I love this time of year

I love this time of year. You might be thinking this is because Christmas is coming up or because in the Northern Hemisphere we have cold bright days that when the sky is blue and you are warmly wrapped up against the cold it really lifts your spirits. All of these things of course contribute to why I love this time of year but that is not what I am referring to here.  

The reason I love this time of year so much is because it is the time of the year we give a great deal of thought to what is coming up for us the year ahead and beyond for our businesses. It is the time we design our business plans to continue our success and growth into the future.  

As we sit together in teams we dare to dream of being bolder, bringing new services to our locations around the world, opening up opportunities for new colleagues to join us, planning to develop ourselves. It’s exciting because the three-year timescales of our business plans allow us to look at how we will develop in the longer term. It’s a time for taking on new perspectives, for thinking about how we show up around the world in our marketing and social media, how we develop research, innovate and have a bigger voice in our industries.  

In these discussions we challenge ourselves and look at our businesses from the shoes of our colleagues, our clients, our contractors and our candidates. We look at what industry commentators are thinking, what the world in general is facing and remind ourselves throughout that we are a truly great business with the best colleagues in the industries we work in.  

Of course none of us have a crystal ball and there is always the need to use our knowledge and skills to build these plans. When we talk with our leaders about their thinking it’s always intriguing and exciting. I really enjoy these moments as we really do hear from the best of the best. Of course there is always challenge, we always strive to be the best we can be and to go faster and further. That is why we really are the gold standard in what we do.  

I hope I am giving you the sense of why I love this time of year so much. It really gets us all thinking long and hard and preparing for the year ahead of us whilst working to make sure we have our best year ever.  

Thank you to each of our colleagues for the part you play in making our businesses so successful. I feel very lucky to work with so many talented, kind and caring people around the world.  

As we head towards the weekend I wish everyone time to rest and relax. Keep safe and well.

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