The current global outbreak has had an adverse effect on many people and businesses, changing the way businesses operate and interact with their staff members, stakeholders and clients. Businesses may not always be able to control external crisis but can have control over how they recover, handle and operate during pandemics such as the current Coronavirus outbreak.
This is where corporate culture takes play - an adaptive and supportive one means that nothing will be compromised even when challenges become apparent. If it is believed that a work culture is a glue that bonds the social structure of a business, then I can confidently say that EasyEquities has its ducks in a row. (No, this is not a paid ad), this is merely my personal experience at EasyEquities, having only joined the team for a solid two weeks before being redirected to start working from my new office space – home. Due to the outbreak, changes have had to be made, and this was part of it.
I am a person that likes to keep up to date with current affairs in order to know and survive the world I exist in. When I had heard about the first case of the COVID-19 reported in the country, I didn’t think corporates would already be making moves to keep safe, and EasyEquities was already ahead. During my first few days as an Easy member, I was welcomed with a box of tissues, wet wipes and a litre of hand sanitizer for my team and I – I was impressed and motivated to shape up. If this doesn’t already speak of the kind of working environment, I was honoured to be a part of, then I don’t know. Our Easy teammates from Eastern Cape to Portugal even feature in blogs giving tips on how to work from home.
When the rate of the number of infected people continued to rise, precautionary measures at EasyEquities were reinforced, both for the staff and most importantly for the Easy clients. It is natural and expected for people to panic during times such as these, where the COVID-19 is also affecting markets, injecting even greater panic in investors. I witnessed my new colleagues, and everyone around me finding ways to assure clients that EasyEquities will still provide the best service possible even during this tough time in the world.
Team work is prevalent at Easy, with certain staff members working from home (to reduce the number of people working in one space), the IT guys came together to set up systems that will enable those staff members to still be at the best service to our Easy clients, even while from home. Office lines are redirected to staff’s personal mobile phones, applications such as Zoom are utilized to enable video conferencing, and constant communication is sent out to Easy Vestors, to keep them in the loop with everything that they might have questions about.
There is certainly no excuse not to deliver at EasyEquities, I experienced this first-hand and it was fortified when EasyETFs launched on the 19th of March. This is an amazing platform that enables Easy users to browse and compare the various ETFs that they might be interested in. To me, this proves that negative circumstances are not there to stop us from being innovative and positive about the future, especially the future of investing.
Health and safety should never be compromised, but neither should your work ethic. It gives me hope and keeps me positive to be a part of an organization that pushes you to do better, even in uncomfortable situations, and remembering that our clients are at the heart of what we do and how we do it regardless of the circumstances.