MOVING TRADE FROM THE KITCHEN TABLE

In March 2020, a virus put the world on hold. Overnight office doors closed, dispersing people to the safety of their homes. Like millions of others, we became part of a new work-from-home community and what we initially thought would be a matter of weeks stretched into months. Instability and uncertainty rose, but we remained focused on ensuring stability in trade operations. The world needed a steady flow of trade now more than ever.

Creating Supply Chain Stability

As a company, we dug deep into our collective strengths, using decades of experience and resilience to confidently navigate the new challenges ahead. It became clear that reliable supply chains would be more critical than ever for moving medicines, food and resources. To maintain business continuity, we tackled COVID-19 related issues head-on with a response committee. The committee oversaw both global and local pandemic issues and helped us quickly settle into productive home working.

Our HR and IT teams built a network of resources and kept valuable training programmes active to make sure we would stay happy and connected. Guidelines, advice and equipment were distributed for healthy home working, along with constant IT support. Staying connected to adapt supply chains was vital and thanks to video conferencing, we were able to bridge the distance between countries without the need for travel. Safety shifted from typical office hazards to COVID-19 advice and online home security, keeping both people and data protected from infection.

Where we would previously gather in a meeting room, our HR teams instead hosted regular online business updates. Online surveys and Q&A sessions ensured everyone was heard and work from home policies were refreshed to accommodate the ‘new normal’. Here with such a seamless transition by our HR and IT teams, work continued to be given the utmost importance to ensure we had stability in supply chains in such an unprecedented time.

Whilst ensuring a smooth transition to work from home, our HR teams prioritised wellbeing with local virtual fitness and wellness sessions. Many of these involved doctors who helped allay virus and vaccination concerns among our workforce.

The safety and wellbeing of our people has to be at the centre of everything we do, and 2020 was no different. Only with a safe working environment could our staff take on the monumental task of keeping our digital trade solutions and ports and terminals running 24/7 during such an unpredictable year.

Technology in Trade

Now, as we look back on the shift to homeworking, we are proud that we were able to keep serving our customers, clients and achieving our goals. With our reliable supply chain solutions, we kept vital goods and resources flowing smoothly and even found benefits to our new situation. Productivity and motivation stayed high; in fact, we were unified in our mission to continue moving trade.

Despite the challenges of the year, we discovered many positives in our new way of working when adapting supply chains to ensure reliability on a global scale. Our ability to innovate during the pandemic demonstrated that we can build a better future from anywhere—even from the kitchen table.

This story is just one of the ways we connected people, markets and nations. Find out more stories. 

View the Annual Smarter Trade report  here