64 ADAPTIVE WAYS OF WORKING
By developing new and agile ways of working during a global pandemic, RaySearch has managed to maintain a productive pace, while keeping the health, safety and wellbeing of employees in the forefront. HR Manager Lotta Larsson talks about how the company has adapted for continued success during the COVID-19 pandemic.
AN UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGE 2020 was a challenging year in many ways, but RaySearch has weathered the storm well. We have 11 subsidiaries in locations around the world, including China, and the HR team in Stockholm began receiving reports of COVID-19 early on in 2020 - but we could never have imagined the journey this pandemic would take the entire company on. When we transitioned to mainly working from home in March 2020, no one expected to be away from the office for very long at all. A TESTIMONY TO ADAPTABILITY Like many companies around the world, our operations have been substantially affected. One vital success to be proud of is that we have managed to maintain production at a continuously high level, which is a testimony to the organization’s adaptability. Switching to remote working for all of our employees within a matter of days was an unprecedented change. Naturally, it posed some new challenges – not least for HR and IT. One of the most crucial challenges was to keep employees actively connected and engaged.
to date about the company’s challenges and adaptations. Clear and regular internal communication was vital for a successful transition – especially in the early stages. SUCCEEDING TOGETHER The need for crisis and change management during the pandemic has meant a pivotal role for HR from the outset. Leadership and crisis communication have truly been put to the test, and it was clear that cooperation across teams and functions would be essential, as would having a consistent and unified voice in our communication. To this end, we appointed a COVID-19 Management Group, tasked with keeping staff and managers continuously informed via guideline updates, emails and information pages on the intranet.
During March, we ran regular meetings with cross-functional groups to gather updated news about the situation, make timely decisions about our responses and communicate the situation clearly to our people.
The technical solutions needed to manage this transition were already in place at the start of the pandemic, but had never been tested on this scale. The IT department has played a key role in our success for 2020, going the extra mile to support the entire organization.
SAFETY, PRODUCTIVITY AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Our objectives from the start of the pandemic have been to prioritize the health and safety of the employees, and to take responsibility for limiting the spread of COVID-19 in society. We have also pulled together to ensure continuous high productivity across all business functions, enabling deliveries and services to customers as expected.
Communication has been a vital element. People need to stay connected to their colleagues, and also be kept up
MONITORING THE WELLBEING OF OUR PEOPLE Our company and our success are founded on our people,
