The crisis generated by COVID-19 will produce economic and social effects not only in the short term but especially in the long term both individually, at the company level but also globally. Although it may seem hard to believe, COVID-19, an invisible and intangible enemy, turned the world we knew upside down, it is a turning point for future economic constructions. Changes are taking place already, companies are reconfiguring their teams, work style, how people are recruited and their skills, they are more attentive to how they communicate with customers and partners, they are more attentive to investment costs, they place the employees’ and systems’ safety to the fore, discover community responsibility. COVID-19 comes with various transformations, from simple to complicated. People are more careful with their time, with their health, they learn or relearn to give importance to the health and safety of the individual and the family.

We find ourselves in a new reality and we adapt to it, adding two new landmarks to the old reality. Financial security is closely followed if not dethroned by health security and the responsibility of companies has outpaced competition between them. There are changes that we feel both individually and at the macroeconomic level. And in the industry in which we operate, Leader Team Broker, these changes are already happening. Immediately after the pandemic was declared, for example, the international partners of the Leader Team, prestigious insurers, took an unprecedented decision, namely they extended, for example, the validity of policies, covering also the risks generated by COVID-19. Our industry sometimes functions as a barometer of economic systems and sometimes as a safety net. In the case of COVID-19, the extension of the policies is a safety net offered to all those who take care of their health and have chosen to make a health policy or to include the health component in the travel policies. The extension of the validity of the policies was a first signal of change that continues, in our opinion with other important changes such as: the emergence of new products to cover economic bottlenecks, the orientation towards health products but also the acceleration of digitization and the adoption of artificial intelligence.

We, Leader Team Broker are an entrepreneurial company and we work as a family – we work together, we take care of each other, we build together products and solutions that help us grow and evolve professionally, we celebrate together and we think about how to do things better next time when we are not happy with what we achieved. The crisis generated by COVID-19 and the establishment of the state of emergency caught us when we had the engines running at full speed. In the last two years, we have launched several unique products on the Romanian market and this year is a year dedicated to the consolidation of these products and to preparing new ones. Fortunately, because we have a high-performance, well-welded team and because we are oriented towards technology and innovation, we managed to quickly reconfigure our plans without stopping anything. It’s good to have a backup plan, but it’s even better to prepare in advance for any kind of situation – this is one of our principles. When the crisis came, both me and Răzvan, the founder of Leader Team Broker, focused on two areas – the health and safety of our colleagues and the continuation of the activity. Just like in a family, we made our plan and shared the responsibilities. It was not the case to reorganize the office spaces but we decided for the team to work from home. We took care of the individual means of protection, for the situations in which a meeting was necessary, we bought masks and gloves, we purchased sanitation materials. Maintaining the pace of the current activity was not a problem because we are an early adopter in terms of artificial intelligence so we had already implemented systems in this regard. Thus, we were able to serve customers and solve situations, using the online environment and the facilities already implemented in previous years.

Returning to the office, once the state of alert was raised, meant the joy of the reunion but also attention to details regarding the rules of social distancing or disinfection. All customers who come to us, for example, receive a mask, if they have forgotten it in the car or have exceeded the recommended few hours for wearing the mask. We try and succeed to solve situations without asking for physical movement, using electronic communication systems – email or whatsup. All the measures taken have helped us to avoid the risk of illness among the team so far. The whole period we went through confirmed once again that we have a team of people with a lot of expertise, dedicated, loyal and last but not least extremely responsible!

Alexandra Elena Durbacă, Executive Director  Leader Team Insurance Broker

Article in Elite Business Magazine

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