COVID-19 was game changing for TrendSource and the world. We needed for our employees to be educated about COVID, appropriately concerned by it, as well as confident that TrendSource leaders were putting team members’ best interests and safety first.

Leadership closely monitored COVID in Asia. In preparation we ordered facemasks and hand sanitizer for the company in January. By February, senior leadership spoke with all employees discussing health and safety while dispensing supplies. Throughout that time and into March, we were hosting All Hands meetings in preparation to shift to 100% remote. 

Prior to COVID, TrendSource was only 10% remote. The other 90% worked in-house and had very little exposure to or experience with working remotely. For the safety of our employees, we aimed to be 100% remote prior to Governor Newsom issuing the Stay-At-Home order for the state of California. On March 12^th, we presented to the company a succinct plan on how we would phase out of our office space. This included:

• Organizing employees to take their equipment home
• Notifying clients of our plans
• Dispersing an updated corporate continuity plan
• Issuing company best practices for remote communication and managing remote employees
• Housekeeping such as emptying fridges and taking home all plants 

Through planning and communication, we had the entire company remote two days prior to Governor Newsom making his announcement.

We built trust with our team members; we demonstrated that we value them as people, and we care for their wellbeing. Our employees are safe at home, and they will remain so until we deem it safe to return – most likely in February or March ‘21. We also found that we can fully function remotely, which previously is something we thought impossible. This endeavor was a challenging exercise, one that we are stronger as a community.

Victoria C. Hyzer