Here we are almost at the end of 2021 and what a year it has been! Who would have thought that we would still be navigating the Covid world to such a degree, unable to freely travel and see loved ones? It’s been a busy year for me and I’ve been a little quiet, so I thought it time for an update. First of all the business…
When Covid hit almost 2 years ago now, all of the work we had planned understandably disappeared. Businesses quickly looked at how they could adapt to survive and how they could accommodate the new world of remote working, which brought lots of challenges, including technology and hardware.
For me, it offered a period of reflection. I have been mulling for several years around taking some of our services online and this was the ideal opportunity. It will all be back to normal by July I thought…
Fast forward to December 2021 and I am just coming to the end of my first full blended Management Development Programme provided online. TalentGen has been working with a couple of great new clients and their demand for these programs really helped us to focus and turn something around to suit them within the timeframes they needed it. It was no mean feat, we had to research the technology, platforms and very quickly learned we needed some IT support so we have partnered with another great business, (thanks Tom and team!).
Our Development Assessment Centres for Volvo Cars also went fully online, so our actors and assessors had a lesson in navigating the new world and we have now been running these successfully since November 2020 – with great feedback too!
As for coaching, it’s business as usual as many clients already preferred the flexibility of doing this online. So there you have it, within two years my carbon footprint looks a lot more friendly and my work-life balance has greatly improved. Speaking of which…
Back in December my husband and I finally took the plunge and moved our entire lives to France. Our children are all grown up with lives of their own, so we decided to sell our UK home (which went within days and meant no turning back!). We moved to what has been our holiday home for the last 14 years (and still a work in progress!).
Here are a few photos of our progress lately – since moving here I have learned how to tile and improved my flatpack building skills considerably. My husband and I have tiled the downstairs floor, fitted a kitchen and bathroom. I took care of the pointing in the third bedroom some time ago, and Simon has done the “behind the scenes” work, whilst I take credit for “making it look pretty” as he puts it!
I have reduced my work hours a little, to allow me some time for admin and to get to grips with my new home language. One thing most of you know about me is that I like to talk, so when I can’t communicate fully it’s quite a frustrating place for me to be! To conquer that, we have french lessons once a week for an hour and I also volunteer in a local charity shop two half days a week – which I love! So still just as busy, I’ve just reallocated my time a little differently.
Next year currently looks a little quieter, however I welcome that at the moment as it will give me a little more time to settle, reflect and also spend a bit of time with our new pup, Cooper, who arrived at our home in November and already rules the roost!
Next year our focus will be on delivering some new coaching programs, and we are particularly interested in working with HR Managers, so watch this space! Of course, if you are interested, we would love to hear from you.
Je vous souhaite à tous un très Joyeux Noël et une bonne et heureuse année. A bientôt!
Sue
