Having a blast at our holiday party - a cooking demo with Chef Carrie, author of The Ashville Bee Charmer cookbook (and previous client). Honestly - there was cooking involved!
EDITOR’S NOTE: As the Founding Partner at CS-Effect, Candice has fearlessly led our team since 2003. She is modest in her self-acknowledgement, so we wanted to ensure that she knew how much the team appreciates her support, encouragement and genuine interest in us as individuals.
By Candice Warltier
If there ever was a year when leadership skills were put to the test it’s 2020.
Effective leadership is creating a culture in which colleagues thrive, enjoy their work, feel confident to share their concerns and contribute to the growth of the company. It is important to me to create a culture that’s open, inclusive, and flexible so each employee grows professionally, which directly impacts our clients and their successes. Ironically, though this has defined the CS-Effect culture for the last 18 years, many larger companies are just now adapting to these cultural values due to COVID. I’m not saying we knew it all along, but…we as leaders have all been challenged this year, even if we had it ‘right’ from the start.
When the pandemic hit, maintaining our culture and optimism about the future didn’t seem as easy given the stress of COVID-19, its impact on clients and added stresses of our personal lives (realizing why we choose communications rather than teaching grade schoolers became apparent very quickly.) To pile it on, I personally had these worries and concerns that I didn’t necessarily want to bring to work, but it eventually was unavoidable. Having fun and sustaining culture can be a lot of work. But I can assure you, it’s worth all the effort.
Together my team is the heart of the company. They keep it beating. As a leader it is very important to me personally and professionally to keep them happy and motivated at work.
The need for a flexible schedule is by far one of the most important benefits. Most of us have young children and even in a normal year it is a challenge finding the time to take our kids to lacrosse or drama. With the kids and dogs working alongside of us it seemed insurmountable.
Since we haven’t seen each other in the office since March, and Zoom calls only go so far, I wanted to find ways to keep my team engaged, improve our collaboration and have fun! Here are a few ways we accomplished that:
Virtual Field Trip
In early April, I surprised our team during our regular morning meeting with a virtual visit to the Full Circle Farm Sanctuary. We had a personal tour virtually and met the cutest – and luckiest – farm animals. The money went to supporting the animals at the sanctuary.
Care Packages
I remember feeling so happy when my mom sent packages to me when I was at summer camp. To put a smile on my colleagues’ faces, I sent care packages filled with goodies to make the stress of the pandemic easier – a wine glass, mask, COVID-19 face mask, spa facial mask, chocolate and silly putty! For Thanksgiving, I sent them hand painted, decorative shells to thank them for their commitment.
Virtual holiday party
We ended the year by celebrating together over a virtual cooking class. We teamed up with a former client, Chef Carrie, who sent us the menu in advance so we were prepared with all the ingredients. We made a donation to Urban Collective Growers on behalf of Chef Carrie.
As I look to what’s ahead, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. It might be small, but it’s there. I can’t wait for a vaccine and hope we can soon be back in an office, meeting clients in person and traveling for business events.
The one thing I’ve learned is that if we can make it through this pandemic together, as one cohesive team, then we can handle any type of situation in the future, Our trust and faith in each other has grown, and we’ve come to appreciate each other’s unique skills and talents (as well as some of the opportunities for growth) that are often magnified during challenging times. And equally as important, no matter what is in store for us, I am committed to ensuring each of my staff feels important. Because they are.