Achieving Operational Success Through Communication, Education, Accountability, and Passion featuring Nancy Gonzalez
Mentorship, Trust, and Development
Nancy Gonzalez, VP Regional Manager, joined Pegasus on December 2, 2019. After a year and a half of decision making and “back n’ forth”, she finally took the leap and left her previous company of 11 years — GCA Services an ABM Company. “BEST decision ever made!” she says. Even though the road at Pegasus has been rough at times, she said it is by far the BEST company she has worked for in her professional years of working in the industry. Now going into her 18th year in Operations, she truly enjoys the partnerships and relationships that she has built with her external and internal customers.
The grocery store strike of 2003 drove her to pursue a different career path. While still attending Orange Coast College as Criminal Justice major, she was going through the LA County Sheriff Dept process to become a Custody Officer. That did not pan out for her, she said, as there was a hiring freeze going into her final background steps. While she was extremely disappointed, she knew God had other plans for her. She was recommended to a Janitorial, Maintenance, and Construction company — Calico Building Services in 2004, where she started as a Maintenance Coordinator. A year and a half later she was moved to Janitorial Ops since she was bilingual, and there were major changes in management and the department needed support. She was placed as a Janitorial Coordinator and that was the beginning of her professional career in Janitorial Ops.
Nancy’s parents instilled a strong work ethic in her from a very young age. Her dad was a janitor, and her mom owned her own house cleaning business. Wanting to do better and one day help them out is what drove her to be passionate about all she does professionally and personally. “Operations takes a special type of wiring in your brain, not all that start survive,” she says. She believes she is good at what she does because she had the best role models; a hard-working father that didn’t retire until the age of 76 and a strong, hard working mother that continues to be a great role model in her life.
Her goal as the VP, Regional Operations is to serve her team as a mentor, someone that they can trust and see as someone that can help develop them, as well as to serve her customers and as a collaborative effort with her peers to become the Global Leader in Critical Cleaning.
How would you describe successful communication between different organizational functions and departments?
I would describe successful communication between organizational functions and departments as a transparent outcome on the ask, support, etc.
How is your approach toward managing operations and people?
Empower my team to make decisions, take ownership and be accountable.
In what ways do you measure the success of your team?
Through participation in meetings, providing solutions to their problems, facing an issue head on, and closing the loop and always assuring them to reach out for support when needed.
How do you motivate employees who may be resistant to changes from company growth?
Through constant communication and education/explanation as to why changes are vital and why they are occurring. Being available to my Team if they have any questions or are feeling uneasy about changes.