Talking about COVID recovery and resiliency at OG reminds me of an old John Lennon song which goes,
Lets
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You hoo ho
…..
Imagine what OG went through
It isn't very hard to do
Had low finances for a month or two
But look at how we have come through
Imagine all the providers and scribes
Working as one
Go OG Go!
Yes, Lennon must be tossing and turning in his grave and even may ask for royalties, but he might overlook it if we explain to him about our current predicament.
Enter 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 bought the entire world to a standstill, causing human suffering to a magnitude like no others, affecting all segments of the population causing economic fallout even in most developed countries. The virus that does not respect class, gender, borders, cultures, ethnicities, or businesses quickly became a global crisis in no time. Life was no different at OG. Imagine being hit by a meteoroid right in the middle of the living room leaving one barely alive, in shock, stress, pain, uncertainty, darkness, all at the same time. No one knew not what was going on or how to move forward from the unfamiliar situation. A new reality was taking shape and it was made of complexity, uncertainty, within it somewhere was opportunity.
Amidst all the uncertainty, OG quickly realized that to adapt and thrive, the organization must accelerate and become resilient and agile and executed the action plan in this regard to perfection. I want to say how proud I am as a member of team OG for rising to the occasion and meeting the challenges the deadly pandemic with situations anew every other day. The executive leadership team at OG had a simple, straightforward, visionary pandemic response strategy without frantic panic and needless complexities to fight the virus with calm and composed approach with utmost importance to focus on physical, social, emotional, and financial well-being of employees at the same time ensuring business continuity with clients. During the darkest days of the pandemic, when revenues were severely curtailed, we were paid salaries on time with no delays even when contemporaries laid off its employees and this kept us afloat.
From thermal screening, rigorous cleaning routines, deployment of hand sanitizers, to implementing social distancing best practices initially, finally came decision to immediately evacuate office. With government imposing a lockdown, organizational preparedness was put to test. Arrangements were made mobilizing laptops, relocating desktops to work from home environment. It was just like how everything changed when Thanos snapped his fingers, home turned into office instantly. Emphasis on patient confidentiality was the primary focus while security policies remain strictly compliant with HIPAA regulations. Staying connected in turbulent times during the stay-at-home orders, regular meetings and virtual gatherings with our managers helped us feel more connected and informed, supported and inspired. High-speed broadband connections are still partially reimbursed in OG payroll month on month and even dongles were initially provided to employees who found it difficult to obtain internet connections.
Most of our employees were connected to their providers and slowly but steadily started creeping back to normalcy. Timely decision making and inherent readiness ensured smooth switchover to remote working while ensuring client deliverables were not impacted. We have adapted in both our work and personal lives, whether it’s working from home or learning the new social-distancing norms, we have learned and demonstrated that we can be effective and productive without meeting face to face or sharing an office. I, for one, certainly enjoy the flexibility of working from home, not to mention the time saved from commuting and all the pollution! Virtual working is not without its challenges, but looking ahead, I assume the future of work will revolve around a hybrid model, with some workers heading back into the office while others maintain their WFH status.
Prioritizing the safety and wellbeing of employees, a vaccination drive was organized for our entire workforce. OG invested lakhs of Rupees to ensure free vaccination for its employees as well as third party vendor personnel working with the organization. Credit goes to the HR team who worked together cohesively, kept us abreast with developments, made arrangements not only for employees but also for family members to get immunized. Feel sorry for the couple unfortunate team members who could not alight the OG bandwagon of resilience traveling toward safety; maybe they were destined for a better journey towards another paradise; maybe we will ultimately meet them some time, let us hope so.
As Robert Tew, an American writer memorably put it, "The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need tomorrow." At OG, “Yes” the transition was slow and painful at times but certainly short in duration. Within a year’s time, despite all the adversities, employees in OG began earning normal salaries and also had a raise with rollout of the revised salary structure. How did it work, nobody knows or research about it either. All we are doing is looking forward for better times and we all know better times are right at the next curve.
Even if the pandemic was detrimental for mankind for sure it has united the whole of the world in some ways, has forced many sectors to push their boundaries in ways that would have been unthinkable a few months ago. We have come together in the name of research and sharing vaccines and helping mankind and our neighbors despite being sworn enemies for centuries. Everything happens for good, cliched but how true, we are all alibis for the saying aren't we?
Right now, there is "NO TIME TO DIE" and let us give Daniel Craig a farewell he well deserves and hopefully soon to the ongoing pandemic the farewell it never deserved; this too shall pass and when it does, we will be able take it in our stride and work in unison towards achieving progress.
Disclaimer: * The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author’s and in no way represent the views, positions, or opinions expressed or implied of OG Healthcare or anyone else.