Chris Whitener named State Employee of the Month

Chris Whitener, left, receives Missouri's State Employee of the Month certificate on May 19, 2016.
Chris Whitener, left, receives Missouri's State Employee of the Month certificate on May 19, 2016.

Christopher Whitener with the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS) was selected to receive the State Employee of the Month award for May. Whitener, a Program Development Specialist in the Family Support Division in Hillsboro, was recognized for exemplary service.

In writing their nomination for Whitener, DSS officials said he exhibits dedication to not only DSS, but to benefit receiving individuals by spending countless hours developing forms, reports, search engines and more to staff making many resources available to ensure work is processed timely and efficiently .

Whitener has been with DSS since July 1995.

Information Specialist for the DSS Family Support Division Jeff Hoffman said in Whitener's nomination form "Chris finds his duties as worthy challenges that he invests many hours battling his way through one obstacle or another to find a remedy. I believe he enjoys the riddles and twists and turns as he takes requests form someone and turns it into a process whereby that person merely knows to 'click here, enter this info, click again' and a magical summary of information appears. That person does not have the privilege of seeing Chris sit at his work area from 7 a.m. - 4 p.m., eat lunch while he continues to battle riddles, lean back in his chair as he ponders what the computer is doing and then see him take a deep breath-stretch- and dive back into the keyboard to get a few steps closer to the magical solution he's preparing."

Hoffman concluded his nomination of Whitener by saying, "Later tonight, when all of the staff is at home with their family or friends, Chris will be doing the same, but with his laptop nearby so the next morning when the staff arrives their reports will be ready to make assignments and tackle the days projects. If anyone deserved recognition for going the extra mile, Chris walks those miles each day, for each employee of DSS and the 1.3 million residents the department serves."