Alicia P: An Innovative Leader

Alicia P., Service Coordinator Supervisor, is the recipient of the 2021-2022 Award for Innovation– one of the highest honours within Circle of Care’s employee recognition program, Champions of Care.

Supporting A Complex Team 

Alicia started working at Circle of Care as a Service Coordinator in 2019 and soon became a Supervisor due to her hard work, effective problem solving, and leadership skills.

The Service Coordination team is primarily responsible for liaising with clients, family members, Personal Support Workers, and coordinating everyone’s schedules to provide the required home care visits. In her role, Alicia has many conversations with other departments daily to ensure Circle of Care clients are receiving the best possible care.

“I am a part of a great team that works very hard to problem solve and gets the job done on a daily basis,” Alicia says. “One thing that makes a meaningful day is getting to know my colleagues better and finding out more about them. This ultimately helps me gain a better understanding of how to support them.”

Every day includes a different challenge, but working together in a team makes tasks easier to tackle and conquer, especially when the work is so meaningful for the community.

The Heart of Innovation

During her two years as a Service Coordinator, Alicia was able to employ her creativity to help support a new and more efficient system of scheduling for Personal Support Workers (PSW) through an online tool. This tool gives PSWs the opportunity to be involved in creating their day-to-day schedules and made it easier to connect PSWs with clients based on location and previous interactions.

Alicia quickly took on the role as the Coordinator for this project.

“It was important to have PSWs’ involvement and ensure they are happy with their schedules as we rely on their work to keep our department going,” says Alicia.

Alicia’s hard work is appreciated and recognized by many of her colleagues, including Lynda, Senior Project Manager, and Marissa, Special Projects and Training Coordinator.

“She has consistently been willing to make the necessary adjustments and has invested herself in achieving positive results for her PSW team and her entire coordinator caseload,” say Lynda and Marissa. “Alicia has been exemplary in using the tool, interfacing with PSWs, and bringing excellent recommendations on improvements for the solution and PSW adoption”

Celebrated for Her Innovative Thinking

In June 2022, Alicia was presented with the Award for Innovation. This award is given to employees who use innovative thinking to find solutions that result in new approaches to current issues.

“I feel extremely honored to have been recognized for participating in this project. I truly do care about the work that I do and it is very special to feel appreciated for that as well,” says Alicia.