Written by Paul Black, Chief Executive, Alpha Group
Paul Black’s Alpha Group, from its Belfast roots, has grown into one of the UK and Ireland’s leading office design and office furniture specialists. In this article, he reflects on the unpredicted path the local business world now faces.
As we emerge from the Covid pandemic, we are as business leaders challenged in different ways from where we would have been prior to 2020.
We have a whole new world of issues to contend with as our teams, colleagues, families and friends get ‘double jabbed’ and the new normal presents itself for us to accept and deal with.
In the early days of Covid, the scale of what we were facing was clearly unknown. The initial lockdown, coupled with balmy spring days and the promise of a quick return to normality was embraced by everyone wholeheartedly. Working from home was discussed as the new future of working, and many companies saw productivity levels at least stay level – if not increase – provoking the mindset that ‘the future of the office was in question’.
Almost 18 months after Covid was about to visit us, we have moved so far along a path that few could have predicted. Thanks to medical expertise we have seen the country move to a position where we now discuss adjusting and living with Covid. Thankfully as a result the notion of ‘the office is dead’ is destined to the bin, and we now are looking at collaborative ways to engage our teams, and create destinations for people to return to work. Flexible or fluid workable rotas allow for less occupancy and more space for people to work differently, and engage with each other. The vital statistic that was frequently overlooked when people ‘dissed’ the office was the impact on peoples wellbeing and social engagement through the workplace.
There is no doubt that people can work from home, but the absence of interaction with colleagues had a much bigger blow on teams during lockdown.
At Alpha 1080 we pride ourselves on the fact that our teams regularly drive change throughout the business. It is their appetite for change and development that demands we encourage collaborative working, and the absence of this saw our business lose something during the early lockdown.
Someone once told me never be afraid of change as it would happen naturally. I try to encourage change, as it is good for any organisation to evolve – particularly through its people who are driving the change. We continually look at best practices, and see how we can grow and improve, both for our people and our clients. We embrace outside influencers, and look at what works best for our customers as well as our own teams.
The Alpha Group celebrates its 50th year in business this year, and has faced numerous challenges during that time. It would be wrong to suggest any challenge was greater than others, but suffice to say our focus and determination to succeed and deliver the best we can to our clients prevailed at all times, and kept us on the right path. The aspect of client satisfaction sits high on our company’s list of priorities, and helps to steer us on the right course.
This article first appeared in the Summer 2021 edition of the Sync NI magazine. You can download your FREE copy and sign up to receive future digital editions here.
