Managing teams and keeping them engaged in a time of crisis can be a challenging proposition. Throw in the fact that we are now working remotely in new environments, alert level 4 has required our people to adapt and shift into new ways of communicating and working together as a team.
Our first priority as a management team was to form a war cabinet committee to develop a Covid-19 safety plan and prepare for how we, as a business, would manage level 4. This has included daily action meetings, regular check-ins and updates to all staff including videos from our CEO, clearly outlining processes, providing continuous updates to our front line staff and updating our clients about business continuity plans (BCP).
Essential Services
Since the level 4 announcement, Aotea Security Auckland and Bay of Plenty in particular have seen consistent work in delivering essential services to Health Boards, Banking and Critical Infrastructure throughout their regions. They continue to provide critical nationwide reactive security work on the front line and we would like to commend and thank them for their continued commitment and dedication.
A Time For Improvement (and a bit of fun)
Level 4 has allowed us as a business to look inwards and take the time to restock, reassess and form sub committees to focus on key areas of business development. These teams have then set out tasks for full team engagement. The key areas of focus have been: Technician Standards Development, Financial Wellbeing, Emotional Wellbeing and Team Culture. Team Culture initiatives have kept us entertained daily with Kahoot Quizzes (with leaderboards), wellbeing polls and photo competitions with prizes for participation.
Training & Up Skilling
Aotea Security has taken the opportunity during lockdown to keep our team hands on and up to date with our core systems to ensure consistent delivery to our clients.
During lockdown we have had team members certify and re-certify in online training through two of our key partners, Avigilon and Gallagher. So far we’ve had a total certification and recertification rate increase of 134%. There have been 91 Avigilon Enrolments across 563 modules - currently 75% complete, and 82 Gallagher certifications with a 57% increase in new certifications. A tremendous effort from our team.
Looking Forward
With New Zealand moving into level 3 next week, some of our people will stay working from home, and some will continue to provide critical essential services to New Zealanders. As a business, we are proud of how our people have responded and adapted to the lockdown situation. It speaks volumes to the quality people we have working within Aotea Security. We look forward to when we will be able to return to business as usual and continue to support our clients through this time and into the future.
Until then, kia kaha.
