Building a Culture of Learning
In a time when finding and retaining talented employees is as difficult in our industry as in many others, UG2 is grateful and proud of our strong employee retention rate. We have employees stay with us as they build their careers, and who remain—or return—through life changes, family challenges, and new educational achievements.
We often talk about our people-first approach. But what exactly does that mean when it comes to creating a workforce who commit, for the long term, to us, to each other, and to our customers?
Not only does UG2 treat employees as family, but we are also a company that trusts in training and mentoring. On the institutional side, that means offering formal and robust opportunities to grow skills, build knowledge, and become subject matter experts. UG2 excels in providing organizational offerings that range from customer service training to a dedicated UG2 Development Toolkit. We have strived to differentiate our employee development experience by investing in our very own training and innovation lab. The lab’s virtual platform means we can offer ongoing training to our employees no matter where they live and work, and the flexibility means they have the chance to fit those opportunities in with their busy lives. It also allows us to capture the insights of employees from across the country who bring a whole range of expertise and share their knowledge with the same flexibility.
But building a culture of learning goes beyond what you see on paper.
The mentorship aspect is a key component of a successful program. It requires a very intentional approach of recruiting employees who will embrace opportunities to mentor and to be mentored so that they can share, learn, and pass on knowledge. The flow of information stems not just from experienced veteran employees, but also from younger generations teaching more seasoned employees new approaches, technology and ways of thinking and problem-solving.
A Harvard Business Review study found that Gen Z employees are not only our most racially and ethnically diverse generation in history, they are also a generation that brings tremendous tech knowledge to the workplace, and one which thrives when they are truly engaged through two-way communication and problem solving. It also found that this younger generation of workers does best when they can see career paths and opportunities to grow in their futures. This knowledge and research has informed UG2’s mentoring program.
This means that in a sense, everyone is a mentor. We believe that no matter how new you are to your position or to facility services as a whole, you have a unique perspective and life experience that each one of us can benefit from. That is part of our commitment to honoring difference and diversity. It also serves as a continuous reminder that the newer generation of employees are our future leaders in the making.
In the same vein, UG2 recognizes that we continuously learn from our customers. We work to become citizens of their industries and integrate and adapt their best practices and preferences into our trainings.
Finally, a successful mentorship program committed to building future leaders and excellence in customer service must spend time passing on “soft skills.” Teaching people skills that enable being able to talk to anyone, to come out of the boiler room ready to connect, has been integral to UG2’s approach and success.
An employer can establish excellent training programs, but if you manage to build a team that is engaged and willing to learn and grow and help others do the same, your efforts will go much farther—and the impact, on your business and on the next generation of talent, will be profound.