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Julio Lopez, the Maintenance Director at The Palace Coral Gables, has been named the 2021
Manager of the Year in a competition among recipients of the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award.
The Palace Group has received the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award for four consecutive years. Gallup recognizes the most engaged workplaces in the world, and to have its managers considered, a company must be a recipient of the award. This year, Lopez competed against 11 finalists and was selected by a team of workplace experts and talent analysts.
As maintenance director at the active retirement community, Lopez oversees the maintenance of the 250,000-square-foot community with 242 apartments, public areas, a theater, balconies, an indoor pool and spa, an eight-floor parking garage, and rented retail service spaces. His seven-person team has varying levels of expertise in the different maintenance needs of the building and other Palace Group locations.
Lopez began his career in building maintenance before spending time as an independent building contractor. He was drawn to The Palace Group’s mission – as his own parents were getting older – and the opportunity to use his skills in a new field to make life better for residents. He started as a member of the maintenance team, but when the maintenance director position became available, he approached The Palace Group’s management team and expressed his interest.
“Listen, I can do this,” he recalls telling The Palace. “Just give me six months to train myself and get training from you.”
He was given the opportunity, and in just three years as a manager, Lopez has exceeded retention goals. His comprehensive preventative maintenance schedule has kept him below budget every year. This allows his team time to respond to every resident service request within 24 hours, earning resident satisfaction scores even higher than the company goal of 90 percent.
The Palace Group’s leadership team recognizes one of Lopez’ greatest strengths is cross-training. He leads training sessions for team members to train each other on a skill of the week. “
“We are so proud of what Julio has accomplished for The Palace Group,” said Haim Dubitzky, MSM, MOS, Vice President of Performance Excellence. “To be recognized by such a prestigious organization is truly a testament to what he brings to our company.”
