When values are tested: How LAZ Parking put conscious leadership into practice during COVID-19.
Incorporating conscious practices is easy when the market is stable. The true test of your organization’s values comes when tides change for the worse.
LAZ Parking offers a clear example of what this looks like in practice. Guided by the “LAZ Way,” the company has built its business around a simple but demanding principle: how you operate matters as much as what you deliver.
That philosophy was put to the test during COVID-19. LAZ’s business dropped by 95% almost overnight, and for the first time in the company’s history, the company had to furlough 7,800 employees.
In moments like this, most organizations revert to survival mode, prioritizing cost-cutting over culture.
LAZ instead chose to act in alignment with conscious philosophy. Senior leaders gave up their salaries, a $1 million employee relief fund was established, and leadership advocated for external support for workers. At the same time, the company adapted quickly, converting parking facilities into COVID-19 testing centres to keep people employed and serve community needs.
And it showed. Years of doing right by partners came back when it mattered most. Landlords offered flexibility without being asked and a vendor even waived a $40,000 bill out of goodwill. In the middle of a crisis, those relationships made all the difference.
