As we approach the end of another extraordinary year, and enter yet another uncertain holiday season, all of us at Kalus Kenny Intelex wish you, your colleagues and your families good health, good times, and season’s greetings.
More than anything we hope you get the chance to switch off from the challenges of 2021 and to find time for yourselves. To rest, to recover and to rejuvenate.
When 2020 came to an end, for many of us the overwhelming emotions were of relief and gratitude.
Relief, because we survived. Gratitude because we were supported.
But I can’t help but feel that this year many people are feeling different.
And not just because, for a change, Richmond didn’t win the premiership.
This year my sense is that people are feeling fatigued. Mental and physical fatigue. No matter how well a person or a business may have done based on the usual parameters, this year has been challenging and relentless. Heavy restrictions, lack of human contact, interruptions to business and employment, and high case numbers have combined to make this year particularly difficult.
And as some communities are particularly vulnerable, we are taking this opportunity on behalf of all of our staff and our clients to make donations to three outstanding organisations – Stand Up, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and Lighthouse Foundation – who focus all of their efforts on making the lives of people better.
Apart from wishing you all Season’s Greetings, and putting our faith in these important not for profit organisations, my other wish is that all of us recognise that there are people around us who are being challenged, and that we do something about that.
So many businesses these days espouse people first values. Well now is the time to be who we say we are, or who we would like to be.
If there was ever a time to prioritise others, to be kind and to show gratitude, to our staff, to our partners, to our colleagues, to our supporters and to our families and friends, it is now.
There is so much that each of us can do, especially business leaders, to positively impact those around us. You may not see the signs that it is needed. But it is. And the first thing we can do is to engage. To ask questions and to listen. To be an employer, a leader, a manager or a colleague is a gift. And with that comes the power to make a difference.
The positive aspect of engaging with our staff, our colleagues and with each other is that it feels so much better than the isolation we have endured.
Our recent return to the office, albeit on limited occasions, has highlighted how good it is to work together. Talking, listening, laughing, teaching and learning are all wonderful. Seeing each other in the office has reminded us how good working life can be and how much our lives are enhanced by our workmates.
It has been a timely reminder of how much there is to look forward to.
Let’s take that thought into 2022!
All of us at Kalus Kenny Intelex thank you for being part of our world and we look forward with great enthusiasm to working and socialising with you (in person) in 2022.
Henry Kalus
