Kindness does not equal weakness.

Let’s get that out there right now.

We all watched in amazement last year, at just how badly the likes of Wetherspoons and Amazon treated their staff when the nation went into lockdown.

“Go and get a job at Tesco” many Wetherspoons employees were told, in a move that was condemned from every corner of the country.

As we stumble our way through this third national lockdown, kindness seems to be at even more of a premium, as people grow increasingly tired of living with restrictions, and impatient for life to get back to normal, whatever that is…

At #TeamCES, we try to keep kindness at the front of everything we do, whether that’s signposting the vulnerable to the right support, or checking in on our staff to see how they’re doing.

We’re a team here, and we like to think that our support for each other is helping us all to get through one of the toughest periods of our lives.

On the doorstep, on the phone, over the internet – our approach is always understanding, always empathetic, and that goes for anyone and everyone we deal with.

If you want to get respect, you have to give it, and if you can’t be courteous and polite when people are experiencing financial hardship, illness or even bereavement, then when can you be courteous and polite?

At #TeamCES, we know that our Agents, and everybody else who woks for us, are not just disposable commodities of the job, they are the lifeblood of our success as a company, and must be treated as such.

That’s why we check up on them, keep them in the loop, provide them with training and make sure they feel safe to go out into the field, however much that costs and whatever that looks like.

As far as we’re concerned though, whatever measures we put in place for our team, can only benefit everyone else we come into contact with as well – clients, debtors, members of the public.

The take home message of all this is clear…

…kindness isn’t representative of weakness at all. The opposite is true, in fact. Kindness is strength.

Being kind while Enforcing is key.