UPHP Names Jennifer Schon Employee of the Year
Marquette, MI – Upper Peninsula Health Plan (UPHP) proudly names Jennifer Schon 2017 Employee of the Year. Each year, UPHP names an Employee of the Year from a pool of Employee of the Quarter and “Caught ‘Cha” candidates. Each Employee of the Quarter is nominated by their manager or a member of the Senior Management team. The nominees are then reviewed and a winner is selected by the Senior Management team. UPHP employees also participate in a peer recognition program called “Caught ‘Cha”. This is an employee driven, incentive program in which all employees can write a “Caught ‘Cha” note and give it to someone they caught doing something great. Along with each Employee of the Quarter, the two highest “Caught ‘Cha” recipients each year are entered as candidates in a company-wide vote for Employee of the Year.
“I feel honored to have been voted Employee of the Year by my peers. To be elected amongst this group of excellent employees is unbelievable! I am truly grateful,” said Schon.
Jennifer Schon grew up in Fenwick, Michigan. Her parents purchased a resort on the Au Train Lake when she was in college and she chose to attend Northern Michigan University where she earned a B.S. in Clinical Health Science. Jen has worked at Upper Peninsula Health Plan for nearly four years. She was hired as a Customer Service Representative and eagerly learned as much as she could about all UPHP product lines. She is now a member of the Human Resources team at UPHP, currently holding the position of Human Resource Generalist. Reflecting on her time with the company, Jen noted that above all the community fundraising events, company picnics, holiday parties, and employee celebrations, her favorite memory is her first day at UPHP. There is a culture here to go above and beyond to greet and help our new employees feel welcome. That is something that has stayed with her and that she tries to pay forward to new employees.
Jen’s supervisor, Tanya Jennings, attributes her success in large part to her work ethic. “Jen has become an invaluable asset to the HR department during her three years in HR. Her ability to learn quickly allowed her to grow her HR knowledge immensely and to position herself among UPHP managers and employees as a trusted and valuable resource for questions and concerns. Jen is extremely helpful to staff and will go the extra step to research a problem or issue and offer a potential solution when presented a new scenario. UPHP is fortunate to have Jen as an employee,” said Jennings, Director of Human Resources.
Jennifer and her husband, Brandon, live in Harvey with their 4-month-old son, Nolan, and their three dogs.