I’m proud that when there’s a disaster, my team will come together and offer to help right away.
When the pandemic started, my team donated and distributed groceries to people who couldn’t leave their homes, mainly seniors and families with babies. They started this project on their own, with their own money. When we saw in the news how dire the situation was in the early days of the pandemic, we sent them funds so they could help more people.
But even before that and until now, there’s this sense of camaraderie. They check on each other. They send help to one another and help other people. Some volunteer regularly. I even have an OFS who is a volunteer firefighter.
I think this happens because when you help people together, it creates a bond. It strengthens your work relationship.
This is not unique to my OFS (Online Filipino Specialist) team. Steven also noticed this when 4 of his OFS were affected by Typhoon Karding.
When Karding hit 4 of my 100+ people were affected. So after collecting information on how bad the damages were for each, I sent out a form to all employees. We ask them to donate whatever they would like to help these people out. I front their donations and let them pay it back as deductions from their weekly salary. Often I give them a few different options for that, so they don’t have too much of an impact on their daily and weekly expenses. Typically I also match the total donation we as a company raised.
This really solidifies our “family” culture and makes people feel good that they were able to help others in need. We have done this for multiple disasters, funerals, etc. Basically, whenever people are in serious need.
Disasters are horrible. But the silver lining to this is it does bring people together. When you help your OFS in times of need, it shows them that you care. When the time comes that you’re the one who needs a lot of help, you can count on your team too.
John