From the Experts, Tips & Tricks

Reopening with Confidence Amid the Uncertainty

By Tom Good

Partnering with experts in facility services makes a world of difference

Just as schools, universities, offices, and other spaces are preparing for people to return en masse, anxiety and uncertainty are bubbling back up over the delta variant and ever-changing guidance and requirements.

But this is by no means a repeat of March 2020. We now have a playbook-in-progress, drawn from all we’ve learned. As we prepare for reopening and work to identify which strategies and modifications make sense, now is the time to step back and review some key components for safety and success.

Expertise and Leadership

UG2 leadership understands that insight, innovation, communication, and courage of conviction are central to navigating what lies ahead. The breadth of expertise we’ve recruited and developed across the company allows us to be proactive and preventative instead of merely reactive.

Our capacity to assess what might be needed over the next year and beyond—not just when buildings begin to re-open—takes experience and acting on those conclusions requires the ability to build and guide effective teams.  

Preparedness and Adaptability

The one thing we can count on, when it comes to guidelines, is that they will continue to change. UG2 can credit much of our success over the past 18 months to the preparedness and planning that are the foundation of our business model. Though we could not have predicted COVID-19’s course or impact in advance, we have always prioritized emergency planning, safety preparedness, and ongoing training—priorities that make it possible to confront such situations. We constantly evaluate our performance and introduce new and better practices.

Our employees have demonstrated, time and again, the ability to be nimble and flexible and adjust to what becomes the new normal—and to serve our customers professionally and safely.

Communication at All Levels

Assembling our entire leadership on a regular basis to get updates from all perspectives, garner and address everyone’s issues and concerns, and share those of our customers proved extremely beneficial over the past year-and-a-half. Similarly, daily safety check-ins with every employee not only allowed us to stay ahead of illness outbreaks, but it also provided ample opportunity to communicate ever-changing protocols and guidelines.

We took communication and continuity to a new level with our UG2 ReNewSM Cleaning4Health and Engineering4Health SM programs, which we are constantly enhancing and refining.

A Partner You Can Rely on Will Make the Work Possible

Facility management is a complex infrastructure of services. It involves countless tasks to complete, costs to manage, and resources to supervise. From equipment maintenance and operations to janitorial services, much of what facility managers handle impacts thousands of building occupants and guests, which makes performing with excellence critical.

That reality underscores the necessity of partnering with experts who can deliver world-class facility services. More than ever before, it’s important to engage a facility services organization with a solid record of success and the ability to deliver on commitments.

Facility services teams have learned a lot in the past year about how to set up spaces that are effectively distanced, and to identify the products and technologies to keep high-touch surfaces sanitized and air quality clean and refreshed. Knowing where and how to implement the right strategy requires another level of expertise.  

The benefits of partnering with an outsourced facility management expert are far-reaching:

• Cost control and savings: Customers not only find that costs kept within budget, but they also often realize significant cost reductions thanks to greater efficiencies, better equipment maintenance strategies, use of advanced and mobile technologies, and energy savings.

• Highly skilled talent: Facility employees get the training, technologies, ongoing professional development, and playbooks needed to be successful at whatever job they’re tasked with doing.

• Fast resolution: We arrange for the right level of staffing to meet client needs, with specialized expertise readily available. With our advanced systems, best practices, and trained implementation teams, issues are resolved faster and more effectively.

• Well-maintained systems: Providers like UG2 ensure the appropriate level of proactive and preventative maintenance required for each building system based on a thorough understanding of the customer’s requirements, budget, site commitments, and asset-preservation objectives.

• Safer facilities: Proven safety systems, training, compliance, and documentation help prevent injury and maintain workforce stability, minimizing customers’ risk exposure.

Built-in Flexibility is Essential

Today’s environment requires organizations to make constant course corrections. The outsourced model is based on flexibility. We can quickly scale business levels up or down and adjust different types of skill sets as budgets and situations change. We plan, manage, and execute, then measure and adjust. This ensures we put the right people in the right place at the right time, and ensure they’re performing as needed.

UG2 is an industry leader in all the components we know to be crucial to success today. Finding the right business partner for a safe return-to-work—and well into the future—will allow you to refocus your business its core mission and succeed.

Tom Good
Associate Vice President, Operations