Looking back on 2020

2020 was a turbulent time, when COVID-19 was new and South Africa was still in its hard lockdown. We sadly lost some of our team members due to the impact that Covid had on the economy. Though some of the AIMS staff were able to work remotely, the pandemic still impacted their lives and everything had changed. It was a time that we saw the world stand still.

Rules and restrictions were put into place that none of us had ever known. It started off with being confined to your home and being unable to move around. It made the days hard for some that were not able to see family members or travel home to be with loved ones.

Adjusting to the transition that Covid had introduced to so many was challenging for our employees and their families. Managing a work routine and a home routine for their families caused a lot of stress. Our Operations team leader mentioned; “I’ve got a 4 year old daughter to whom I have explained why I’m working, but still at home.”

Not knowing what the future holds for everyone’s jobs, employees were also dealing with their own fears, anxiety, mental health and well-being. A member of our operations team said; “I believe we will come out of this and unfortunately there are casualties in every war.”

This made it a strange and stressful time not only in South Africa but throughout the world. The world has started moving again but the backlash of the invisible war with the virus left a lot of damage to fix.

Planning for the future

Let’s look at the plan that was made for the AIMS team to be able to carry on its work.

Though decisions were made and each department entered into a crisis management plan. They needed to take into account who could work remotely, this being the first hard decision for each head of department. AIMS Network Manager said that the world we live in today allows us to work from home and we were guided and supplied with laptops, computers, WhatsApp groups and an online communication platform. This allows the AIMS team to welcome the change and adjust to it. Since then a lot of changes in the operations of AIMS has happened and a more modern approach has been implemented.

With the change came some positive outcomes for some of our employees and working from home became beneficial. Being able to get things done around the house, spend time with their loved ones and manage the requirements of a full day of work. Another employee said; “working remotely has always been a dream and COVID- 19 being the tragedy it is, has done wonders for mine and my partners hobbies and the budget.”

As time went on and many stages of lockdown happened, our staff have gratitude that they are able to work and keep looking after their families. AIMS did face some losses through this period but are grateful for those who are still with us and have kept pushing forward. The Admin manager found that people should learn and take a lesson from this pandemic and to be kinder to one another, smile more, care more and take all opportunities when presented with them.

AIMS and its employees have seen an opportunity for change. There have been many calls for restructuring and to re-examine the traditional way of working. Going forward there is still a lot of hope and optimism from our AIMS team. The finance manager points out that we as individuals and the company will get through this, she believes even though the situation is out of our control it will make us stronger, everything will be forever changed by this but will ultimately unite us too.

The AIMS team believes that we’re going to get through this together, and we’ve just done that, and we’re going to keep doing that.