Whilst we’ve been busy helping delivery and logistics businesses meet increasing demands to keep supply lines open, we’ve done this from our homes. Here are a few thoughts from some of our team on the challenges of working from home and the benefits too.
Kamil Szlagowski, Industrial Manager
“This whole working from home experience has definitely got its ups and downs. I am able to exercise before I start work, I am able to exercise during lunch – keeps me fit, great. I don’t have to wear formal clothing to work; joggers and a t-shirt have become the new normal attire for work. Some success I have been achieving this last week is filling 15-20 bookings within the hour on a daily basis for DX Delivery, not to mention the additional inductions. The down side of working from home / lock down are: being far away from family, not being able to visit friends.”
Jamie Franks General Manager
“Firstly I am proud of our company and the steps taken to ensure that nobody was laid off in this the most challenging of times. This just brings home the reality that we are fortunate to have employers with the compassion and understanding that nobody should go through the unnecessary pressure of losing their job when the conditions out there are so grim. My heart goes out to those who lost their jobs in this challenging time, my hope is that things pick up quickly and you find your dream role.
We are proving that the systems and work we put in place prior to this epidemic, allowed us to move fluidly into remote working with no detriment to our clients and service levels. Cloud based technology and video conferencing has now become the ‘norm’ and I am pretty sure this is a situation that will remain even when things start to go back to whatever the new ‘norm’ will be.
I am spending more time around my family; my work life balance has drastically improved. The air quality seems better with less traffic on the roads, the blue skies and my favourite at the moment is the rise of quizzes on social media! I’m becoming a master at these lol!
I suppose the takeaway is this, if you prepare for change in any walk of life and have the open mind to adapt then nothing is too much to handle. I am planning to adapt our approach when we come back to normal. Use this time to reflect, reframe and re-plan for the future because it’s only a matter of moments away.”
Steven Massey, Director
“Having invested a huge amount into redeveloping our HQ in March we are all now working from home! For me this is made more difficult by the fact that my wife is still working, as a Deputy Head Teacher she is required in school. This leaves me to home school our son. Being Mr Massey the teacher was great fun at first, but it presents new challenges almost daily. Compound this with my border collie who believes I should be playing with her whilst I’m at home, and trying to carry out my professional duties can be quite a task.
As a company though we are determined to ride through this and look after our fantastic staff as best we can. Jamie, Kam, Arnie, Craig, Ant, Ioana, Anna and Alex have really shown their dedication to the cause. We supply some key workers, in particular delivery drivers and parcel sorters so this has kept the driving and industrial teams busy. More people cycling has meant that Halfords have stepped up “Bike Builds”, which in turn leads Alex to fully staff their assembly line. We have had to furlough the rest of the staff but as we pick up more and more business we will be bringing more people back.
My biggest gripe? Wi-Fi! Of all the times for my signal to decide as and when it wants to work! I swear my Wi-Fi box keeps furloughing itself for half a day. I’m really looking forward to getting back into our brand new shiny offices at HQ, but more so seeing the staff. We’ve done amazingly well to maintain a healthy company during this period, it hasn’t been easy and we’re not out of the woods yet, but I can definitely see light at the end of the tunnel. As always, look for the positives and you will find them. As my son keeps singing ‘see you on the other side’.”