Today I interviewed Bryan to get a sense of his perspective on his leadership position. His response was extremely inspiring.
Creating member testimonials that involve associates within a business organization is an asset to the company and the consumers. Taking an inside look into what colleagues accomplish in their everyday work builds a specific understanding of meaningful experiences that have happened to them while promoting a positive and healthy work environment.
THE PROJECT
With that being said, I would like to introduce myself: my name is Robert Riviera, and I am a part of the marketing department here at Imperial Building Maintenance. Currently, I am working on a unique project where I am individually interviewing coworkers that are a part of different departments within the company. Hence, my hope as a true marketer is that this project can raise awareness of what our workforce does within their job.
Moving on, today I had the pleasure of speaking with Bryan Cerrato, one of our Area Supervisors. Before sitting down with Bryan, a specific set of questions was made intended to extract a deep understanding of his insights as a supervisor. I will now take you through a written perspective of what was said in our interview.
1. ROLES AND ATTRIBUTIONS
The first question I wanted to ask Bryan was a brief description of what he does in his job. Proceeding to ask: could you explain your roles and attribution as a supervisor, and which is the most important in your opinion? He then started to tell me what it truly means to be a supervisor to him: “I provide help and guidance to team members and guarantee quality work for customers”. A further point was made about answering the second part of the question: “an essential aspect of my position involves me being there for associates when they need help with work-related subjects and even taking personal matters into account”. That showed me how badly he wants to promote a healthy work environment for our people.
2. IMPORTANT DECISIONS
I moved on to asking Bryan the second question: what is one of the most important decisions you have made as a supervisor? In my understanding, his most important decision involved adjusting cleaning routines at our accounts. He explained to me that sometimes there are cleaning routines that are not perfectly balanced between team members within the same account. “It is my job as a leader to pay attention to my team members and what might make them uncomfortable”. And he continued: “We utilize the Team Cleaning System, which means that we train specialists and not generalists. It depends on the size and layout of the building, of course, but it’s not uncommon to have more work for a Vacuum Specialist, compared to a Utility Specialist, for example”. He told me it is his job as a supervisor to divide work for each cleaning member equally, so it is fair labor for everyone, and we can achieve the best efficiency rates. This answer I got from him showed me how much planning and scheduling Bryan must do before reporting to any of our accounts.
3. PEOPLE-CENTRIC CULTURE
Next, I asked him: do you think a people-centric culture is essential to build teamwork, and how come? For this question, Bryan had a clear right-to-point answer showing his confidence in the culture that should be promoted—telling me: “yes, since it considers how our people want to work. It also encourages inspiration within duties that they perform ultimately to achieve the highest level of fulfillment for that person behind the task”.
4. THE POWER OF TRUE LEADERSHIP
One of the final questions I wanted to ask was: how does leadership affect your team's performance and culture? He then answered this question with a smile on his face, telling me: “I am the best supervisor possible when I display leadership. Establishing this kind of trait helps set a prime example for our team. Accordingly, establishing this kind of example boosts a positive work environment for everyone at the company. It affects how people perform when they report to work and how they feel when they are working”. That was truly inspiring in my opinion.
5. REAL-LIFE ENCOURAGEMENT
Lastly, I asked Bryan: how do you motivate or encourage your team, and if there is an example? He started his answer by telling me a story of a cleaning specialist who felt a bit nervous due to her first impression of the job, saying that the size of the building looked enormous. “Yet, after noticing this emotion from one of the members while at the job, I tried to explain in deeper detail what was expected from all of us and that she could complete it without skipping a beat. Sometimes, leadership means proving to people their immense potential”.
To conclude, I enjoyed having this sit-down interview with Bryan since it gave me a deeper look into what his day-to-day job entails. Also, giving me a different perspective on the supervisor position here at Imperial Building Maintenance. It is clear to me that Bryan is truly a remarkable leader, equipped with a wide variety of human skills and empathy toward his team. I'm deeply thankful for having this opportunity and for witnessing the positive effect of proactive mentoring in our organization. Finally, as a part of the marketing department, I hope this information can be valuable to our team members and customers.
