The pandemic has challenged everyone in ways we could never have imagined. It has affected almost every aspect of our lives for more than a year now and the going has been rough for many.
At Nordia, our company and our employees have been more fortunate than most. We have been privileged to be able to serve Canadians throughout the pandemic as an essential service provider for Bell Canada and Canada Post. We have helped Canadians stay safely connected and have supported the increased demand for delivery services. While many employers and employees in Canada have struggled during this period, with loss of business and layoffs, we have been able to maintain quality jobs and even grow our workforce.
Protecting health and livelihood
We recognized early on that if we were going to be able to play a positive role in helping Canadians, the first and most important step to take was to protect the health and safety of our employees. The cornerstone of these efforts was the rapid deployment of our work-at-home initiative launched last year. Within a mere six weeks after the pandemic struck, we had already deployed 80% of our workforce – including almost 3,000 frontline service representatives – to work from home. That number quickly grew to 90%, where it stands today.
In March 2021, we once again had an opportunity to expand our role by supporting vaccination campaign rollouts by health authorities in Ontario and Quebec. The challenge was daunting: start providing telephone support services within days of the requests and then grow our capacity exponentially in the course in only a few weeks.
Stepping up once again
So we launched a vast recruitment effort across Nordia and in each of the markets where we operate, leveraging our social media and recruitment channels as well as mobilizing our 5,000 employees to spread the message to their friends, family and others who might be willing to step up and help out.
The response was phenomenal. In less than three weeks, we had already received 15,000 applications and that number eventually grew to 19,000 before we paused the campaign. By March 24, we had already hired and trained over 800 service representatives and met all our client requirements.
I am extremely proud of how fast the Nordia team was able to mobilize and humbled by the outpouring of interest and support to join the fight against COVID-19.
Helping people is in our DNA
As Canada’s largest provider of customer service solutions, helping people has always been in Nordia’s DNA. With this pandemic, even though we are playing but a small role, it is especially gratifying to be able to participate in the solution and equally so, to see the enthusiasm and pride of everyone involved in this vast effort!
John DiNardo
President
