Staying connected during COVID-19

At Harvey Nash, we have a great reputation in the market with supporting our clients with cutting edge thought leadership solutions and this will not stop, however, none of us could ever have been ready for the impact of COVID-19 some 8 or 9 weeks ago.

The subsequent business and social aspects of lockdown and working from home for the entire nation gave us the opportunity to think about how we engage differently with our clients and colleagues in a new world of work. And the results have been quite extraordinary!

During this difficult time, we have utilized digital social platforms like never before. Internally, we are now experts on Microsoft Teams and we are also getting to grips with Yammer as a business communication tool. With clients, we are using Zoom to continue to meet and we are finding that our relationships with valued clients are deepening even more.

What surprised us was that our contacts were really pleased to connect with us and they wanted more! So, we introduced quiz nights and they were really well attended. At that time, we decided that as we had a collective and willing audience we’d do even more! And so became the start of twice weekly HIIT classes (I kid you not)! They are on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12.30pm, and hosted by David Savage. They are just brilliant.  Anyone can join, so please drop me a note if you'd like to take part!

And the fun doesn’t stop there. Last Thursday, we had the absolute privilege to host a wine tasting masterclass with Helen Savage, who is one of Britain’s most respected and knowledgeable wine writers and educators.

In addition to this, we have hosted poker nights and themed socials, the list is endless.

Yesterday we had a presentation for our clients about Emotional Wellbeing hosted by Paul Crittenden which was amazing and received exceptional feedback, and next week we will be joined by registered Nutritional Therapist, Florence Wylde Nicholas for a session on Gut Feeling: the key to a healthy gut and a happy mind.

All of these activities and use of digital social might not have happened if we weren’t looking for creative ways to stay connected and deepen our business relationships.

Being able to strengthen our valued relationships through this uncertain period is what we are about at Harvey Nash. I feel as proud to work for the company today, as when I first joined.

My reflections are that although we might be more distant in miles than ever right now, we are closer than we’ve ever been before and everyone has played a role in that, its really great getting to know people better...

Thank you to everyone who has joined us so far and I look forward to seeing you at our next event.

Stay safe, Andy