Distinguished Employee Award: Team spirit, customer service lead to honor for catering staff

Distinguished Employee Award: Team spirit, customer service lead to honor for catering staff

BY JENNIFER EVANS
Rice News Staff

Service with a smile is the name of the
game at Rice Catering, and employees Paul Rodarte and Lydia
Gonzales recently were rewarded with the Distinguished Employee
Award for embracing that philosophy.

Reading from nominations from a Rice Catering
customer that praised Rodarte’s and Gonzales’ attitudes and spirits, Colleen Dutton, assistant human resources
director, presented the awards in an August ceremony. The
awards honor staff who perform above and beyond their job
descriptions to the benefit of the Rice community.

Catering Director Angela Riggs beamed at
the announcement.

Speaking of Banquet Supervisor Rodarte,
Riggs said, “Paul is our hub. He keeps us going, he
makes us laugh and also sometimes makes us almost cry!”

Riggs truly did choke up when speaking
of Gonzales, who left her position as staff assistant in
late August to help her husband with his business.

Blinking back tears, Riggs said, “You’ve
kept us together, you trained us …” (And from
the crowd, “You provided us with Tylenol!”)

“Lydia has been working in the Central
Kitchen for eight years, first as a clerk and then into
the catering part. We’ll miss her deeply.”

Both recipients responded with surprise
at being named as distinguished employees.

“I say thank you to the staff every
day when I leave but when you hear it from a client it means
so much more,” Riggs said.

Gloria Bean, assistant to the associate
provost, has worked closely with Rodarte and Gonzales during
the past several years, relying on them to help her put
on “meetings, meetings and more meetings, workshops
and more,” she said.

“Lydia helped me make good decisions
and selections, and she had a calm, professional, pleasant
attitude.

“Paul has made my job quite easy.
I never have to worry about an event if I know that he’s
involved in it,” she said.

Bean recounted a workshop held by the provost’s
office during which she began to panic, thinking she hadn’t
ordered enough food for the event.

“Paul told me not to worry about it,
he’d take care of it, and he did. The guests never
knew that there was a problem,” Bean said.

Rodarte noted that their success is a team
effort, which Riggs echoed: “We are a family that works
tightly with one another. I’m very blessed with this
staff. We’re still on cloud nine that someone outside
of our department recognized us—it means so much.”

She praised Rodarte for making himself
available and being responsive, meeting virtually any request—even
showing up with his staff ready to handle at event an 6
a.m. and always with a great attitude.

To nominate an employee for the Distinguished
Employee Award, contact Dutton, at (713) 348-4755.