As we enter Week 4 – the story so far
Well, in all my years in recruitment I can honestly say that the last 3 weeks have been the hardest, both on the emotional front and brain information overload. I have never had this much to make sense of in such a short space of time. The good news is that if the tunnel wasn’t so bendy, I believe that I would now be able to see the light at the end of it.
My COVID 19 journey so far.
Phase 1 – Organising, I wanted the office to be a safe haven, hand wash, wipes and people being responsible – no onsite interviews (the teams cry of horror to seeing themselves on Zoom!) I went about arranging for the team to be able to work remotely, which I believed wouldn’t happen (how wrong I was) Their health was my first thought, that included our brilliant temporary team – what were our clients doing to keep them safe, how were people getting to work, who did they live with, what support could we offer?
Phase 2 Panic – Cashflow
Phase 3 Actioned Remote working, not the best option for a recruitment business who pride ourselves on meeting 95% or our permanent people and 100% or our temporary team – still work in progress, however, Kasia now has a system that works and we are now able to onboard suitable people to join us, which has allowed us to continue to help local business who need our support.
Phase 4 Panic – 15 years, can my business survive? – I had to let go of one team member.
Phase 5 Impact sinks in – I have to say that for the first 2 weeks I was waiting to wake up from a bad dream, the news was just so sad and I felt very selfish and ungrateful worrying about my business as people died. I am lucky, I still have a business running, now a team of 2 but we are making the most of the time we now have to take stock and keep in touch with our contacts.
Phase 6 Panic – Cashflow- I had to Furlough 2 team members – now we are 2
Current Phase Feeling grateful to still be in business, it has been a very long 3 weeks and with every day I learn something new, think of something else to change and plan how we can learn and be better recruiters when we finally get back to “normal”
This is a journey that I know will make changes to all of us, hopefully, for the better, we can learn to be more often in the “present”, remind ourselves everyday how lucky we are, keep looking out and supporting those around us and realise what a wonderful world we live in.
To be continued…
Until then, Kasia and I are still here, ready to talk and still “placingpeoplefirst”
NB: if anyone would like any information about Furloughing, VAT payments, Government Grants, Rate reductions, working remotely successfully and virtual meetings/interviews, I would be very happy to help.
#localheros #staysafe #bekind #stillworking