Email Message
From – Tom Troy, CEO
To – All employees
Subject: Urgent Changes in Business Operations
Today I am announcing a broader adjustment to our business operations. We recognize that material changes to our daily lives are necessary to respect the health and safety of our families, friends, and the larger global community.
Effective Wednesday, March 18, I am asking all employees to work from home, if possible. Given the logistics of this decision, I’m asking for an organized and phased approach. Please adhere to the following guidance:
Your health and the well-being of your family are our first concern. If you are healthy and have a safe place to work, then you have a unique opportunity to shine. I know you will do your job at home with the same rigor and compassion that you have always exhibited. Our customers will understand if a dog barks or a baby cries, as long as you provide the services they need with care and compassion. If you fall ill or need to care for loved ones, we will support you through the process with flexibility and understanding.
These new procedures create an opportunity for you to show us your best self and amplify your personal power to do what’s right. Your actions now will define you as a person whose commitment to keeping our promise allowed you – and us, as a company -- to rise above the chaos and do what’s right for our customers. I call this our noble purpose.
We will be tested in the weeks and months ahead, and I am confident that as we embrace this noble purpose, we will prevail. We will demonstrate that an organization that keeps their promise is still valued in the world, even – and especially -- when the going gets tough.
These actions are what we have always done, and to keep the promise now is something that will be long remembered and deeply appreciated by those who need our help.
Please look for more information about what these closures mean to you and your team from your Enterprise Leadership Team (ELT) member later today or tomorrow morning. They are best equipped to answer your questions. And please have patience as those answers roll out over the days ahead. We will not have everything figured out by 9 am tomorrow. You can play an important role in the days ahead by helping us figure out those right answers as we test and learn together.
In the meantime, let me again share my deepest gratitude for you -- and for your commitment to doing your best, doing what’s right and standing by our members and each other in this time of uncertainty. Thank you.
Email Message
From – Tom Troy, CEO
To – All employees
Subject: Return to office update
Every day brings new information about COVID-19 and another opportunity to assess our response, as a company, to this pandemic. The truth is that none of us know exactly how this illness will play out in the United States and globally. Communities across the country are grappling with if and when to consider loosening regulations around group gatherings, sheltering at home, school openings, store closures, and more.
Out of concern for the safety of our employees – my primary concern – I have made the decision to continue our work from home operations. The earliest day I will ask employees to begin returning to offices would be Monday, May 4 – even if your state or community regulations allow for an earlier lifting of any stay at home requirements. And when we do decide to reoccupy our buildings, we will have a phased approach to do so that puts employee safety first and foremost. We will continue to assess the situation and I will let you know as new decisions are made. I don’t want you waking every morning and wondering if I’m going to ask you to come back to work on May 4, so I’m letting you know now that I will communicate a status report on April 20. At that time, I will either communicate an extension or a deliberate plan for returning to our offices beginning May 4.
In the meantime, you’ll find answers to many of your questions about working from home on the FAQ document here, which is linked from our COVID-19 site on Vista, also a very rich resource. Please continue to talk with your manager or supervisor to make your workplace one where you can be as comfortable and productive as possible. Finally, we ask all employees who are ill with COVID-19-like symptoms (fever, cough, etc.) and/or who have tested positive for COVID-19 to reach out to your HR contact. We want to help you – and we have resources we want to share. Your identity and information will be kept strictly confidential. We are disclosing names only with directly impacted managers and HR staff who need to know.
I am grateful for the incredible support you are showing to each other, and to the company, and appreciate your ability to stay focused on helping our members in what is also a time of great need for them. Please continue taking good care of yourselves and your families. My thoughts and gratitude are with each of you.
Tom Troy