Harcourts Inside

20 INSIDE Harcourts SOUTH AFRICA UPDATE The pandemic that we have faced for the last 18months hasmade us all realise how important “connection” is. For so long we all took for granted that we could simply hop on a plane or jump in a car and meet with someone. We attended events with hundreds of people and never gave a thought about a scenariowhere this would not be possible. And yet, here we are. The easy ways of staying connected are not so easy. Nowwe have tomake dowith Zoommeetings just to see each other’s faces! The advantage of all this is that we will never take “connection” for granted again. Earlier this year, between Covidwaves, wemanaged to hold a Top 20 Business Owner Summit. Despite having keynote speakers, robust group breakaways and fun teambuilding, the overwhelming feeling was that the opportunity to network was themost important aspect of the two days. People hadmissed the connection. Similarly, we held a scaled down version of our National Awards in June. Normally about 70%of AwardWinners attend. This year, all but three AwardWinners attended. They were prepared to risk Covid just to be together, to experience the Harcourts culture and connect with each other (at a social distance of course!). Sowhilst the world grapples withways to get the virus under control and try to return to normality, our challenge remains how to stay connected in themeantime. I have learnt that it takesmore effort and discipline. One has to constantly check to see who you have not connectedwith recently and call them. You are no longer going to run into people at events. Now you need tomake lists of who you are going to check in on. The really cool part of calling people is that they seemmore excited to hear fromyou than before because they value the connectionmore. Could it be that amongst all the negativity that surrounds the pandemic, that maybe we all just appreciate each other a littlemore? Richard Gray CEO, Harcourts South Africa richard.gray@harcourtssa.co.za INPLACESOUTHAFRICA