COVID-19 Group Update

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February 19, 2021 | |
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Dear all,

It may be too early to talk about the light at the end of the tunnel, but news about ongoing progress being made with vaccinations should give us hope of a return to normal. Having said this some countries have secured more vaccine doses than their populations need so it will be interesting to see whether a sense of collaboration and collective responsibility emerges amongst the developed countries.

With a variety of topics included in my update this week, click on any one of the headlines below to take you to that article:

 

Best Regards,

Jane Beeston

Chief People Officer

 

One week to go…

There are two activities to be completed by the end of February and that is for everyone: your confirmation of your commitment to the Code of Conduct and for those of you who don’t work on the factory floor: your performance and development review.

Please take the action needed in Splash to ensure both activities as appropriate are completed.

Please reach out to your local HR if you have any questions, or watch the Splash Perform videos on Colart Academy. We will be chasing up to ensure all commitments have been met by the end of February. For information, we will also be rolling out a training programme for the Code of Conduct via your line manager to ensure full understanding of the code.

Pulse Survey…

You will have all received a request to complete the pulse survey about the Colart values. So far 15% of you have completed the survey and it would be great to see an increase in this response rate. Please, if you haven’t completed the survey, click here.

The results of this survey will be combined with the analysis of all high fives given over the last 4 years. What is becoming evident is that we really need to refine the definition of our values....as we can see that more help is needed to ensure a complete understanding of what our values mean to us now. Whilst the four values are our foundation, we know that their meaning can evolve and develop with the business.
So, please spend a few moments to complete this survey as your thoughts and feedback is important to us.

Employee Assistance Programme…

I am pleased to confirm that our plans to roll out an employee assistance programme to all of you who currently don’t have access, is taking shape and the Life Works (Unum) programme will be available across the group from 1 May. This support will be available in all our local languages and communications will take place locally as appropriate to provide more details.
We will also use the intranet as a route for ensuring contact details are always accessible.
Please remember, in the interim if you need help and don’t feel able to ask directly you can always use Ethicspoint to get the dialogue going.
Ethicspoint is our secure, confidential and if needed anonymous reporting system that should not only be used to raise issues, ask questions or suggest ideas but also as a first protected step to raise your hand for help.

Here’s the link to the site: https://secure.ethicspoint.eu/domain/media/en/gui/103359/index.html

Around the world…

Fortunately, the small spike in cases across the group seen since the start of the year appears to have calmed down and we have only had one confirmed case since reporting last. We now stand at 32 cases since the start of the epidemic. As we have communicated before, none of the cases arose through transmission at work. Whilst this is good news, we would of course have preferred so no one in Colart had to experience the poor health experience that comes with COVID. Thankfully, we understand there has been no lasting effects for our colleagues.

Last time we mentioned the Spring Festival break in China and more information will follow (with photos) on the intranet about the special event that was organised for our colleagues who were not able to travel to be with their families. Whilst we can never replace the feeling of being with your direct family, it is good to know that the Colart family stepped in with compassion and care.

Collaboration, Connectivity and Communication…

This week I attended an interesting workshop on the importance of “Social Glue” and how this is being impacted at work by the challenges of COVID. What I heard really resonated with our conversations and focus in Colart – particularly the importance of collaboration, connectivity, and communication. This was a particularly good reinforcement of why we are focusing on these three subjects in the leadership development programme that is running for Leadership Level 2 across the group.

I took lots of notes and will create a mini video as I would like to create more discussion on the subject. Key take-outs for me were the importance of a “balanced diet”…not food but how we live and work, why we need to start with self-compassion before we can show it to others and creating the right culture is not only top-down (i.e. leadership led) but also bottom-up as we all have a part to play and responsibility in creating a culture than enables “Social Glue”, cohesion and sense of family. Once you hear the notes, if you are interested in the subject, let me know as I would like to create a workgroup on the subject.

Little Elephant art classes...

From Tuesday to Thursday (all hours are GMT):

• 10 :00 to 10 :45 – 4 to 6 year olds

• 11 :00 to 11 :45 – 7 to 10 year olds

• 14 :00 to 14 :45 – 4 to 6 year olds

• 15 :00 to 15 :45 – 7 to 10 year olds

• 16 :00 to 16 :45 – 11 to 15 year olds

You can share the Zoom link with friends and family. (https://zoom.us/j/94251161228?pwd=QzhIRzQzeVAyQ09Pay9GTWpieXhoQT09)

Keeping to the basics…

We cannot stress these basics enough and here’s a reminder:

  1. Work remotely for those who can, only attending the workplace for the purpose of maintaining connectivity and collaboration for up to one day per week (for at least the short term)
  2. For those who cannot work remotely, you should continue to come into work as normal whilst aiming to avoid using public transport.
  3. When in work (whether factory, warehouse, or office) follow the clear safety protocols that are in place to protect everyone’s health and welfare.
  4. Take responsibility for keeping to the safety disciplines in terms of handwashing, wearing face masks and maintaining physical distance…. Hands, Face, Space.
  5. Business travel is still not acceptable unless authorisation has been obtained in advance.  If you do need to travel please ensure you wash your hands before and after your journey, maintain social distancing and wear a face covering over your nose and mouth for the duration of your journey.
  6. Take responsibility for yourself and others.

 

Our mantra…

As always, please STAY SAFE – please follow the basics outlined above and any advice from the government in your country.

Finally, remember we want every voice to be heard…so please keep talking to us and this includes telling us if you are struggling in any way.  You can use all routes available to you:

1.     Your line manager

2.     Your local HR Business Partner

3.     The Q&A platform on the intranet