As an essential provider during the COVID-19 crisis, our people have been a functional support for front line health care workers, testing and general patient care process. This segment of our business is a big part of what we do, but now has become our community responsibility. This all while we work to be a solution for our non-medial clients as they, too, struggle to keep their own businesses afloat and their employees safe.
When the going gets tough, the well-supported get the job done!
When an organization has staff members who are motivated, eager and focused on supporting clients—especially during challenging times—people deliver. Rising to the occasion is the mark of a well-supported service organization. Having people that will perform to the new standard with new challenges is a mark of good stewardship.
It has been a huge challenge to keep our business going during this crisis. Thankfully, our leadership has the experience and professional background to navigate the PPP and other government support processes. It wasn’t easy, and it’s still not done. Without this aid, our losses would have caused layoffs, service restriction and hard-core concerns for our future.
Now, with civil unrest added to the mix of these challenges, it’s like starting back at Phase 1. My goodness, I’m giving 2020 a horrible Yelp review. It’s heartbreaking!
Growing our company while setting ourselves up for sustained success is a product of stewardship. During these times, even all the collective experience of our senior leaders hasn’t given us the experience necessary to know everything. Here is what we know:
- We are working to keep our staff and clients safe by providing the necessary PPE and protocols to limit exposure.
- We are actively seeking reports from our field personnel concerning safe or unsafe routes of travel and any other factor that would present an obstacle to safety and mission-readiness.
- We have over 90% of our operations staff working from home with an almost seamless use of technology and communications ability.
- Personnel that do report to the operations center are checked for fever at the threshold.
We are ensuring that our field staff are well supported—but also, we consider it a primary responsibility of our team to ensure our people know the impact they are making on behalf of a grateful company and community. Our field staff are remarkable, and we make sure they know it.
When you have energized staff intent on making a difference, it creates a culture of growth, improvement and engagement. When these challenging times are over, all of us will take stock. We will have learned from the ordeal, created a silver lining and—I promise—we will be better as a result.