Dear all,
SMT
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Thanks for taking the time to attend this week’s Big Breakfast. To recap, the main points were:
Firstly, I hope you and your families are keeping safe and well.
With lockdown now starting to feel like the new norm, it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come since March.
Following the updates from the Government on Sunday and Monday, I would like to clarify TGP’s current position. In summary, our home working will continue until further notice.
Firstly, I’d like to thank you all for attending one of this week’s Big Breakfast sessions. The sessions were designed to inform you and I’m pleased that you took the opportunity to put questions forward to myself and the rest of SMT. From business performance to when our offices will re-open, we covered a lot of ground.
Whilst on the topic of our offices, I’ve created a team specifically concerned with returning to our offices safely. It’s being led by Jerome Hardy and will ensure that when we’re ready to re-open the offices, following Government advice, we’ll do so in a manner that’s safe for you all. You have all received a survey from HR regarding this matter and it’s imperative that you complete this survey today if you haven’t already done so. Nothing is more important than your safety.
As of next week, the smaller breakfast clubs will return for the month of May. You’ll receive your invitation to attend one in due course. For those of you that have a question and have already attended a previous session, you are welcome to attend another. Please let Sarah Povey know and she will send you an invitation.
As we now approach the end of the week, I’d like to thank each of you for your continued hard work and commitment to our business. Please do take the long weekend as an opportunity to unwind and as always, take care of yourself.
Stay safe,
Dave
Life certainly continues to feel different in the 6th week of lockdown and I sincerely hope that you and your families are safe and well.
I hope this week’s newsletter finds you and your family well and that you enjoyed the Easter break.
As the lockdown continues with "at least" another three week extension, I’d like to thank you for adhering to the Government’s advice to stay at home and only go out when absolutely necessary. In the UK we should start to feel the positive impact of social distancing around now, however, it’s imperative that we continue to practise this for it to take full effect. Let’s ensure we play our part and stay at home and save lives.
The term ‘social distancing’ has been called into question - perhaps a more appropriate term to use is ‘physical distancing’. While we try our best to carry on working as usual in our homes across the country, this shouldn’t mean that we can’t continue to have a chat over a coffee with a teammate or an afternoon tea catch-up with a colleague. Technology enables us to do this despite our physical distance and it’s important that we do. Business can be - and often is - done during the course of conversation and we mustn’t underestimate the power of this. Let’s look after one another. We’ve shared some information about looking after your own mental health and I now ask that you also check in with and take care of each other.
The SMT Breakfast clubs have continued to run on Teams and have received much positive feedback. The distance between us isn’t a barrier, because we haven’t allowed it to be. These sessions have been so well received that we’re now going to allocate individuals onto sessions to save you having to book your place. The time is there for you. It’s time to ask any questions and an opportunity for myself and the rest of the senior managers to provide you with clear, honest answers whenever possible. Alternatively, you can turn up, listen and learn. But if you can’t wait for your session, please do ask questions of your manager – that’s what they’re there for.
This week’s tips – “Set up your team to get results” is for everyone. It’s a guide to assist managers and is also a tool that can be used by everyone to understand what you can expect of your manager. Please take the time to familiarise yourself with the contents. As with all the newsletter content, it has been put together for you to make use of now, during these different times.
More next week, in the meantime, please take care.
Dave
As we settle into new ways of working by embracing technology, becoming accustomed to our new working environment and finding new rhythms, it’s important that we also try to retain a sense of normality and routine. Remaining connected with your colleagues is one way of doing this, as well as continuing the flow of some of your business-as-usual activities such as having regular 121s and team meetings.
Having some fun in a relaxed atmosphere is our way of celebrating all that you do for TGP throughout the year. Appealing to the many hundreds of you as well as coordinating an event of this size is no mean feat and it’s important to us that we get it right.