The Assurant Committee Whose Job Is To Make Employees Happy Is At It Again!

(I hope you guys aren't getting bored with my multitudinous posts about work. I really don't intend to write so much about it, but they give me so much material it's hard to resist.)

First of all, last week they emphasized and reminded us of the ICUE program. This is a program that recognizes and rewards associates who go above and beyond expectations in living out the company's corporate values of Integrity, Change, Urgency and Excellence. In order to help us with this, they gave us a tangible visual reminder which should be fun too.

They say that work is like your home away from home, right? Well, they just made it easier for me. They gave us...

ASSURANT ICUE MAGNETIC POETRY!!!

(I know you can't read it; this is just to give the wide-angle view. I took the pictures with my phone, again. The big magnet in the upper right corner is my name--I thought I might steal it and bring it home to put on our fridge.)




(A closer look....)











These people either know me really well, or don't know me nearly well enough. They may know me really well, in that I love magnetic poetry. They may not know me enough, because I'll never get any work done now.... (I arranged all the words they gave me into sentences in about 8 minutes.)

Oh yeah, just for kicks, they gave us an ICUE cookie too.

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Then today. This week is "Assurant's 2006 Customer Service Week: A full week to show our appreciation to all the hard working employees in Customer Service." So... why I'm involved in this, I don't know. I don't deal with customers, much less service them, in any way. But I get to enjoy the perks. Not that I'm complaining....

So, true to form, we each had a Customer Service Week packet on our desks today. (We also got an email which told us to feel free to dress casually [i.e. T-shirt and jeans] for the whole week. I find it ironic that the reason we can dress casually at all, much less for a whole week, is because we don't deal with customers.) The packet contained a full-page flyer with the heading I quoted above, explaining the focus of each day and which Assurant locations were participating. It also included a smaller (maybe 3x6) flyer which they must have got at some sort of Hallmark store. On one side, with a cutesy cartoonish picture of an underwater scene with, of all things, a butterfly net, it proclaims in large, bubbly letters, "Caught Giving Above and Beyond Service." On the other side, it says "Thanks! For Being So 'Fin'-tastic With Customers." Then a number of the cheesiest puns ever follow, each differentiated as a bullet point with a different-colored fish:

- Your dedication makes a big splash around here.
- You dive into every task with enthusiasm.
- Your attention to customers is clear to "sea."
- We're hooked on your great attitude.
- Your commitment to great service makes a whale of a difference.
- We think you're a great catch!

Also in the package were snacks: a snack-sized packet of Goldfish crackers (Kati3 will be sorry she missed this--she brought Goldfish almost every day during training); a packet containing two "Giant Goldfish Grahams" (?); and one (count 'em, one) Swedish fish, individually wrapped. (Click here if you don't know what a Swedish fish is.)

They also gave us bagels (with cream cheese!) and orange juice today, just because we, um, deliver such great service to our customers! (Shh... don't tell them we don't actually deal with customers. More free stuff, plus drawings, games and prizes are still to come this week. Can data entry get any cooler than this?)