Do you begin a new role in a pandemic?
Start of March and looking forward to my new role as FD at S&G Response.
The first week was great, meeting my new colleagues, the second week my first Board meeting with the Pandemic looming, then on the 23rd March the world changed. Two weeks in and I’m working from home, shut in the dining room trying to learn a new operation, new people and new processes with a laptop, i-phone and my new friend Zoom – don’t panic!
And that was the first highlight, in those two weeks, pre-lockdown, S&G Response moved close to 120 people to home working with a full IT solution, mirroring the operation almost seamlessly, impressive.
Alongside the growth story, customer focus and industry leading operation, the big attraction of S&G Response was its people, culture and values. I haven’t been disappointed.
The last 4 months haven’t been easy for anyone and difficult decisions have had to be made but throughout the business the challenges have been faced with commitment, humour, flexibility, resilience and understanding, a real team effort whilst helping the new boy on his steep learning curve, hopefully with some limited success!
Four months later, things have moved on, I have overstayed my welcome in the dining room and the spare bedroom, sorry office, is my new home, my colleagues are real as I’ve seen some again from a social distance, Zoom really isn’t my friend – there’s no hiding from that camera and I’ve still got a huge amount to learn.
So on balance do you begin a new role during a pandemic, a baptism of fire but the answer is a definite yes, especially at S&G Response.
