Jochen Dries

At NewCo communication we continue to closely follow and act upon the development of the COVID-19 outbreak which is having an unprecedented effect on the (economic) world.

As of today, 31/03, the Spanish government has imposed even more severe confinement rules in an attempt to gain control over the current situation.  The new set of rules imply that all non-essential businesses will be closed until the 9th of April 2020.

Thanks to the swift reaction of our “Emergency Response Team” we were able to set-up over the weekend, a work from home solution for our remaining staff, meaning that all Barcelona employees are now servicing our clients from their homes.

In Casablanca, the governmental lock-down rules have not changed since the last update, and people can, until further notice, still travel to and from work.  But as we are aware that the current circumstances can change at any given moment we have further rolled out, over the past week, a work from home solution for our people, resulting today in 82% of our Casablanca staff securing service for our clients from within the safety of their homes.

These times request flexibility and innovation from all of us, and we have seen it brings out the best of our people.

As over the past week, the spread of the Coronavirus gained momentum in both Morocco and Spain, we intensified our efforts as well to ensure the well-being of our people, our clients and our clients’ customers.

As mentioned in an earlier update, and as part of our Business Continuity Plan, our emergency response team prepared over the past weekend, special “home-kits” (including updated pc, headsets,…).  From a first test with a reduced number of agents on Monday, we gradually rolled out a work-from-home solution for both our offices in Casablanca and Barcelona.  

Today we are pleased (and proud) to announce that more than 50% of our people are serving our clients from within the safety of their homes.  

We will keep monitoring the situation, and an even further deployment of work-from-home solutions are being prepared.

In these unprecedented times, we have seen the commitment and the passion of our people, of the different teams in Casablanca and Barcelona, acting as one to continue to offer a safe work environment for our people and finding innovative solutions to support you, our clients and partners..

Further to the latest developments that took place over the weekend, NewCo Communications would like to inform you about the current status and the effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on our business.

As a consequence of the increasing number of infections (mainly in Madrid), the Spanish Government has declared the “state of emergency” for the next 15 days.  This implies, similar to the measures in Belgium and The Netherlands, closing all shops and restaurants, but also limiting people’s movements.  Exceptions to the rule are visits to pharmacies and supermarkets, and traveling to and from work.  This means the measures will have, for the moment being, a limited effect on the operations in Barcelona, and our office will be open for business until further notice.
 
As part of our Business Continuity Plan, our emergency response team has been working over the weekend, to prepare special home-kits (including updated pc, headsets,…) in the event employees are restricted to come to the office.



As the spread of the Coronavirus in Morocco, and more specifically in Casablanca, remains very limited, the measures taken by the Moroccan government (suspending flights to many European countries, limit gatherings and closing schools) won’t be reflected on our daily operations.

As mentioned in the former update, the well-being and safety of our people is, and will always be, our main priority!  The actions and guidelines that we have implemented since the beginning of the outbreak (see first update), have helped us to limit the risk of contamination among our employees. Hence, we are happy to say that up until now no confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in any of our offices.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and act accordingly.  But, please be assured that we are doing everything within our possibilities to face this crisis, and to ensure continuity for both our employees and clients. 

As conditions are changing day by day, it goes without saying, we appreciate our clients’ partnership and trust during these unseen circumstances.

At NewCo Communications, we are closely monitoring the latest developments with respect to the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).  Currently there are limited confirmed cases in Barcelona and very limited confirmed cases in Casablanca, resulting (today) in a low risk of impact on our daily business.

NewCo has already taken steps to ensure the safety and well-being of its employees, reviewing business continuity plans and working to implement guidelines to minimize the risk of contamination.

In summary:

• Updated information for our staff on the signs of infection.
• Sharing recommendations on hygiene.
• Non-essential travel has been put on hold.
• Meetings are conducted by video conference.
• Working from home has been encouraged where possible.
• Cleaning routines across all of our facilities are strengthened, and hygiene and sanitation in the shared office areas have been increased.

As Marc Ternest, NewCo Communications’ CEO states: “We are very well aware of the fact that the current situation is very dynamic, so we will monitor, update and revise our action plan accordingly to the advice of the Moroccan and Spanish government”.

At NewCo, we are confident about our precautionary measures, but we are aware that the events can take a turn at any given moment, due to (local) governmental actions that might have an impact on the operation of our services.

We will be in touch with our clients to discuss possible business continuity plans.

No matter how the situation evolves, clients can count on the NewCo Communications’ team!

Earlier this month, the Flemish Employment and Training Agency (VDAB), published its yearly list of “bottleneck professions” (knelpuntberoepen). Bottleneck professions are a persistent problem for a wide range of occupations in Belgium and among this year’s Top 5, we found “Call Center Agent” in 4th position.

“We are fully aware that over the last years it has become very difficult to find the right people in the customer service industry in Belgium, but in our experience that doesn’t apply if you are willing to look a bit further” states NewCo’s CEO, Marc Ternest.

From the offices in Casablanca, Barcelona and Valencia, NewCo provides contact center services for leading Belgian multinationals and SMEs for 10 years now. “During all those years we have been able to find without any problem, high educated, motivated and native Dutch and French speakers, who are providing an outstanding service for our clients and their customers” Marc Ternest continues.

The main bottleneck vacancies in Belgium will most probably not diminished, and surely we will find Call Centre agents in the top 10 again next year. But in the meanwhile NewCo Communications will continue to offer innovative and above all cost-efficient end-to-end solutions for it’s clients, with the help of it’s native employees, it’s Customer Ambassadors. They are the heart of the organisation and play a key role in delivering the excellent customer experience we are known for.

#knelpuntberoep #vdab #bottleneckprofessions

According to a recent study by SOS International, a organisation of risk experts, who has just published an interactive map, Morocco is among the safest countries in 2020 in the world.

The Kingdom of Morocco is classified on the same level as several European countries such as France, Germany and Spain. As a reminder, the ranking took into account three criteria: physical security, road safety and access to medical resources in case of problems on site. The first criterion assesses political violence, social climate and crime rate. The second is the road mortality rate per 100,000 population, while the second is related to health infrastructure, risk of infection and environmental factors.

These figures are clear example of the openness towards the international marketplace and further positions Morocco as a modern and innovative player, perfectly in line with NewCo Communication’s brand values.

On the 2nd of October 2019, NewCo Communications’ CSR team attended the EcoVadis B2B Sustainability Forum in Amsterdam.
The event focused on how to integrate sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) into business strategy and operations.

Best practices were shared during both key notes and panel talks, and followed by hands on break out sessions lead by experts in the field.

It was an excellent opportunity to gain insight in the methodology of the EcoVadis assessment and at the same time it proved to be an inspirational day on how to accelerate and optimise our own CSR-score.

“If we look at it from a competitive differentiation or compliance point of view, sustainability and CSR are changing the way in which companies are set up, offer their services, and inspire their employees.“ says Jochen Dries, CSR-project lead at NewCo Communications.

NewCo Communications is strongly committed to an ever improving quest to become more sustainable and focus on it’s corporate social responsibility.

Dutch News Channel, RTL News, visited our NewCo Communications offices in Casablanca.

The interviews were part of a news item by Olaf Koens on Dutch speaking contact centers in Morocco.

As Jochen Dries, Marketing Director at NewCo Communications, stated, “as we are an open and transparent company, we were more than glad to show Olaf around and introduce him to our fabulous team!”

Check out the item yourself:

https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/video/video/4844211/nederlandse-callcenters-naar-marokko-goedkoper-en-niemand-heeft-het-door

As a company, NewCo Communications has been involved for many years in the sponsoring of young talented horsemen, and is the proud official partner of Dimitri Taeymans Sporthorses.

Last week Dimitri took part in the 2019 edition of the Brusses Stephex Masters in Wovertem, and took home the exhilarating 4th place!

We witnessed, together with our clients, this high precision, high performance sport, whose values we share in our business as well.

Congratulations to Dimitri and the team!

Have a look at what Dimitri had to say before going into the Sunday finals.

Click here