Q&A with our Judges
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- We asked our Judges to offer their insights on managing a business throughout the pandemic
Caroline Stockman, Chief Executive, Association of Corporate Treasurers
How has your company responded to the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of how you communicate with clients/customers/members?
Communication has always been important for us with our members and sponsors, but COVID has meant we have had to be more innovative than ever! We also had to ‘pivot’ quickly to change planned content of our magazine and other communications, to ensure absolutely relevant to the times.
To what extent has the pandemic brought your sector together and fostered joint initiatives and the sharing of best practice?
We are a profession rather than a sector – but would say the profession is supportive of each other, but they have also been working flat out as their role is so critical especially during the pandemic. We hear that the individual teams have grown very close, as we all have, and greater trust is something that comes up time and again.
Why you accepted the invitation to join this judging panel. Why you feel this event is important and how you think entrants will benefit.
It is important to celebrate success at any time, but especially in the face of adversity.
What changes have you made as a result of Covid-19 in the managing of your company which you won’t be changing back when things are back to normality?
We’ll be more flexible in terms of how and where we work, for sure.
What will you be looking for in a winning entry? What will make it stand out for you and differentiate it from the rest?
I’ll be looking to see innovation, courage and determination – as well as a sense of actions being taken for the greater good.
Dr Shaun Davis, Royal Mail Group, Global Director Compliance & Sustainability
How has your company responded to the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of how you communicate with clients/customers/members?
From the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic we Developed CV-19 communications strategy and content, prioritising channels for promotion of key preventative messaging (e.g. good hand hygiene, social distancing measures). We increased signposting for mental health and wellbeing support for all our employees and introduced and managed dedicated intranet page; ‘one stop shop’ for managers with latest guidance. We quickly established dedicated Coronavirus helpdesk for all employees; led by a team of 8 who at the peak were dealing with up to 200 calls per day. From a customer perspective we switched our helplines to email format with no impact on customer service. The internal Communications and Public Affairs team were linked into our dedicated Safety, Health and Environment team to support a timely response to press queries relating to employees and the actions were taking.
We developed and updated daily reactive HR CV-19 FAQs for managers, with legal input, in response to employee queries and held weekly manager conference calls led by CEO to ensure consistent messaging. We utilised all our internal communication channels (Royal Mail TV, Royal Mail Radio and our monthly newsletter, Courier), which were frequently delivered by Compliance and Sustainability Director Shaun Davis. We have worked closely with our unions CWU and Unite CMA to ensure that we delivered a consistent message throughout producing many joint statements to aid understanding of any changes on topics like, Social Distancing, Wearing of a face covering and the use of shared vehicles.
What changes have you made as a result of Covid-19 in the managing of your company which you won’t be changing back when things are back to normality?
I would like to see some of the preventative controls adopted as ‘business as usual’ to help during the winter months to help prevent and minimise the impact of respiratory diseases – I would certainly like to see better hand hygiene maintained. We have introduced a longer cleaning routine in our units with a focus on touchpoints and this will continue for the foreseeable future.
As ‘key workers’ the vast majority of our people have continued to work throughout the pandemic. A small proportion of colleagues in admin/central function roles made the overnight change from working in the office to working from home, which has worked brilliantly, so I see a hybrid model with 2/3 days working from home and then spending the rest of the working week in the office – giving colleagues the flexibility and helping to improve work/life balance.
We have found ways to simplify processes across so many areas, we have found we can be much more efficient without losing any of the governance required. For example ordering cleaning equipment and protective equipment – and for colleagues working from home we have made it easier to order and receive office equipment. These changes have all improved the process and been on a large scale which is a massive achievement.