March Employee Spotlight
People are the heart of every great business. So, we thought we’d share a little information about the members of our team here at AmurEF: Why do they come to work each day? What do they do? And what do they look forward to doing when the leave the office? In our monthly Employee Spotlight series, you’ll get to know the answers for many of them.
For the month of March, we introduce Annette Schimmer, our Senior Financial Accountant.
Employee of the Month Interview
What do you do here at AmurEF?
As Senior Financial Accountant, I support the Financial Statements team by analyzing data, reconciling accounts, and preparing end of month reports. I also assist with training in our department.
How did you get into your field?
I have always loved working with numbers. I have my Accounting and Business Administration degrees and have worked in the accounting profession for more than two decades. Prior to joining AmurEF, I was the HR/Accounting Manager for the Hall County Airport Authority, where I oversaw the financials and contributed to the Central Nebraska Regional Airport’s growth in air service over the last 10 years.
What do you love most about AmurEF?
I love that AmurEF cares about their employees and makes sure that there is work/life balance. I also appreciate being recognized and rewarded for my dedication to work.
What’s the first thing you do when you get off work?
Shuttle my children to and from their activities.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I like to play volleyball, read, and spend time with my family and friends.
Where’s your favorite place in the world?
Relaxing on a beach with a beverage in my hand.
If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose?
Wonder Woman because she can overcome any obstacle thrown her way.
If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
I would become a Skydiving Certified Instructor. I have already tandem sky dived and loved it!
How do you define success?
I define success as to what can I do for the company. I often ask myself what can be streamlined and improved to make processes more efficient. As I continue to learn more about the company, I continue to make suggestions for improvements. To be successful, one must first think outside of the box and be willing to accept change.
What’s the most rewarding thing about your job?
The most rewarding thing about my job is understanding the company as a whole and finding ways to streamline the company’s budget. I also take pride in what I do and strive to be efficient and accurate. I tend to get excited when a monthly reconciliation report balances and it took minimal time to finalize it.
Employing Company Core Values
At AmurEF, the employee of the month is selected based on how they live the company’s core values. In Annette’s case there were several of the company’s core values that stood out. Foremost, Annette showed her commitment to Continuous Improvement in her diligent work to map processes end-to-end as the group worked to refine procedures and processes to allow greater scalability. Annette is Results Driven in applying her analytical mind to problem solving, and communicating those ideas in a way that allows them to be understood and resolved.
Annette is Committed in having been cross trained to perform several different roles. In doing so, she is able to back-fill absent team members, and also train new team members. She never says no, and she just digs in to help where needed. Annette is a great asset to the Accounting team.
