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(Rock Island, Ill., May 26, 2021) – Royal Neighbors of America has named Vicki Becker, Manager, IT Production Support, the 2021 Employee of the Year.

The Employee of the Year program annually recognizes Royal Neighbors employees who demonstrate professionalism and integrity; embrace innovation; share knowledge and resources with others; support the organization’s mission; and go above and beyond to respond to external and internal stakeholders. Employees are nominated for this award by co-workers, then a team of external and internal judges use an anonymous process to evaluate the nominees before selecting the winner. Other nominees for the award were Angie Jones, Distribution Center Specialist, Mike Davis Senior Business Analyst, Mel Williams, Sales Analyst, and Mike Decker, IT Operations Team Lead.

“Vicki not only exemplifies the vision and mission of Royal Neighbors but also demonstrates an outstanding commitment to everything she does with a process improvement mindset,” stated IT Executive Raj Krishnamurthy. “Vicki inspires the team to provide the required level of service to our internal customers and leads by example by going above and beyond what is required.”

In 2021, Vicki implemented a new ticketing system allowing users to enter their own tickets, view possible solutions to problems, and view announcements from the IT Service Desk. Vicki also added a module for Facilities service requests, migrated the IT Change Management process to the new ticketing system, assumed primary change management ownership responsibilities, and completely overhauled the end-of-year processing in 2019 with annual improvements.

In a statement provided by the Employee of the Year judges panel, they say, “It is clear this candidate has an unwavering commitment to ensuring continuous improvement. The list of accomplishments of this candidate was incredibly impressive, and to also read this employee earns accolades from others regularly was outstanding.”

Royal Neighbors recently announced its fifth Great Place to Work-Certification™, which is recognized worldwide by employees and employers and is the global benchmark for identifying outstanding employee experiences. “Nowadays, it could be easy to read headlines or watch the evening news and believe that America's workforce isn't what it used to be,” read the judge’s statement. “The process of reviewing the award submissions reminded us that you can't believe everything you read or hear. The Royal Neighbors Employee of the Year candidates represent the best of what employers want and need in 2022.”

Royal Neighbors of America is a unique provider of life insurance and annuities whose mission is to protect women financially and empower them to improve their lives, families, and communities. Royal Neighbors was founded in 1895 as a membership organization by nine pioneering women who recognized the need to insure the lives of women and children. In 2020, Royal Neighbors was upgraded to “A Excellent” (3rd highest out of 13) by the AM Best Company for overall financial strength and ability to meet ongoing obligations to certificate holders. The rating was affirmed as of November 30, 2021. Royal Neighbors is a five-time Great Place to Work-Certified™ organization. For more information about life at Royal Neighbors of America, go to royalneighbors.org.