Snow means Go
For the local support and care charity YOU, this snow-disrupted week has seen an unbelievable effort made by the 450 plus employees who work across the region.
When over 10,000 peoples lives are at stake, it is not just a case of calling in and saying you'll work from home, serious effort and desire has to be made and this workforce has it in abundance.
When the snow hit on Tuesday evening and the severity soon became clear, the charity based in Portsmouth implemented its five-day emergency rolling plan to ensure that the 50 services they provide continued to run as normal and that the vulnerable people, including people with learning disabilities and mental ill health, continued to receive care and support.
This plan, centred around a clear communications process and adopting a flexible workforce approach has seen a continued plateau of the charity's 100% efficiency level maintained, something that many businesses in the region would love to boast this week.
All staff have been receiving updates on a regular basis, giving them up-to-date weather forecasts, travel information as well as ensuring that they feel supported and valued, and Managers have all been receiving hourly updates on service levels and any resolved issues.
The flexible workforce approach has seen staff, who live in Fareham but usually work in Portsmouth, go to their nearest service or office in Fareham and work from there (for example). Sally Hutfield, Director of Operations, who initiated the five-day emergency plan, said: "the quality our learning and development programme and the willingness of our staff to learn has enabled us to work in such a way, as everyone at YOU has such a vast skill set."
The organisation as also seen a huge commitment from its staff. There are stories of members of staff walking 2.5 hours in the snow to get to a client and others who have turned up at work armed with an overnight bag on the chance that they will get snowed in.
"We're in this because going that extra mile and providing the best possible service is important to us," said Mandy Dickson, Manager of YOU's domestic violence services. "We do this job because we want to make a difference and we will always be here for people, whatever the weather."
Simon Crouch, Supporting People Coordinator for Fareham and Gosport, said: "YOU's staff are an example to everyone and I'd formally like to thank them for ensuring a continuity of service delivery in the face of the disruption caused by the weather. They are very committed in their work and it's appreciated."
