With a strong company culture in place and a management team he can rely on, Lazorik can be nimble and quick to adjust when challenges present themselves. Unlike hiring strategies, no amount of planning is going to leave a cleaning company totally prepared for something like COVID-19 because nothing like COVID-19 had occurred in decades. Instead of strategizing when the pandemic hit, Lazorik and his leadership team was left making changes on the fly, like everybody else. The changes quickly proved the team's ability to work together to make crucial decisions.
"I feel that in February we were probably in the boat with everyone else on thoughts on coronavirus: This will go the same route as Swine Flu and SARS," says Lazorik. "However, in late February and entering March, we quickly realized this required immediate attention, proactive planning and a sense of innovation with respect to the services we provide and what we needed to do to continue those services safely."
It was at this time that Lazorik and Bush decided the company would have to make sure to get its supply chain in order.
"I was going to the local Home Depot to buy N95 masks just so we had something," says Lazorik.
Klien saw opportunities for improvement, too. She says clients were complaining that their own employees were taking hand sanitizer from the office and bringing it home, so Bryco Facility Services began to offer hand sanitizer storage for its clients.
The leadership team also decided early on that the company needed to issue a statement on COVID-19 and how it might impact services. In the statement, Bryco Facility Services promised not to price gouge. The only hikes in cost of service would be those that were needed to offset the unique costs of battling COVID-19. In return, Bryco asked its clients to report any and all incidents they had related to the virus, so that Bryco's staff wasn't going in underprepared.
"I would like to think that as an industry as a whole, that was the M.O., but some companies were so scared by COVID-19 and weren't answering their phone," says Lazorik. "We definitely figured we can't take a back seat here. We had to be the leader."
That type of leadership and care has proven crucial. Bryco Facility Services has only lost two employees through the entire pandemic. Klien believes that's because employees both want to stay and help fight the pandemic, and also don't want to leave because of what they have at Bryco Facility Services.
"I think something that played a huge part in our employees feeling safe and valued with COVID-19 is that they saw our owner and director — Bryan and Corey — also going into the frontlines to face COVID-19 head on," says Klien. "They are at almost every COVID-19 terminal disinfection we do. I remember Bryan saying something to the tune of, 'I'm not going to send my family into something that I wasn't willing to go into myself.' I think that says so much about his leadership and caring demeanor."
Lazorik set out to create a company that acted as a family and an environment where his staff was happy. As Bryco Facility Services celebrates its 20th year of business, he can be proud that he's achieved so many goals.
"As a company we are continually realigning our goals with our vision and I'm so excited to continue this journey with my Bryco family," says Lazorik.
Creating A Team Of Strong Leaders