From the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, our priority has been to ensure we’re taking care of the health and safety of our employees, and to support our customers and community.

COVID-19 is driving businesses worldwide to rapidly adjust their business models and corporate culture. In this new contactless, social distancing environment, it’s challenging for businesses to continually meet the rapidly changing demands of their customers and to support the community where they operate.

For our employees, to help them adjust to their new work-from-home environment and to help them build rapport and camaraderie even though working in separate environments, we’ve made adjustments to our corporate culture and business model.

First, pre-pandemic our established office lunch was a regular occurrence. Every Tuesday we would order lunch for everyone and use the time to provide company updates and to get the team together. All those who were traveling or working remotely would join by video.

Today, like other businesses, our office is closed. Even so, we still hold our one-hour weekly meeting using Zoom, enabling all of us to disconnect from a stressful workday, chat and connect with colleagues, and keep everyone updated face-to-face. Additionally, we have established team building exercises via Zoom; for instance, last week we held a Zoom Trivia meeting, breaking the company into teams and meeting rooms to answer various trivia questions. A great way to give some fun structure to the whole experience and to interact with people you may not speak to on a daily basis.

These meetings from our weekly office lunch to team building exercises have also helped to integrate new employees who are, like everyone else in the company, working remotely. Meeting virtually consistently and communicating frequently has paved the way for successful face-to-face meetings post-pandemic.

To prepare for the uncertainty of the post-pandemic environment, we are implementing a one day a week mandatory work-from-home (WFH) Wednesday. This will prepare employees in the event of forced office closures in the future and ensure that everyone is equipped for remote work should we face another similar crisis.

To help all our remote workers adjust to their new remote offices, we continually encourage them to unplug and go for a walk, or even work outside. We’re working hard to ensure they achieve a balance between their work life and home life now that they are in an environment that was once exclusively their home.

We also encourage our people to think about the company and its future. We take some time once a week, bi-weekly, or even once a month, to brainstorm ways we can innovate. We have extremely open communication and encourage all team members to come forward with their ideas and contribute.

For the community, we have continued to spend our weekly lunch budget on supporting local businesses. We recognize how difficult the pandemic has been for them, especially in Kanata as these businesses rely on the income from office lunch orders or business meetings.

Each week, we purchase a gift card in place of purchasing office lunches from a local business. They have been appreciative and are thankful for our support. We have purchased “Tech Park dollars” through the Kanata North Business Association Shopify eCommerce site, The Tech Park dollars are similar to gift cards, and give an immediate short-term revenue boost to the businesses in the area. We’ve also contributed through Labatt Breweries Rally for Restaurants, a gift-card program launched to assist restaurants and bars hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis.

We are firmly committed to supporting our people and communities—both during the coronavirus and after with all the inherent uncertainties that will linger until some kind of new normal is established. But our people and communities will be prepared. We’re dedicated to that.