Wesley McElwee - Making Time for Fun & Family

One of the great and fun things about Clickstop is the amount of recognition we like to give each other. 

Whether you notice a co-worker stepping up their game and present them with a nice note and gift card, or if you are noticed by leaders as a quarterly Rock Star, we love seeing employees be recognized for their achievements. For going above and beyond and living like a true Clickstopper.

So last week, and the end of the first quarter of 2017, Tim surprised us with a new award program, the Quarterly Core Value Recognition.  Together, the leadership team worked to decide which employees truly embodied the core values.

“The discussions we had about the core values and our teammates were incredible.” said Monica Steffeck, Co-VP of Talent Enrichment. “It was so fun to hear about all of the things our employees do everyday, going above and beyond to live out the values. So many good vibes during our discussion, it was awesome.”

Paired with comments from the leaders and seeing these employees embody the core values everyday, Tim set out to surprise 6 people with a custom t-shirt and a $100.00 bill.

The winner of the first quarterly recognition for the core value Make Time for Fun & Family was our very talented Web Developer, Wesley McElwee.

Wesley has been with Clickstop for 3.5 years and works on the Technology team.

“Wesley is great to have on the Technology team.” said Tom Altman, VP of Technology. “He has so many things that fit well with our core values – and he acts them out every day. Wesley is the first to jump into an issue or problem – and makes sure to bring the team along with him. And Wesley expects greatness in himself – he loves to learn and this ties into everything. When you use the core values to guide the way you work, it just super-sizes it all.”

“Having core values  paints a clear picture of what it’s like to work at Clickstop and what is important both personally and professionally.” said Wesley. “I think for a business it is easy to disregard having a mission statement and core values and put emphasis on the culture of a company. If you don’t intentionally define the culture and values, you can suddenly become a place that isn’t so great. I’d be shocked if any truly great place to work has a good work culture by accident. It must be deliberate.”

Wesley is someone who takes the core values to heart and shares the desire to make Clickstop a great place to be for everyone. One of his favorite parts about working at Clickstop is being with great people. His colleagues keep him pushing himself to have the biggest positive impact he can.

“Make Time for Fun & Family means that putting emphasis on your personal life will make you happier, more engaged, and more productive at work.” said Wesley

“Clickstop knows that by defining the company culture and putting an emphasis on work/life balance it will create a more successful company and make each employee individually happier and more successful as well.”

Tom sees a lot of potential in Wesley and knows he will make waves at Clickstop. “We need top notch developers and I can see Wesley growing into a role where he can be a leader and a teacher. Wesley is a good listener and very well-liked by everyone he interacts with. I always describe Wesley as quiet-confidence. He knows what is right and wrong – he just handles it. You can see that is also the way he parents. It is not a lot of talk – just quiet confidence.”

The great thing about Clickstop is EVERYONE has the chance to be successful; to be the best versions of themselves. Having work/life balance is critical to this success.

“I’m going to borrow something that a former pastor of mine would say in church. “Keep the main thing the main thing”. In this context, it means don’t neglect your personal life for the sake of work. Yes, we all want to be part of a successful company and want to make as big of an impact as we can here. But the main thing is your personal happiness and family life. Neglecting that will over time lead to less value here at Clickstop as well. Balance is the key and doing well at one will make you better at the other.”

Finally, we had to ask Wesley how it felt to be the first ever recipient of the Make Time for Fun & Family award. “Each and every core value is important to the long term success of the company. Being recognized as fulfilling this value, or any of the core values for that matter, is a great honor. I want to give a big “thank you” to Tim G for being committed to such a great place to work. Also, my co-workers who also embody the six core values and live them out every day… I’d like to thank everyone I have ever met and while I’m at it, all the people I haven’t met yet. That is all.”

Congratulations Wesley!