Employee Spotlight Hiromi Takiguchi

Up until last spring, Hiromi Takiguchi was mostly known as the Plant Operations� employee who�d racked up 24 years of experience working in a department formerly known as Custodial and Grounds Services. She came to the university first as a senior secretary in 1985 and worked her way up to administrative coordinator. However, last April when Plant Ops reorganized, she transferred into an administrative coordinator position within Risk Management. But instead of doing basic secretarial work, her new position would expose her to workers' compensation paperwork and motor vehicle record checks.

The title was eventually changed to claims and safety coordinator, and Hiromi welcomed the transition and noticed the differences right away.

�In Custodial and Grounds, I�d stay in the office, send emails, and not get to see the people,� she said.

But in Risk Management, she expressed delight at being able to talk to a myriad of employees who hand-carry their workers' compensation paperwork. One other notable change is that she picks up the telephone and calls doctors' offices on a daily basis. And when her work calls her out of the office, she said, �I�m able to get more familiar with buildings on campus.�

Originally from Japan, her background includes working for Marine and Fire Insurance Company where she handled automobile accident billing. She also worked in Washington D.C. for the Japanese Embassy doing secretarial work.

Prior to coming to the U.S. she said, �I had no [significant] experience as a claims coordinator. I went from a very big department in Custodial and Grounds to a smaller family-like atmosphere. I�m thankful to come here.�

One other scary, but welcome, transition she had to face was learning to speak in front of a group of people. A few months ago, she gave her first presentation ever to the Environmental Health and Safety department (which is over Risk Management).

�Every day is a learning experience,� she said.

The new information she�s required to learn for her claims coordinator position led her to study hard, and she is now certified for workers' compensation and as a property and casualty adjuster.

Although she�d been accustomed to doing the same job for practically two decades, she said she is happy to experience a change in her career where she is exposed to various types of people and no two days are ever the same.