A Safe and Socially Distant Town Hall
As Eastvantage eases into a more flexible working environment, it became apparent that the hybrid setup was the best way to conduct large gatherings while keeping socially distant. Following the successful hybrid meeting setup of the Eastvantage strategic planning meeting, it was time to test it out with a bigger audience.
The first Eastvantage Assembly (EVA) of the year is the perfect opportunity to try this out, as it comes right after the strategic planning to roll out to the clients and employees the updates, announcements, and plans that are in store for the coming year. With more than 90 associates joining the meeting from their homes and about a dozen associates and presenters leading the town hall in the office at Fort Legend Tower, BGC, the EVA was successfully held with no hitch, proving that hybrid meetings are effective even with a large audience.
Conquer: 2021
The primary theme of the EVA is “Conquer,” which highlights the actions taken to overcome the challenges of the past year, and having strategic plans in moving forward in the years ahead. The EVA discussed updates from the operations support teams and showcased the company’s technology accelerators.
Two key concepts were discussed. First is the Kaizen culture of discipline, from the Japanese word meaning “continuous improvement.” The second concept is the Hedgehog Principle, adopted by Eastvantage from Jim Collins’ book Good to Great, which talks about understanding: 1) what you are deeply passionate about, 2) what you can be the best in the world at, and 3) what best drives your economic or resource engine.
Feedback: Employee Satisfaction
Another major topic that the EVA focused on is the result of the Employee Satisfaction Survey held at the end of the year. Despite the global pandemic of 2020 causing a lot of challenges, the company was able to generate a lot of positive feedback from its associates, particularly on the Covid-19 Response, getting high scores on “support in transitioning to working remotely” and “comfort of working from home.” Also highlighted are the prioritization of everyone’s health and safety, round-the-clock IT support, uninterrupted assistance from support teams, and continuous Business Continuity Plan engagement.
Rolling out the updates from the recently-concluded strategic planning to associates kicks off Eastvantage’s 2021 in our journey for continuous improvement and the hybrid meeting setup for the town hall proved that a more flexible work environment awaits us in the months ahead.
