At Fuzion, we like to share lots of things between the team, not just work related, so, recently we asked the team to share their favourite food to cook, and we got an insight into all of our cooking skills, some good, some bad and some great!
My favourite is slow cooked Spaghetti Bolognese, in particular because when cooked this way the mince tastes so delicious.
I could tell you that it was a family recipe handed down from generation to generation but I saw it on Instagram posted by the lovely Sandra Murphy (@sandrainthecity), the ex proprietor of The Rising Tide bar and restaurant and now a friend.
For me it can be either a treat or an every day meal, but it is glorious on a chilled out day when you have the time to potter around and allow the delicious smell of the dish to get those hunger pangs going.
While many would drink a fine red with this dish I just love it with a glass of chardonnay and my perfect guests for this very special meal are my lovely family!
The how to..Slow cooked Bolognese
Ingredients – for 4 people
1 large onion
3 garlic cloves
1 red chilli
Carton of passata
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 beef stock cube
Mixed herbs / oregano (optional)
500g beef mince – less than 5% fat
Chop the onion, garlic and chilli – add to a pan, heat them, do not brown them, just soften. Add the mince meat
Once the mince is browned, add a carton of passata, the tin of tomatoes, the tomato puree and the beef stock cube.
Then add the mixed herbs. Cook on a medium heat for approx 3 hours, keep checking so that it’s not bubbling too much. The sauce will reduce here. Once ready, boil the spaghetti to your liking and serve…
It’s important to me that I am learning something new all of the time, whether it is something professional or personal – in fact it was one of my New Year’s resolutions last year and again this year,
A love of Italy and a dream of returning there (Tuscany please!) in a post Covid world (we can dream at least) had learning Italian on my list.
I had heard from my brother Colin that the Duo Lingo App was a great way to learn so I signed up for the free App and quickly switched to the subscription version – you can only watch so many adverts every time you make a mistake!
As well as Duo Lingo I also signed up for some other courses including video editing on the Udemy platform. The courses on Udemy are really affordable and when I signed up I was determined to complete them.
The big learning difference between each is that Duo Lingo have thought deeply about how people operate, their will power (or lack of), their ability to stay focused and stay the course and how your motivation can change from the minute you sign up to afterwards when all of the other life stuff can throw you off track.
I guess in a way it’s like the gym membership in January, which starts with all of the very best intentions and ends up how it always does unless there are some very special motivation factors that will keep you coming back.
With all of that perspective Duo Lingo successfully gamified their App and built in features that keep you on course and keep you coming back.
They give you points for every exercise you complete, they send you messages to stick with it, they put you in a league table and constantly tell you where you are on that table!
When you complete an exercise they ask you to go again and earn double points, they tell you how you compare with others and they give you bonuses for being an “early bird”. The other very clever thing is they allow you to follow others and it lets you know when those people hit certain milestones and you can congratulate them from within the platform. That’s how I found out my sister is also using the App and how my brother is pretty serious about learning Spanish!
The most addictive element in my opinion is the “days streak” that you are on and you get constant messages to remind you that your “streak” may end if you don’t do an exercise!
It’s a very simple thing but it has me each day waking and thinking that I better do an Italian exercise to make sure I keep my streak going. A new habit has infiltrated my busy life!
I couldn’t tell you the last time I did a session on the video editing course – in truth when I go back to it I will probably have to go back to earlier sessions as I will have forgotten what I had learnt.
Knowing how I work and my busy schedule I was careful enough to schedule times in my diary to do the training sessions on Udemy but mostly that never worked out because something else took my time and attention – I haven’t missed a day of Italian learning in 146 days (not as important to me as the editing),
My point in all of this and making the comparison between the learning systems is that I know and you probably do as well that learning which involves some new habits is really really difficult and unless there is something significant motivating you then you probably won’t stay the course,
As well as my own objectives this year and the things I want to change both personally and for the business I do need to think about gamifying these in some way to increase the chances of success.
Is it a league table, setting reminders in my calendar, having a learning buddy, making a no messing time of the day/week that can’t be interfered with, counting my successive days and rewarding myself when that happens – maybe a very very special of red wine from Tuscany from the fabulous Wine Buff ?
Whatever it is I need to crack it.
What do you do to stay on track with those New Years resolutions and good luck with them!
There’s been so much written about the beautiful years of college.
However, many seem to forget to tell you about the transition from college to work and how it can impact graduates on their mental health.
So, you’re right there in the final semester, you can even see the silver lining but now let me guide you through the turmoil of emotions that are coming your way!
Once you get your final results you will feel like the new Steve Jobs (or Thor), flooded with emotions of achievement and pride. The world is your oyster!
My Advice: Write yourself a note to remind you about this wonderful achievement and how it made you feel (because ……you’re going to need it later!).
Now here are the three main stages that I experienced:
Round 1: Post-Graduation Depression.
It’s been years studying late at night, meeting up with your team for projects, many reports submitted, and so on. And now what?
You might start feeling stagnant, anxious, or even depressed. This is when the grieving process begins, grieving for a period in your life that is gone.
My advice:
Give your brain some time to adjust to the new situation. Accept those feelings and let them go.
Round 2: The Job Hunt & Rejection.
Once the post-graduation depression is over, you might start with the job hunt filled with ambition and passion. Your resume is the hammer to your inner Thor!
But here is when the rejection game happens. You might apply for five jobs a day and get ten rejection emails in exchange (ok, those maths don’t work, but trust me, it will feel like that).
The brain will wander and the negativity will set in and a possible guilt trip will start. Am I not good enough? Why didn’t I go to the career services in my college? And so on.
My Advice:
Don’t take the rejection personally. Take a day or two when it gets too much to reconsider your approach and adjust.
Also here is the moment to read the note you left for yourself when you finished your degree, and remind your inner Thor that you’re the God of Thunder, the All-Father and King of Asgard, and Son of Odin (well maybe not that, but you can try with the God/dess of TikTok, The All-Father/Mother of Buddy (your dog), king/queen of your cul-de-sac and son/daughter of Finbarr & Mary!
Round 3: New Job & The Imposter Syndrome.
Eventually, you get a job, and just when you think the whirlwind of emotions is all gone, here is when the final round kicks in.
Do you feel like you don’t know what you are doing? Do you feel like everyone else is smarter than you?
Don’t worry, it happens that often this “feeling” or condition even has a name, ‘the Imposter Syndrome’. It is based on an internal belief that you are not as good as others perceive you to be.
My Advice:
Avoid comparing yourself to others and be brave enough to question your own thoughts. Most likely they are not real, but just that little voice in your head.
Now, and after all this experience I am proud to say that I got the job that I wanted.
Just one week in Fuzion Communications and I already realised the great value the company places on being brave and ambitious. Which it is exactly what my inner Thor taught me during my journey.
#WinHappy as we say in Fuzion!
Patricia
Patricia Perera is a very bright, insightful and intelligent person who has just joined the Fuzion Communications team and begins her career, starting as a Communications intern with a fantastic future ahead!
Note from editor:
Thank you Patricia for reminding us what it is like for anyone at the beginning of their career, trying to get a start in a fog of disappointments.
Your 20’s are strange years, some of my friends are still in college finishing their degrees, others have great jobs in different counties and countries, and a few have brought beautiful children into the world.
Although I’m only three years in, the most prominent learning of my 20’s is that there is no clear path to adulthood.!
People change, which includes careers, families, relationships and interests. I don’t think there is one single point in anyone’s life that signals you’ve entered adulthood, but believe me when I say alarm bells were ringing loudly in my head when I noticed I was receiving Dunnes Stores Clubcard vouchers in the post!
We seem to be under the impression that a simple age cutoff such as turning 18, or a celebration like a college graduation should make us feel like adults. After all, there are certain privileges that come with crossing those thresholds, the right to vote, to purchase alcohol, drive a car etc. Why do we assume that the years between 16 and 23 are the years that you must get everything set up for the rest of your life to fall in place?
I was given my first car when I was 16, a Ford Ka, a beautiful piece of engineering if you ask me.
Before even completing my first driving lesson, I was signing myself into a contract with an Insurance company for a comprehensive package coming in at €3,200 for the year. I remember the monthly payments cost €260, all my hard earned money was gone into insurance for a car that was probably worth €400! Hindsight is great though, now I can look back and be proud of myself for being able to learn to budget from a young age and manage that considerable outlay. I should really write a letter to Axa and thank them!
I know people say they don’t have it all figured out either, and that you shouldn’t worry about the future but it’s difficult when there seems to be such a structured way of doing things. School – College – Job – House – Husband – Child, it just doesn’t seem like a chain that should be broken when you’re at this age.
I love that people are learning to rebel against the ‘rules’, going back to education at a later age, not buying a car because public transport suffices, having children when they feel it’s the right time and so many more examples.
There is no clear path to adulthood and from what I’ve learned so far is… not to worry!
Everything will fall into place, I might be biased because I’ve only recently downloaded ‘The Secret’ on audiobooks so I’m really trying to stay positive about everything!!!
Many of us have a variation on the story now, but in March of 2020 I found myself working from home as a full-time employee for the first time. I make the full-time distinction as I had worked for myself and on my own terms for a few years, but this was different.
Or was it?
In actuality it turned out that the lessons and good habits I had developed prior to re-joining full-time about 6 years ago, were very much still applicable.
When we decamped to our home workspaces in March of 2020 “for a few weeks” we weren’t to know what a paradigm shift it would be. At Fuzion, we had to hit the ground running as some of our clients became extra-busy, especially our design clients, so there wasn’t a lot of time to adapt. Luckily there were some quick hacks that could be applied to make for a productive and positive work from home situation. Here are some of my favourite tips that allowed me to survive and thrive in a year of WFH.
Segregate your work and home life, even if just in your head.
After all, how do you avoid bringing work home, when you work from home? Little mind-hacks can be a great help. For example, you can create a home mood or a work mood, through use of light and sound. I’ve back-lit my Mac, which is only on during work hours and I have taken our Fuzion Design favourite radio station BBC Six Music with me, which I only play during work hours.
After all, Techno Tuesday is great for focus and it just may save your life. When it’s time to stop, the Mac goes off, the lights change and I swap the radio for a playlist or TV.
A Good Workspace is Key.
Many of us kicked off last March on sofas or at kitchen tables. Try and avoid this, get a desk that you can keep just for work. Use a comfortable chair, that you can roll away at end of day. Pay attention to ergonomics as you’ll be sitting there 8 hours a day. Keep your workspace minimalist and uncluttered, distraction free. Apply the same to anything in your peripheral vision, if you can.
Remember to Stand.
Your back will thank you and your focus will thank you. Heck, if you have to, do as Haruki Murakami said and Dance, Dance, Dance. Especially if it’s techno Tuesday. Who’s to stop you? (Magic Carpet Ride by the Mighty Dub Katz is on the radio as I type, be right back).
Choose to Commute.
Take a walk in the morning or the evening straight after work. As much as you might think you don’t miss a commute, the post-work exercise helps reset your brain. Take a camera with you so that you’re always watching out for a good photo and engaged with and interested in your environment, even if you walk it every day. That’ll also help you stretch your eyes after a day of staring at a screen. Some days do the route in reverse! Every bit helps.
Keep good work practices.
Filing, admin, communication. Manage and track your time, keep notes to mitigate the COVID brain fog. Use tools that suit your new work environment. Whether for note taking, collaboration or file transfer. Don’t have a NAS server? Use Google or Dropbox or other collaborative file sharing tools to ensure that your shared files remain in a central location and are always up to date.
Have a department chat group or Slack (we use Google Chat). It’s great for quick questions or a bit of idle chit chat (not to be underestimated).
Get up, get dressed!
Get dressed for work every day, even if you’re only going to be seen on Zoom. If you have to plan what to wear the night before, you’ll instantly feel organised the next morning. Pride in your appearance is great for instilling some positivity and good for your mental health. The ritual of getting ready is familiar and helps you get in a work frame of mind. Don’t worry too much about dress code, but dress in a way that makes you feel good and ready to have a good day.
Watch your breaks
Have a good breakfast and stick to your lunch breaks. Taking breaks is important, even if to stand up and step out of the room. Don’t overdo the breaks either, remember you are at work and if you’re a designer too, you’ll know it ruins that sense of flow we so often need.
Don’t be a hermit
Network, stay in touch with peers, whether via social media or otherwise. Use organised feeds to ensure you’re getting enough good news and inspiration. Avoid doom-scrolling on social media by making lists that you can check in on. If you’ve to catch up with a colleague, take a few minutes extra and do it by video, studies have shown the positive effects of that level of human engagement (see wired article TBC). Even a short DM chat to touch base with a colleague can help your team grow.
Make time for the team. At Fuzion we have a semi-formal Monday morning catch up and briefing. At week’s end it’s Fuzion Friday – which is as informal as you get and a nice way to finish your week. When you’re out for a walk, arrange to meet a friend for a coffee or a chat, even just to feel normal. Especially if you live alone. Just because you’re WFH doesn’t mean you have to be be a hermit.
Be flexible.
For some people. Standard office hours won’t always work when you’re at home. Small people (children) and home life can interrupt. Plan your work when it’s practical, even if that’s earlier in the morning or later into the evening. Enjoy the flexibility, rather than fighting against it.
Take pride in achieving that balance.
Sh!t Happens
Remember, sh!t happens and it’s rarely the end of the world. If the server goes down, your Zoom will only show you as a cat, or a colleague can’t find files at the last second, don’t sweat it. You’re all doing brilliantly. We ARE all in it together. Stay positive. Positivity is contagious.
What is ‘purpose’ and why is having one so important? Purpose can be described as the reason for which something exists or is done, made, or used.
To me, I don’t think anyone has a set purpose for their whole life, I think it changes throughout our lifetime, naturally changing as our life ebbs and flows. I see purpose as both striving to achieve a goal and a specific outcome but also enjoying the journey while you’re on it, working towards something but enjoying what you hope you will someday achieve.
Working on your ambitions and personal goals while also potentially changing the lives of other people, is one of the reasons I enjoy what I do. Feeling like the work you do has a purpose and a meaning is one of life’s greatest joys.
I’m a strong believer in manifesting what you want in life, and last year, when I began my journey with Fuzion I wrote down a goal of mine; to work with a mental health organisation. Being a big advocate for mental health myself, I wanted to feel as though I was doing some good and helping others as much as I could in my day-to-day life; any little part I could play.
When we got to pitch to work with the IACP I knew it was an account I had to work on.
Working alongside them last year and launching their national ‘Look After Yourself‘ campaign was one of the highlights of my year. From team brainstorms to reaching out to strangers, with notes in their door to see if we could put a mural on the side of their house (we’ll do anything to get the job done, us PR folk!) to reaching out to Joe Caslin and seeing his vision of the campaign come to life in a mural on Montague Lane in Dublin was an exceptional moment for me and no doubt my Fuzion colleagues too.
This campaign sought to shine a light on men’s mental health, to break the stigma surrounding toxic masculinity and to encourage young men to see therapy as something they shouldn’t be ashamed of doing, and instead encourage each other to seek help if they need it.
There is no shame in asking for help, and although there is still a lot of work left to be done to break the stigma of therapy, we do hope this campaign started a conversation and even encouraged one person to seek help.
Not only did this campaign, I hope, help others but it also helped me achieve my sense of purpose. I would consider working on this campaign not only a highlight for me but the most noteworthy moment in my career thus far and I plan to be talking about it for years to come!
No matter what way you look at it, the Covid-19 pandemic has been a trying time for everyone. But as the saying goes, ‘with every cloud there is a silver lining’ – which in my view has been the drastic business transformation and surge of digitisation that we have experienced over the past year.
There has never been a time when staying visible online has been more important for business survival.
With doors closing around the country due to the on-going Covid-19 level 5 restrictions, many businesses have had no choice but to adapt ‘from bricks to clicks’ in order to remain viable.
At Fuzion, we work closely with the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), to help share the stories of the hundreds of micro-enterprises and SMEs around the country with media – in the hope that it will encourage and inspire others who may be looking to start or grow their business – or for those struggling, to contact their Local Enterprise Office for support.
Through this work, I have been fortunate enough to work with some amazing LEO client businesses from all over Ireland – helping to share their stories of how they have adapted / pivoted (…..even battled) through the pandemic and how they have come out the other side with the help and guidance of the LEOs.
The LEO Trading Online Voucher has had particular impact across the country – with over 13,000 TOV’s approved in 2020…… That’s a whopping 13,000 businesses supported with developing or enhancing their online presence!
From this work, my little nuggets of advice to any small business would be:
If you haven’t already, contact your nearest LEO – they provide so much support in terms of business advice, mentoring and grants such as the TOV mentioned above, Business Continuity Vouchers, Feasibility Grants and so much more
Again, if you haven’t already – get online! A website ideally or a social media channel where you can keep your customers updated, share new products, blogs etc.
Try to think outside the box – now is the time to create a new branch for your business or solution for your customers – take the chance it could pay off!
Work on your ‘story’ in three short paragraphs & engage with local media to share your story or share via short blogs / social posts
How/Why you started the business
How your business adapted / transformed – (including any relevant figures such as online sale growth Vs 2019)
Any future plans that you have for your business – ie. new employees, overseas expansion, new stockists etc.
Good quality, high resolution photography is a must if engaging in any PR / online activity
Know your angles
Use colourful props or something that explains your business in the shots
Images can be taken by a PR photographer or on your smartphone with a family member or friend if taken landscape
Create video content – whether it’s short 30’ second “Meet the Team” videos or a “Hero Video” explaining your business proposition – it is an engaging way to reach your audience
If you are a sole trader or very small business – it can be an isolating place – join a network or reach out to professionals (such as ourselves 😉) if you need a sounding board or business support
Be consistent and persistent
Stay visible & keep plugging and reminding people of why you are so great and why they need your products / services!
Use social media advertising and Google Ads to your advantage – with so much competition online – it pays off to pay a little!
Connect and talk to your audience online – ask them questions and engage – you might learn something new!
Much of this you may already know – but I hope it has helped just to be reminded or re-energised your motivation!
Most of all it is important to know that the opportunity is there for those who wish to divehead first into the challenges – the decision is ultimately yours whether to stay the way you are or take the plunge!
At the start of Lockdown I set myself loads of goals including trying to lose ten pounds in two weeks and dropping a dress size in one month.
When these inevitably didn’t work I challenged myself to drink 4 litres of water everyday and I got into a really bad habit of weighing myself everyday, hoping the scales would shift the tiniest bit to fuel my ego.
With so much idle time at home with nowhere to go and nobody to see, the only thing that seemed worth focusing on was bettering myself, and by that I mean my exterior, safe to say I wasn’t trying to improve my mindset!
All this extra time amounted to excess screen time. Endless scrolling through false realities, “Lockdown Glowups”, home workouts and low calorie meals was so damaging to thousands of girls/boys/women/men exactly like me.
TikTok was spitting out exercise videos at me as well as “two week transformations” with amazing results.
As Lockdown was such an isolating experience for everybody, we spent quite a lot of time with our thoughts: What you might have thought about yourself for a split second in February just got heightened by 1000% in April. Suddenly MyFitnessPal felt like my only pal.
To pass the day I spent my time entering the bowl of fruit I ate for breakfast into a calorie calculating app that constantly notified me that I didn’t weigh myself this morning and to “Jump On The Scales!”. The constant restrict-binge cycle was exhausting, but it was okay because my favourite “influencers” said it happens to them all the time (sarcasm intended!).
So as if people weren’t going through enough hardship with a global pandemic and all the frills that come with that, we were given mixed messages regarding health and fitness advice every day; There was – work from home, but don’t sit down all day, get out and exercise – but make sure it’s in your 5km radius and you should have no contact with others.
While at the same time we were bombarded with banana bread recipes, homemade cocktail ingredients and of course that thing that happened in the middle of all this that nobody seems to remember, Easter and those delicious yet deadly hollow brown eggs!!
After a few months had passed and the “new normal” had set in, the calorie counting stopped.
Safe to say at least 100 of the accounts I used to follow online have gotten a big unfollow from me, because they weren’t there for me when I slipped up -They were still drinking kale smoothies and getting their ten thousand steps everyday, while I faced my second serving of carbs that morning.
I asked myself, why would you follow someone who makes you feel bad about yourself?
I’ve learned that you can be healthy without weighing out your spinach, and I’ve learned that I don’t need to look like those girls we see all over our feeds, because that’s how they make their living and I just want to focus on living.
What a strange situation we all find ourselves in.
We are all used to getting up, taking the kids to school, going to work, having the kids collected from school and then head home from work, make dinner, supervise homework…this has been our way of life for many years.
We all wondered, well, I know I did, what would it be like to work from home?
My husband does it regularly and does so with ease – little did we expect for this decision to be forced upon us, with some people thriving and others not so much.
I for one, must admit that I do very much enjoy the social interaction and before the COVID19 lockdown was introduced, when we were all initially advised on March 12th to just be cautious, only travel if you need to go to work etc, I did continue to head to work, albeit in the office on my own. I did still enjoy heading out to work in the morning.
When lockdown was introduced, that is when I had to realise that I could not travel out and needed to heed the advice and stay home, that’s when it started to feel real for me. It was going to be a long few weeks but that’s what needed to be done.
I must say I thought I would have found it hard and yes, the weekends are tough as there are hours that need filling, but overall it’s been great spending unexpected time at home with my family. We have enjoyed spending every meal together, which I know might be the norm for some, but as a busy household that just didn’t always happen.
We are now going for our daily walks, chatting more in the evenings and overall spending much more quality time together. My younger daughter who is a Junior Cert student was initially angry that the exams had been cancelled, but on reflection is enjoying the time away from the books.
My older daughter, who is studying for college exams is coming around to the fact that these are now to be done online, this is unprecedented but is accepting that is the best option at this time. She likes exercising, and we always encourage it as parents and she wouldn’t have done an outdoor 5km run previously, but just this week she completed one for charity!
I know that wouldn’t have happened unless it was on the treadmill in the college gym. Speaking of treadmills, my boss mentioned at the start of all this, that now is an opportunity for us all to step off that treadmill that we are all on, each and every one of us are rushing around and this needs to stop.
I am so grateful to work with a company that are so passionate about their employees and make it their priority to check in with us each and every day, either on Google Meet or via Zoom.
In terms of interacting with each other, the communication tools that were the norm were Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and lately TikTok, which is how my older daughter communicated. My younger daughter thankfully isn’t on social media, but they sent hand written letters to their friends this past week, something they have never done and even questioned the price of a stamp – €1 for a stamp, they were shocked, so this for me was a very welcome change!
In 2018 I set up a local private group Facebook page for the village I live in and it had been slowly gathering traction but recently it has gained many followers and with all that has been happening it has been a great information platform for the community.
On St. Patrick’s Day, I put a call out at 1pm to have a car parade around the village (population of under 1000) and at the suggested meeting time of 4pm.
100 vehicles turned up, including sports cars, old cars and even tractors, whilst everyone staying in their vehicles and practising social distancing. The feedback from parents was exceptional in that the kids loved it, we drove around their estates, beeping the horns, waving to neighbours and that sense of community spirit was really special and something we will always remember.
Another initiative the Facebook page was really useful for was when I asked for local volunteers amid this pandemic. There are elderly and vulnerable people living in our village and I was aware that they may need help and again I was inundated with volunteers who are all currently on standby, should they be needed.
Last week I asked for families if they were interested in book swapping as some parents were saying that their kids were bored at home as every book in every room had been read over and over and once again, so many came out and dropped off books in the suggested location, all sanitized and ready for delighted kids to collect. Just one online platform facilitating us to help in our local community.
So what I would like to finish with is, yes, this is not something we all thought would happen, there are family members we miss dearly, but in the meantime let’s all embrace it, this time will pass. It’s only a “pause” and we will not get this down time again.
We all know the story .. on the 12th March, the country was effectively shut down except for essential services.
It was a time when each and every single employer in the country had to figure out really quickly what they needed to do to protect the business during this uncertain shut down period – how long would it go on for, how many bills do I have, how much money do I have in the kitty, how much do I need to survive?
All huge questions and with no simple answers and no playbook to refer to.
What we did next reflects who we are, who the business is, our values, our ethos.
A week later, I checked in on a good friend of mine who worked as a baker in a coffee shop (part of a small but well known chain) around the corner from our office, just to make sure that he was OK.
What he shared with me was a tale of two very different HR philosophies and two very different approaches to their employees.
On exactly the same day he was given notice by his employer and his partner who manages a creche was also told that her place of business was closing because of the “lock-down”.
However, there was a huge difference between both.
In his case he was “left go”, unceremoniously with no guidance towards where he should go to for supports and no word as to what his status would be when this “pause” was over. Effectively it was a P45.
In her case, she was also left go temporarily, but with absolute clarity that her role would still be there when things returned to normal, she was guided towards the supports she needed and the employer set up a WhatsApp group so that the team could stay in touch during the lock-down.
While both of these scenarios were identical, they couldn’t be any further apart.
I have sadly heard of so many cases where loyal employees were just cast away on the 12th March, with virtually no concern as to how they would put food on their tables next week.
Your team are your business, and how you treat them will absolutely determine how successful your business will be and how deep your team will dig for you when needed.
When the lights come back on, I know of a great guy and all of his colleagues who will be looking for a new opportunity, and I know of a great gal and all of her colleagues who be delighted to get back to work and will dig deep for their employer when the chips are down.
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