EnergyVision Annual Report 2020

THIS IS HOW DIFFICULT 2020 WAS IN BELGIUM STAFF HAVE THEIR SAY C r na & c T H I S I S H OW D I F F I C U LT 2 0 2 0 WA S 24 25 E N E R G Y V I S I O N - A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 2 0 We made immediate guarantees to all our stakeholders: all the employees could rest 100% assured that they would keep 100% of their pay, however long the crisis would last or however deep it would cut; everyone was also given hospitalisation insurance by the company; all existing customers were given two months’ free electricity (we did the same thing in the second lockdown); all new customers received a guarantee that the sites would be started and finished in perfect safety. There were many measures that we took so that the sites could go ahead: continual adjustments, internal and external safety checks, keeping people and material inside the Brussels Capital Region, constant contact with government aides and local authorities to avoid sites being shut down, permanent communications channels with customers and staff. Strict rules were imposed to keep the virus out of our organisation: a strict travel ban for the entire year, obligatory quarantine days for anyone who did want to travel in 2020, obligatory working from home for long periods of the year (at least a few days a week) and wearing a face mask the whole time in the office and on site. The entire organisation was divided in two (with separate working hours, a separate entrance and exit, separate parking areas and completely separated office spaces with plexiglass walls to prevent any contact between the two groups, see photo). It was tough, really tough. Ultimately this was the hardest year ever for the company and all its staff. But we pulled through and we did a great job: hardly any infections, and as a group we all made it to the other side, without a single person being put in the position of temporary unemployment for a single day and without a single euro of state aid or wage subsidy being used in the three countries. In Belgium we realised very early on in 2020 what was coming. Our Chinese colleagues sent us daily bulletins about how things were going at their end. They were already in full lockdown in January, and the expectation was that the effects would certainly be significant: either the epidemic would spread to Europe and everything would shut down here as well, or the epidemic in China would quickly be brought under control and local consumption there would rise again quickly. In either case, solar panels would not reach us in Belgium. So we placed orders for the whole year as early as January: we booked additional warehouse space, had dozens of extra containers brought over and battened down for the storm. From mid-February onwards, we held daily crisis meetings with a core coronavirus team of ten people. We hired an emergency warehouse in Brussels. We put our installers up in Brussels hotels. If the regional roads had closed down, our people and materials would already be in place. Five days before the lockdown was announced, we were completely ready. MILISSA TOUILEB Age: 22 Started at EnergyVision: March 2020 Position: Sales Admin B2C Works at: Office in Ghent, Belgium What she does: Administrative and telephone support for customers What she has to say: I started at EnergyVision on 9 March 2020. There were five of us who started on the same day. Three days later, the government closed the bars, restaurants, shops and schools. A week later, the whole country went into lockdown. Another week later, a million Belgians found themselves in a furlough system. As newcomers, it was almost impossible to believe that the first e-mail we received was one offering absolute security: I’d been afraid of getting a message to say that our contracts would be cancelled, but the opposite was true! EnergyVision promised us certainty in uncertain times, and I’ll never forget that. That is not to say it has all been plain sailing: it was a huge challenge to learn the job and get the hang of everything under such circumstances (working from home, with the whole country shut down). My colleagues were a huge source of support in that period, because I could turn to them with all my questions and problems. ALUSINE KAMARA Age: 24 Started at EnergyVision: August 2019 Position: Installer of solar panels Works at: Sites in Brussels, Belgium What he does: Installs solar panels for customers in Brussels What he has to say: I found my way to EnergyVision through the Flemish Public Employment Service (VDAB) and Rising You in the summer of 2019. To begin with I was really scared and embarrassed about making mistakes, but my colleagues soon put me at ease. Three months later, my dream came true when I was given a permanent contract. But not long after that, the coronavirus struck! Until then we greeted each other every morning with a fist bump, but suddenly that was no longer allowed. Standing on a roof on a scorching summer’s day with a face mask on was a real pain. We were supposed to keep our distance, but sometimes you have to work close together on a roof. But we got through it together, and in spite of social distancing I feel more involved than ever in the company. One thing is for sure: I will always do my best for EnergyVision. I want to get better and better at my job and then hopefully one day I’ll be promoted. Because however difficult it got, my colleagues and I always put all our energy into our work. After all, that’s why we’re called EnergyVision! KEVIN PLAETSIER Age: 33 Started at EnergyVision: September 2019 Position: Sales Coördinator Works at: Brussels What he does: Convincing Brussels families to engage with Brusol What he has to say: 2020 was an unusual year, but it was a fun, challenging year at work. In November 2019 we all went to China together, and now we are hardly even allowed to see each other. But even in these difficult times and in spite of the distance, it was really striking that we really are one big family. And in contrast to many other people, we had job security – that really makes a difference! Work was quite difficult during the first lockdown. Site visits were almost impossible, and customers were very worried, as we were ourselves. Within less than a week, we switched completely from home visits to conversations on our computer screens. It worked. It was a struggle, but our Brusol projects never really came to a standstill at any time. But, as we said to each other when the first measures were imposed: in 2021 we’ll soon meet up again at a big post- corona EnergyVision/Brusol party!