Our Avertimers are moving for change!
What were the biggest challenges for businesses in 2020 with the Covid-19 crisis? Saving their operations and finances, for sure. But the other key threat was certainly related to the Human factor and employee well-being. For the first time, all companies were simultaneously faced with the same sudden urgency: harmonizing their teams and keeping them motivated remotely. It was ensuring the well-being of employees stuck in front of their computer at home, for most of them this has been going on for over 15 months now. For HR professionals, this went far beyond the retention issue that all companies should anticipate. This was much more related to the psychological impact of Covid-19 on the general mood of the teams. HR staff as well as managers had to manage performance while being the best happiness managers.
This impact is also relevant for Avertim and in the consulting industry in general. Some of our teams were already working remotely on, for example, global multi-site projects. However, the distance from client offices has surely increased. We have taken the right measures to always maintain excellent client relationships and ensure business continuity and satisfaction in our services. At the core of all this: taking care of our Avertimers’ well-being.
How are we handling this? Online team building events, e-coffee corners, inspirational events, e-cooking or e-fitness classes, consultant-led yoga sessions, digital escape rooms, and more have naturally flourished during the past months. Often with bottom-up initiatives which the organization enabled. But at some point, we also felt the need to have our people move and escape from their screens and homes. Thus the 2021 Spring season and the post-lockdown perspective were the perfect time to launch a corporate virtual challenge with an amazing common goal: inviting all Avertimers to run, walk, swim, cycle, ‘do it yourself’ or cook… in a collective effort to reach a set goal for a donation campaign directed to reforestation.
During two months, our employees from all departments and countries registered their activities on the AtlasGo mobile app, where kilometers and time were converted in trees, purchased by Avertim from the WeForest association, to support a reforestation project in Brazil. More precisely, the project we selected consists in helping restore the Atlantic Forest to its natural state and allows endangered species to reinvest in their environment.
In a nutshell, ensuring the well-being of our employees while participating in the reforestation of the planet, allowing us to be carbon free: This new challenge was the perfect combination of our three CSR pillars h- People, Society and Environment. As a matter of fact, Avertim embeds the CSR values in the day-to-day HR and corporate strategy. We are convinced that, as far as possible, each company should participate and federate its teams in taking actions for change that will make tomorrow's world a welcoming world. Through this vision, we want to be part of the change-maker companies and support positive and sustainable growth. And we are very proud to say that our Avertimers have successfully contributed to the planting of 2000 trees in less than two months!
They cumulated 2341 activities in multiple domains: cycling, running, dancing, cooking, swimming…and much more. A real proof of team spirit and collective achievement, in the context of a health crisis. It has been proven that once again, joining their forces people can take on projects that really make a difference inside but also outside the company, to make environmental responsibility a reality.
About WeForest: With more than 32,000,00 planted trees around the world, WeForest is an international non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable reforestation in areas impacted by the mining industry. They work with communities; local organizations and NGOs to develop reforestation projects and mobilize communities to restore the degraded soils as well. WeForest strives to collaborate, restore, and improve livelihoods. Beyond planting trees, regaining ecological integrity is also part of their goal to ensure the forest will be protected for the long term. Currently, they are leading projects in Brazil, Zambia, Malawi, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.