A Recent Article Published by APPA Facilities Manager Magazine, Spotlights Practical Strategies for Workplace Development
One of UG2’s founding principles is a commitment to developing the next generation of facility services talent, and we have tested and refined the best strategies to advance that goal over the past decade. Lauren Lanzillo, Vice President of culture and community for UG2, shares her insights on the topic for Facilities Manager. She outlined a comprehensive approach to confronting a challenge that is impacting our customers and peers across the industry, as skilled technicians approach retirement and employers struggle to recruit new talent into the trades.
We share some highlights from Lauren’s piece below and encourage you to read the full article—or get in touch with us—if you’d like to explore the topic in depth.
Lauren draws from her experience and encourages managers and leaders to:
Build strong personal relationships. UG2 emphasizes relationship-building—not only with our customers but across our company, too. As Lauren points out, managers must put in the work to develop authentic, mutually beneficial relationships with the people they supervise. It helps you better serve their interests, which helps them to grow professionally and, in turn, improves their commitment and capacity to deliver excellent customer service.
Work to better understand the whole person. Seeing the people you manage as people, not just employees, means continuously learning about what motivates and inspires them, striving to identify the work environment in which they’ll thrive, and investigating and noting their short and long-term career aspirations. As those employees feel increasingly understood and supported by you, they’ll be invested in performing better—and will very likely stay longer.
Initiate career conversations. UG2 invests a lot of time and professional development on improving communication. Ongoing discussions about career goals are key to understanding an employee’s wants and needs—and getting ahead of stress and burnout. Encouraging honesty and fostering trust are essential to making sure these conversations go beyond superficial exchanges.
Teach self-empowerment and encourage lifelong learning. People thrive when they can take the lead in their professional development. Prompt the employees you manage to voice their interests and advocate for themselves. Talent, strength and personality assessments can help them identify and leverage their strengths, envision a path to future success, and craft a plan toward achieving attainable objectives.
Create development plans—and see them through. Understanding employees’ goals, motivations, and habits allows managers to create informed plans for professional development. To make sure such plans are effective, you should tailor them to the employee’s goals as well as their skills gaps. You can include hard- and soft-skill training, suggest mentoring opportunities, and set milestones. Then follow through by connecting them with others and fostering an appetite for networking and connecting. This will help them build relationships and extend their professional reach.
In her conclusion, Lauren points out that in facility services, our employees are our greatest assets – and retaining them is growing ever more difficult. A recent Harris Poll has the data to back this up: One-third of hiring managers believe their organization will suffer more employee turnover this year than last year, and 73 percent say turnover places a heavy burden on existing employees.
Following these tips will go a long way toward closing the gap in employee satisfaction. Read more in Lauren’s full article in Facilities Manager, and—as always—we’d love to hear from you on this topic and others important to developing the next generation of talent.
A UG2 PHD from the Mid-Atlantic team embraces opportunities to build skills and grow professionally—and helps others to do the same
Ellie Garland has been with UG2 from its earliest days, and as she’s witnessed the company evolve and grow, she has expanded her expertise and impact right alongside it.
“You’re always going to be learning,” she says, about the many opportunities afforded to employees through UG2’s industry-leading training and professional development opportunities. Combined with an emphasis on promoting from within, those offerings help the company attract and develop the most skilled and dedicated employees, and it helps us retain them as they thrive in their careers.
Ellie started with UG2 in 2015 as an Administrative Assistant in the operations support team after successful work experience in the restaurant and veterinary industries. Immediately demonstrating the skills of a talented, curious, and dynamic worker with much to contribute, she advanced steadily up the ladder in the years that followed, tackling the roles of Lead Operations Support Administrator and Operations Support Manager before earning a promotion to Senior Operations Support Manager in 2023.
In discussing that progression, she expresses her gratitude for what she laughingly calls the “Chuck and Maria lectures.” Chuck Restivo, UG2 Vice President of Operations for the Mid-Atlantic Center of Excellence, and Maria Tueros, UG2 Regional HR & Business Manager, have always made themselves available to educate, guide and support Ellie as she was determined to learn all she could about the operations side of the business and pursue every available opportunity for professional development.
“They taught me the business side, from making forms to understanding the numbers and how everything comes together,” says Ellie. “You learn about the cleaning services and which products we use. You learn the names and faces of the cleaners and facility engineers. You learn to be efficient and organized, and to be patient and calm, too.”
Ellie describes applying those hard and soft skills to a challenge she encountered early on in her work in accounts receivable, following up with unpaid invoices. She realized people were less likely to respond to her requests because they did not know her. Along with developing a system, she worked to build personal relationships with them through day-to-day communication and customer events. The approach increased her success dramatically.
Her story exemplifies UG2’s approach to mentoring — a critical ingredient for professional growth that we understand as a two-way street. They helped her gain a nuanced understanding of the business, and that is a gift she is paying forward to the employees she supervises today.
Adding Value to Other Regions and Aspects of the Company
Ellie’s talents are benefiting UG2 well beyond her immediate team. She helps with the Midwest Center of Excellence on tasks ranging from fulfilling background requests for new hires to teaching the processes that make our operations run smoothly across the company. She also supports our Southeast Center of Excellence, creating quarterly business reviews and monthly reports. In addition, she assists the corporate office team with HR, payroll, onboarding, and training. She loves contributing to the company as a whole and takes particular pleasure in the team she works with every day.
“It’s been nice to be recognized for all the hard work I’ve done and for helping the business grow, but my favorite part is my administrative team,” she says. “I love that everyone is different, and also helpful and loving, like a home away from home, and we are always here to help each other learn and grow. It’s kind of like going to school. You get to see your friends and then you have to do your homework. You’re never not learning something new.”
A Short-Term Plan Leads to a Fulfilling Career
When Nereida Barbosa started with UG2 as an overnight janitorial supervisor in April 2017, she initially saw the role as a short-term position that would allow her and her husband to juggle childcare. Having been a cleaner for UNICCO Service Company in the past, she knew the work would be hard — but she had proven to herself and her past managers that she has a work ethic that is unmatched. With two children under age two and a nine-year-old at home, she was ready to make every necessary sacrifice to support her family.
“It wasn’t easy transitioning to becoming a night owl working overnights and then coming home to deal with the kids,” says Nereida. “It was very tough, but it was a sacrifice that I decided to take on for two years. I never expected this would be something permanent or that I would find my niche. But I do remember my interview with Greg Lanzillo, UG2 director of operations, who said, ‘This is a growing company. We are always promoting people. Just keep working hard.'”
Thanks to Nereida’s hard work, dedication and natural talent with people, and the company’s commitment to promoting from within, joining UG2 proved to be a step on the ladder to a whole new career. After witnessing Nereida’s skills and commitment to the work, Greg soon came to her with an opportunity: an assistant account manager position, a demanding role that required working closely with Greg, the customer, and account manager Jaime Flores.
“I was happy when I got the opportunity for the company to promote me and train me to become a manager,” says Nereida. “We have our little hiccups here and there, but they always guide me on how to handle situations. I saw how the account manager would manage and I got the chance to meet other managers. Seeing them in the field, running the cleaning business, working closely with our customers, I knew this is where I wanted to be. Greg saw my work ethic, my hunger, and my motivation, and after a year, an account opened up and they ended up promoting me again to account manager.”
Nereida credits Greg for the guidance and support that allowed her to grow into the role, and she has an extra shoutout for Karinelis Ayala-Gonzalez, UG2’s manager of operations support. “She helped me in so many situations I wasn’t sure about, handling scenarios with employees,” says Nereida. “She was always there to guide me. I never felt like I was alone.”
As a manager, Nereida looks forward to sharing the insights that have been passed on to her, and she has advice for those looking to advance and take on greater responsibilities.
“You have to have the customer service skills to talk to a lot of people, and you have to learn how to balance your emotions,” she says. “You are dealing with so many different personalities. It’s not easy, but it’s doable. And UG2 will guide you with everything that you need. You’re never alone. They are not like coworkers. They make you feel like you are part of a family.”