​It’s the new (financial!) year for us this week – and for many businesses across APAC as well. It’s a treat right now to have a new year. After the... can we say, interesting times in the last 6 months, we’ve had enough time to wrap our heads around what was happening and find ways to stay helpful and relevant to our core customers. 

Our pipe dreams have accelerated quickly these past 6 months. We acted fast - releasing our Covid Survival Pack to employers and planning an upcoming Candidate Care Lab to job seekers on all things talent-related this season. Our integral Lunch & Learn sessions are also available to all remote offices everywhere now by making a fully online version possible. Lastly, we offered all our contacts a free one hour coaching session to guide them through this time of chaos because we know clarity and direction is hard to find.

Internally, COVID-19 has taught us that some of the things we thought of as necessary were really just luxuries. We made the best of the situation though, going online to compete in pub quizzes, play bingo, mix cocktails (the bars still do it best, though!), practice yoga, and attend our own coaching sessions with Coach Cat to work on on our mindset and refine some skills. Later this month, we've got a virtual awards ceremony where our team can have some socially-distanced fun and mix with peers from the Talent industry.

All this 'play' online has really advanced our mastery of collaboration tools as we bring in new technology, pushing our adaptability skills forward, and creating new products that sit comfortably in our virtual world. Honestly, it has been the most innovative 6-month period in our company's history.

So, are you used to the 'new normal' yet? 33 Talent is!

Are you ready to start a new year with all these new skills and products under your belt? We certainly are!

The truth that I want to share with you today is, that after surviving the *innovation* bootcamp of January - June 2020, you are actually pretty fit. You know the feeling the night before a big marathon when you know you're actually prepared for it? Didn't it feel exciting drifting to sleep, knowing that when you wake up in the morning you're as prepared as you can be? All those hard yards and out-of-breath practices have made you fit and ready for the great race you've signed up for today. You did the hard work, and now you're ready to see that in action. Or if you're not a fitness junkie, maybe it's the exam you studied really hard for or the important meeting you've got coming up in front of your bosses. Whatever it is... it's a time when you were really stressed, stretched in all matters of ways, but got you to the point of 'ready' and you knew the performance was going to reflect that work.

And that's where I'd like to throw out a challenge to you, as you're reading this blog.

Think carefully about the last 6 months and name 3 things that you're grateful for and have been good in your life. Write them down! Stick them on a post-it, somewhere you'll see again and again. Feel fortunate that you had those things in your life during this historic COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Those people, resources, or circumstances you've just thought of? They're your support team.  

Next, think about three things that have been difficult in your life, but you know have resulted in a gain of some kind.  For me, having a big dip in our recruitment business was hard at first, but it allowed us to use our recruitment team to focus on our coaching business. Without the fall in recruitment, we wouldn’t have had chance to give our team the mobility to work into another section of 33 Talent and invest and learn deeply what it’s all about. Now, as some of us return back to recruitment work, we're already feeling the effects of a much more connected team that is refreshed from understanding all parts of the company.

So, think of something that was initially a negative, but once you had met the challenge, you made it into a positive. Those things? They were your training sessions.

Here it is. The start of the financial year. The race day. You’ve got your support – a team - and you’re grateful for it.  You’ve trained, and you’re stronger because of it.  The evidence is right there on those muscles!

This exercise is called The Attitude of Gratitude.  It’s incredible how much we can find when we start thinking about what we’ve received. Even during COVID-19, these challenges made you stronger and you had a team of people and resources that were there for you.

Welcome to the new year - whatever it throws at you, you’re ready to start the new year with gusto! Ready, set, go...