From the HR Department, Karen Sanders:
I have a longstanding interest in leadership and team management, having worked in professional HR for the last twenty years. The lockdown to contain the coronavirus opened my career in restaurant accounting services to a whole new experience of cultivating team unity and oneness during extraordinarily difficult moments.
However difficult it turned to be, I am not the only one who has struggled with steering a corporate team forward. According to a recent report by McKinsey, over 60% of executives acknowledge this period as the most difficult of their professional careers.
The Challenges
To you who may feel overwhelmed finding the right balance between work and family life under the existing constricting conditions, you are not alone; or the only one affected. We have had to work remotely, adopt homeschooling, reduce movement because of the lockdown, undertake layoffs or suffer increased work demands. On a wider scale, we may have had friends who have struggled with mental conditions or inadequate social interactions.
Succeeding as a Team
Amidst the difficult times, we have had to protect the team mentality to register happy and successful outcomes at work and home. The strength of any business is directly influenced by the strength of the team in that organization, and the only way to have a strong team delivering restaurant accounting services is to nurture unity and links to one another.
Because of the unprecedented times, we have had to empathize with each member of the team and understand what they are going through in the current times. At the end of the day, we all want to work hard, despite the challenges we have encountered on a personal level in the last eight months.
In some instances, finding hope may mean appreciating the introverted amongst us, who may find some comfort working at home where there is minimal social interaction, thereby increasing their work productivity. On the other hand, different team members will need to be looked out for regularly. They are the ones who may find it monotonous living in a flat, working at the kitchen table, with long evenings with their partner and chaotic running of kids around the house.
Always be kind to each other. Check on one another, on your friends and families as well, asking them how they are. The best conditions in a working environment include every team member strongly feeling a sense of belonging built on good social relations, which is possible but only now, albeit some difficulty.
As a team project, identify members who can organize a virtual team-building event such as a book club, a team coffee break, a quiz night or scavenger hunts, to not just have fun, but strengthen team bonds. Additionally, if you can, take the certain initiative during such team projects, ultimately, your effort will not go unnoticed.
The most important thing to do during these times is take time out and think about individual members in our team, look for opportunities to be kind, to make someone happy and cement a strong team spirit and sense of belonging. In my experience, the best performing companies that I have come across feel like a family.
How We Can Help
It is always good to talk and you can always call us for free and tell to us if you are worried about some of the following concerns:
- The layoff scheme and having to let go of your staff and HR
- Lease negotiations with the landlords and chances of a favourable outcome
- Securing new lines of finance to fund projects
- Liaison with the bank to discuss credit status and information
- Grasping the law on bankruptcy
- If you are wondering if you can have a CVA
- Preparing to open an online business on an e-commerce platform
- Identifying your ideal delivery partner
- Streamlining the business model in your organization
- Improving your business’s profile and brand recognition
- Speaking to HMRC
- Negotiating better deals with your suppliers, and any other matter that may concern you during the current times.
You are welcome to call 020 8633 7700 or talk to us by email on info@pchase.co.uk to allow us help you on the above issues, or any other matter troubling you.
