Two steps forward… one step back?

Ask most people in the automotive industry, and they will tell you that they are starting to feel as though they are trapped inside the fairground game “Whack-a-Mole”. Wherever the little, furry varmint chooses to pop its head up, there’s a fairground goer waiting to lamp it with a mallet in order to win a socially questionable goldfish.

First there was “Lockdown the Prequel”, although nobody was told that the undeniable advantages of a summer lockdown were simply a rehearsal for “Lockdown 2: Welcome to Winter”. Many of us were tempted to wrestle the mallet from the fairgoer’s hands and whack ourselves into blissful unconsciousness. If that wasn’t quite enough to tip the hardier of us over the edge, the chip shortage and production crisis, thanks to war in the Ukraine, plunged many of us back into uncertainty.

Finally, we re-emerged, to find a completely changed landscape. The scars that COVID had created ran deep and it was no time for half measures. For our part, we encountered a vertical learning curve with regards to location. I had long banged on that our team needed to be office based, no exceptions, in order to be professional and productive. I learned that, firstly, they are invested in our success and were able to make a huge success of home working. Secondly, our IT team taught us that technology could bridge gaps that were previously considered insurmountable. Of course, it’s not all progress; try getting out of a family Zoom quiz without being able to use the timeless excuse of the baby-sitter being ill. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, I realised that the mental health and wellbeing of our team massively outweighed my perhaps outdated views on how we should work.

From a wellbeing point of view, we’ve long believed that the welfare of our team is what makes us successful. However, since having to work in lockdown conditions, we began to understand that a team environment doesn’t just mean location. A hybrid of flexible home and office working demonstrated our trust in our team, gave people the opportunity to be there for family and personal commitments and took away the burden of a daily commute at a time when rising fuel and living costs are impacting seriously on us all.

I’m in no way playing down the role of the office in this picture. A solid base from which to work, available to all those who prefer this environment and absolutely essential for training, teambuilding, coaching and client interactions, remains the heart of our business and that will never change. We’ve decided to continue with many of the measures that have now been made optional until every staff member feels comfortable without.

Gratifyingly, with our clients also considering best working methods, we’ve started to find that most companies prefer to operate a little more leanly and, in addition to our traditional marketing and contact centre offering, we’re being increasingly asked to offer more basic, out of hours and call overflow services. Each programme is of course bespoke to the needs of the client and can range from basic message taking to a full, PA and customer care facility.

So, yes, we’ve found ourselves taking a few steps backwards in order to go forwards, but it’s starting to look positive. Different, but positive.?