Christopher Gomez: Community and Collaboration
Christopher Gomez
Program Manager
Client Engagement Team
When Christopher Gomez came to GSA PBS in Region 8 15 years ago, he walked into an environment that had already focused itself on people, culture and providing a positive workplace.
During his time at GSA, he has aspired to develop and advance the workplace experience for employees. For the third time in the last four years, Region 8 PBS has been recognized as one of Denver’s Top Workplaces thanks in large part to his effort.
Gomez is the program manager for engagement, new employees and mid-career associates with a talent for promoting an inclusive culture that makes all employees feel welcome in the workplace.
“My focus is to design and deliver programs and engagements that help associates feel more connected to each other, the leadership, and the mission of GSA. That can take a million different forms,” said Gomez.
Leading the regional Engagement Team, Gomez has been instrumental in developing programs that foster buy-in to the agency and increase participation of associates toward PBS’s strategic goals. The programs he runs are aimed at building connections between associates and peers, leadership and even PBS’s mission. The goal for these programs is to create a sense of community and develop collaboration that forge lasting bonds amongst regional team members.
Here are some of the programs Gomez is in charge of:
• One a Day Your Way - Encourages associates to develop and maintain professional relationships with colleagues.
• Leaders Listen + Ask Me Anything (LLAMA) - Provides a direct platform for associates to engage with the PBS
leadership team, including the PBS Regional Commissioner, through a question and answer session to get insight into key initiatives or topics of interest.
• Walk and Talk - Connects associates to PBS’s mission through a virtual building tour by building managers.
Culture is Important
Employees spend about a third of their day at work, so making the workplace a friendly and fun place is important to the regional leadership team, who care about associates as people, not just employees.
“Our leaders recognize the importance of culture and put time, energy and resources into making sure it stays at the forefront or what we do,” said Gomez. “We have leaders who care about a positive workplace environment and they focus on it regardless of who is sitting in the senior executive chair.”
The culture of PBS Region 8 did not happen overnight, it has been cultivated over several decades. In order to keep it strong and to maintain the positive work environment that has been so successful over the years, it has to be worked…like a muscle.
Despite the turnover in leadership, the culture has endured. The reason Region 8 leaders keep a constant focus on people while still achieving business measures. The region has six strong cultural pillars they have developed over time and continually focus on.
• Community
• Collaboration
• Work-Life Balance
• Operational Excellence
• Ownership
• Creativity
The drumbeat of messages delivered to new and existing associates alike focuses around the mantras of flexibility, balance, inclusion, and teamwork within the cultural framework. There is also something else that the region advocates; fun is not off limits at work while striving for operational excellence.
Finding the Fun
While some organizations struggle to find the right formula for making the workplace a welcoming place, Region 8 PBS seems to have cracked the code - the “secret sauce” is having fun, according to Gomez.
What Gomez does really well, especially when leading a meeting or an event, is inject a sense of value and levity along with the work. Balance is important because federal government work is important as well as keeping it light to make everyone feel included. “Having fun is important in life and it is important for work. It is not always serious, it is light a lot of the time” said Gomez. “We can do important, meaningful work and we can have fun doing it!”
Download Christopher Gomez's story here. [PDF - 68 KB]