EXSA NEWS

Respond | Recover | Thrive

Goodbye 2020, hello 2021

2020 for many of us, was all about pure and simple survival.

By Gill Gibbs, chairperson of EXSA

From rethinking our individual business models, to applying business pivoting, to learning new skills and having to make plans left, right and centre, there was also an uncovering of hidden talents.

EXSA, within the collective industry association community, was in respond mode, managing continuity whilst simultaneously, representing our sector, fighting for Industry recognition, flying the flag for a safe reopening as well as for effective solutions for our Industry plight.

It was a year that meant many things to each and every one of us and one that has impacted us all, forever.

It was the year that was to signify renewal and opportunity for success in new ventures – as we pass from the old year into the new, this is certainly not in the way many of us had initially hoped, nor indeed expected, yet the world and the times underwent significant and distinct change and an opportunity to change for the better was presented to us all.

As we head into the first quarter of 2021, it is a year that will yield success to those who really work hard and apply the learnings of the year that was. It is going to take even more ounces of our resolve and resilience and importantly, focus, planning and discipline to emerge resiliently in this, our recover mode. What we endured in 2020 will now complete itself, it will ground us and bring us to its resolution.

There is no time to waste and as an industry, we need a good foundation to achieve positive and fruitful results. Therein lies our next milestones: instilling and promoting confidence and assurance in our capabilities, educating and demonstrating the same, all the while implementing rapid testing solutions and applying the paramount, consistent principles and fundamentals of safety, health and well-being in every activity, every task, every element and every project. This is our professional responsibility.

Working hard is in our DNA; it’s in our work ethic as ambassadors and advocators of our industry. It just looks and feels different from what we have done before and, as with many things new, it is a little scary and we may feel uncertain.

Everything that we thought we knew and that we expected, has to be reworked to fit into our brand new world. What we, and that which our customers value and deem important, requires us to re-evaluate how we go forward from our recovery into our thrive mode.

EXSA is with you, every step of the way.

Gill Gibbs