WHAT’S GOING ON
For us it is about managing our way through this rather than waiting for direction. Right now service and maintenance work continues on, albeit slowing. New projects across the country are frantic on-site in the lead up to Easter. As of now all our overseas teams are in lockdown and have been for some time, except Singapore which was almost business as usual for a while. But everyone remains very busy.
OPERATIONS
We haven’t reduced staff and don’t intend to, but a reduced working week if workload tightens is an option for us down the track.
As can be expected we have had a reduced-order intake for future work although only very slightly so far based upon year on year comparisons. Obviously, there are no face to face meetings with clients. However, tender interviews continue to be held and we continue to bid new projects and even new maintenance contracts…
As mentioned, most new construction sites we are working on are as busy as ever as we approach the Easter shutdown. We still have all service and maintenance staff working full time and some clients are giving us free rein on some depopulated sites. But some clients are deferring maintenance for the same reason. There is a trickle of maintenance contracts being suspended.
We have regular internal updates with staff, which has been very well-received across the business.
We were a little slow to move more staff to home working initially but this is fairly advanced now. We have established the business rules following the model we used in Malaysia as they were much earlier to lockdown, This includes connecting none site-based staff in functional groups with video and chatter to keep them engaged. The closest thing we can get being in an office together in this situation. We are now advanced in depopulating our offices nationally.
THOUGHTS
Our team health and morale is overall excellent, which is fantastic. As to be expected there are some individuals who are unsure around the future, but we have been very transparent in every step in managing any changes which has been well-received.
We have seen the staff bring a lot of creativity to the situation both in terms of working more effectively in these circumstances as well as identifying new business opportunities using our core competencies, several of which we are already executing on. We are all learning an awful lot too.
PERSONAL
The family are happy my end. All but one of the kids and partners have come home from local or overseas residences to study. Now relieved and feeling safe and happy.
