and at the advice of her doctor, quit working so that she can focus on recovering from surgery and treatment. However, Donna's passion for serving her clients won't allow her to totally step away. She trained her husband to take over her accounts so she can continue to monitor how her customers are being treated.
"Donna is a remarkable ambassador for our brand. Her accounts are among those we have had the longest — some dating beyond our records — and she has never had a customer complaint," says Moyer. "She goes beyond what is expected of her on a daily basis, and she follows up with our office regularly to ensure there have not been any complaints. She bends over backward to make sure her customers are completely satisfied with the service she provides, and she never says 'no' to a customer request."
As other commercial cleaning companies know, there are some things that can never live up to the standards of certain customers, no matter how well the work is being performed. This happened to be the case with one customer that Office Pride had.
The customer had requested to end all services at its multiple locations except for those performed by Donna's branch. Donna's branch was retained because the manager of that branch told the company's decision makers that neither Donna nor Office Pride could be taken away from cleaning her branch.
"As an employer, we look for team members with the highest level of integrity, commitment and personal responsibility," says Moyer. "We don't expect to meet those high expectations every time, but with Miss Donna, we did. We treasure her as part of our team and are thrilled for her accomplishments to be recognized."
Each month this section will recognize an outstanding frontline janitor. To nominate a deserving employee, email jake.meister@tradepress.com