After reflecting on what I might write about in this end of year article I found myself faced with writing about one of the most impacting and challenging years in living memory. I wondered how some of our key managers across the businesses would express themselves if I asked them to reflect on 2020 and the road ahead; I was blown away by their responses. The main themes that really caught my attention were those of gratitude for being able to spend more time with family, whilst also being fortunate to be in the Telecoms industry which has been less impacted by Covid-19 than a lot of others.
Our Internal Sales Manager, Ferrin said this
I’ve learned that life is more precious than it seems and I’m grateful for NSN during this time for supporting all employees during the pandemic and ensured that our jobs were retained, and no staff being made redundant whatsoever.
Some employees took the opportunity to focus on career development by going further with their vocational qualifications like our Senior engineer Dan Besant, others by taking up creative activities to support their well-being. Those with young children have been able to spend invaluable time seeing them learn and grow.
Senior executives, business process owners and department leaders have all recorded some record productivity from staff across the business.
At the same time most staff have fed back that they are enjoying a work/life balance that has tilted more in favour of ‘life’. This comment from a Sales Team leader, Janay sums it up very well
I found myself more focused from start to finish, without having to worry about the commute back home or having the usual office distractions. This however meant I needed to have a strict routine in place to ensure I don’t get easily distracted by the comforts of being home.
Whatever 2021 holds for us it is hard not to consider that, even as things return to relative normalcy, some of the positive ‘side’ benefits that have emerged from the changes in how we work in 2020 could be integrated going forwards. As our Operations Director Jeremy de Agrela noted
Going from supporting multiple users in a controlled office environment that we had set up and supported for years, to supporting that same customer, and all their users in a multitude of home environments presented both real challenges and opportunities. Most of our customers now have a much more resilient technological set up across their businesses due to the changes driven by Covid-19 home working.
As our SA Channel Director Wesley Swart noted,
NSN as an enabler for change is in a great position for 2021, we are ready to fulfil our customers’ needs with our Cloud iPBX solution and awesome connectivity solutions. We need to be ready to adapt to whatever 2021 brings, both the challenges and the opportunities that arise from them, as our continued success depends completely on the success of our clients.
Whatever the new normal brings we are grateful, motivated and ambitious about being your chosen service provider in 2021 and beyond. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year from all of us at NSN.
Best Regards,
Mark Shraga
