In a service company like Apex, human resources are the biggest asset. However the circumstances are, this asset needs to be protected and developed in order to generate other values. At Apex, field training has been the most successful program for several years. Beginners will encounter a variety of requirements from clients in all industries, join the process from concept to execution, or from script to stage, learn how to identify and prevent risks, and develop from valuable lessons learned after each event. However, in times like this, in order for the training program to continue despite lack of space for practice and powerful impact by the pandemic, what did we do?
Right at the beginning of February this year, we adjusted our training strategies to maintain our employee development, and help them fight confusion, anxiety, and disorientation. Here are some of our solutions:
In-house training plans were set up instantly. Employees shall attend training three times a week and listen to advice given by the board of directors, department heads, or any interesting and valuable content shared by other employees. Topics included sales skills, methods of calculating tax, tips to keep passion alive at work, skills of observing and listening to life. We dived into both professional and soft skills to create a “virtual environment” of the event.
If you have interest, there are plenty of useful online courses by training companies that you can join free of charge and without any time limit. Lecturers of these courses all have managerial experience or aligning expertise.
At Apex, we also organized livestreams and online workshops. Among them were “Develop internal power – Seize opportunities” for HR directors, “COVID-19 and panic” for MCs, “What we have done in the pandemic” for small and medium-sized enterprises. While these were for the public and clients, not to mention online, our employees somehow still received practical training in event planning.
We also deployed shared reading activities on a daily basis to help employees develop reading habits. As we had more time at hand and saw more books stacked on shelves, we even recruited a librarian to manage resources. Employees shall select books best fit to them, and share what they learn with the whole company
“Brainstorming” was another productive way to train employees. Based on our clients’ regular requests (company anniversary, kick-off events, year-end party, etc.), we asked our team to brainstorm and bundle ideas in a package ready for use after the pandemic.
Working from home every day requires a tremendous effort to keep your staff energized. We went through countless documents and consulted friends to find topics of discussion before the meetings. For example, what is the most interesting thing right now, what do you think about the company, what is your hope, etc. It is not easy to maintain 2-3 hours of online meetings every day, but we have managed somehow.
We also organized two small contests, namely #vắcxintíchcực and #eventchallenge, as “gifts” to our partners and employees. This was to remind them that, under any circumstances, positive thinking is our best friend. At Apex, whatever the contest’s content and size, we always “challenge our brains” to ensure it shines with Apex’s identity.
In the last three months, our team had chances to better understand the company’s practices and regulations, and the values of integrity – kindness – positivity. As properly upheld, these values acted as criteria to group employees who share the same mindset, and as tools to measure KPI – how kind we are to our second family.
There are still things that need to be unfolded or completed, but we have every right to be proud of what we have achieved in the span of three months. In a context that a number of companies struggled to adapt or faced hibernation, we kept our cool and treaded carefully with every step we took. No matter the plan was scheduled weekly or even daily, we would do it by all means, cautiously but drastically. By good luck, we manage to maintain our team morale in order to tackle hardships and embrace new challenges. As the road ahead getting hotter to handle, we believe we are heading in the right direction with a well-trained and dedicated team.
Like the hashtag we always include in our posts, #proudofmyteam – ApexMultimedia.