Our greatest asset will always be our people. When the pandemic broke out, first The question we asked ourselves was: “What can we do to keep the course?” Stephen Hamlet, Director-General Russell Bedford International. "We were looking for technology to support our communication and processes; as a network of professional service providers we relied on this and we mostly managed. In fact, we did better than we did – the way we gathered together to create a new form of business-as-usual proved to be a huge success.
How did we manage as a community?
You don't need a pandemic to get the good of our people on first The plan of our thinking, but she made us focus even more on it. As I have said many times, "If we don't care about our people, how can we expect our people to take care of their customers?" Action in the pandemic was a challenge for all.
No one in the business has experienced anything like this before, so there was no prior knowledge to be drawn from. At first, our reaction was mostly reactive – we put out the fire everywhere it exploded; but gradually we all got used to the uncertainty that accompanied the new working environment and new ways of working.
What was ubiquitously described as a new normality. "Resistance" is a word often used to describe the admirable way people handled the pandemic. Although it may appear to be in harmony with reality on the outside, it was difficult for many to accept this forced change.
As a result, we became more inclined to show empathy, sensitivity, and mental health of our friends and colleagues, as well as ourselves.
Keeping people healthy and well-being
I was lucky to be CEO. Russell Bedford International by five Very successful years.
Looking back, I am proud of what we and our companies have done for our people. We took care of health and well-being and developed and offered initiatives above 8000 people in our companies. These initiatives are invaluable. But not all ours 8,000 people have decided to access and experience these initiatives.
Although we see good attendance on our monthly webinars, it's still just a fraction of the total. Why? Because our people are dedicated to their work. Because they dedicate every hour of their week to their clients. Because they want to make sure their hours are paid. That's why we need to educate our people to help themselves.
Of course, we want them to be physically healthy, but we want them to be mentally healthy as well (or perhaps even more).
Our health and well-being training program
During the pandemic, I came across an analogy with an airplane several times, which means putting on my own oxygen mask is first A step to helping others.
I'd extend it to your companies: take care of your people first, then your clients. Without physically and mentally healthy people, it will be much harder to support customers, especially those who need advice and empathy in difficult times. That's why we introduced our health and well-being program. I asked Michael Quigley of Kataholos, our health and well-being training partner, to explain our program and motivation.
Photo. Michael Quigley, Kataholos and Stephen Hamlet, Russell Bedford
Stephen Hamlet: What do you see when you watch our people draw from the show?
Michael Quigley: I hope people in Russell Bedford International will meet a pleasant, engaging and entertaining learning experience; one that gives the opportunity to make contact with others and share ideas and best practices. If they leave with affirmation and encouragement to discover who they are as people, in today's difficult business context, we have succeeded.
SH: What has worked so far?
MQ: We delivered one hundred members on all continents 16 tailor-made training sessions covering, inter alia, mental health, motivation, communication, relationships, emotional intelligence and leadership. We also made available 8,000 persons educational platform Kataholos, offering three e-learning courses on stress management, holistic health – body, mind, spiritual, emotional and digital health and exceptional communication skills.
SH: What group of recipients have you been sending training to so far?
MQ: Although our online sessions were open to everyone, so far our face-to-face sessions have been aimed at younger managers and partners. Our next round of these sessions will be directed to partners approaching retirement.
SH: Are there any comments you would like to share?
MQ: Yes! Here are just a few comments: “We have received practical, uplifting and unforgettable experience that will serve us well. Each of us was impressed and grateful.” Tony Carey, Cooney Carey, Ireland. “Michael clearly answers the burning questions. You can always draw good conclusions from his workshops.
Keep it up!” Reena Nagda Shah, Russell Bedford Alexander & Associates, Kenya. Although it is impossible to include all the different time zones in our interactive sessions, I was glad to see that our Latin American colleagues are attending early mornings and our friends from India and the Pacific are staying late.
To increase access, we have uploaded recordings of all sessions along with Spanish translations for our members in Latin America. This means that people can enter and exit sessions at a convenient time.
In addition to the time zone complications, we have noticed that our members in Western Europe and North America have sometimes had difficulty taking part in real-time because customer obligations have made it difficult for them to break up. It was sometimes our experience of Asia.
This meant that our sessions often had a high turnout from Latin America, which demonstrated the communities of this region and the value it attaches to the development of people.
I know that the desire for continuous and tireless work for customers is deeply rooted in our business culture, but we need to do more to promote health and well-being as the value we all share.