Reflections on 2021 from our Managing Director

We’d like to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy, healthy 2022, from the team at Outset. 

Thank you for your continued support and we hope we can work together in the coming year to navigate the ever-changing world of work.

For me, 2021 has in many ways felt even more challenging than 2020. Whilst the pandemic came out of nowhere and surprised us all, we reacted with togetherness and resolve.

2021 has been a different proposition again. With almost a year of lockdowns, remote working and restricted lives having impacted all of us in a variety of ways, we came into 2021 with genuine uncertainty around the immediate and long-term future. Although 2022 looks likely to bring more of the same, I’d like to focus on the positives we can draw out of these challenges. 

This year has seen a collective reflection on our happiness, our purpose and the things which are important to us. This reflection, much like the initial impact of the pandemic in early 2020, has once again accelerated change. As Chloe commented in our Workplace newsletter, the “Great Resignation” is in an indication of this reflection throughout the workforce. People unsatisfied with their roles or careers have been voting with their feet. 

For many years now, for the vast majority of us; work is no longer a place we go; but rather something we do - and something we do for a substantial proportion of our lives. 

This accelerated reflection (which I think we’re all able to identify with), will leave businesses needing to take a long hard look at themselves in 2022 and adapt again. We will need to re-think what it means to be a part of a team within this wider context; whether that means looking at hybrid working arrangements, compensation packages, career paths and retention or recruitment incentives. We’ll need to consider what truly sets us all apart and what makes us a great place to work. There’s no doubt employee wellbeing will need to be at the core of our thinking. I have no doubt that we are yet to see the true impact on people of the events of the past two years.

For our part, we’re asking these same questions: How can we support and develop our colleagues? How do we ensure that we remain a force for progress in professional services? What can we do to improve and stay ahead of the curve? We look to 2022, in spite of the uncertainty, with great optimism. With some exciting plans in the pipeline, and a readiness to embrace a world of accelerating change; we are excited at what the future may hold. 

At the time of writing this, further lockdowns seem to be inevitable, and businesses across the board are contemplating the critical challenges they may face as 2022 begins. I am hopeful that we will see the range of support needed, both from Government and the wider public; to ensure that local and independent businesses can weather the storms that might be coming. I know that we will do everything we can to continue to support our people, clients, partners and stakeholders and, as ever, celebrate each small victory along the way.

For now, I hope you enjoy the festivities with your loved ones and stay safe. For tomorrow, in the wise words of Abraham Lincoln, ‘the best way to predict the future is to create it’.

Sean Gorman

Managing Director