July 2, 2020
The old adage is that “absence makes the heart grow fonder”. But for Morrison Freight, absence has made the team grow stronger. Darren explains.
Our team returned to the office in full on June 2 following two months of split shifts.
It’s been a strange time. As key workers and a major cog in the logistical operations of businesses of all descriptions in the UK and further afield, we have been able to operate all the way through lockdown.
However, we have put the safety of our staff at the top of our priority list while maintaining the best service possible for our clients and customers.
To do this, we split our team in half. Half worked from home while the rest came into the office – the reduced capacity allowing us all to adhere to social distancing measures at all times.
This time was challenging on both the business and the staff’s mental health.
We had twice weekly zoom meetings while off and managed to cover all our customers needs and we kept in constant contact with each other to make sure we were all in the loop and prevent anyone feeling too isolated.
But it can be very lonely working from home when you are used to the buzz of the workplace and the support of your colleagues at all time – and eight weeks was a long time to be separated.
As you can imagine, being reunited was wonderful for us all.
Morale is through the roof – we all feel like we have come through this challenge and not just survived but thrived. The team is stronger than ever.
Thankfully we’ve a big enough office that all the desks are moved apart and everyone is at least two metres apart.
We have provided face masks for anyone who wishes to wear one and have industrial sanitiser which people must use on the way in and out of the building.
On top of this, every member of staff has been given their own personal sanitiser and their temperature is taken and recorded daily.
We’ve had several Zoom meetings with suppliers and customers since we’ve been back as this is now the new normal.
This is our 30th year in business – and the fifth year of Lee and I running the ship. We expected it to be a year full of celebrations.
But while it hasn’t turned out quite as we expected, in many ways the celebration comes in the fact that our team is tighter knit than it ever was.
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