by Don Nokes | I recently wrote a guest article for Providence Business News in July about how our leadership team and staff came together to implement a cohesive plan to get our staff fully back to work in the office, eliminating remote work.
Now, in August, our path back to the office is complete but the new uptick in infections keeps us consistently monitoring infection numbers and the CDC’s guidance. Our plan (for now) is to stay in the office, but our number one priority is the safety of our clients and our employees.
“As our leadership team planned for and rolled out our back-to-work initiative for more than 30 employees at NetCenergy LLC, we recognized we liked to be together in one office. But we wondered what the staff would say.
When the pandemic started, we knew that working from home would be seamless for our staff. As information technology professionals who spend time both in our office and in clients’ physical space, we had the skills and know-how to make that work. In fact, in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, we limited our in-the-office staff to only one person per day. While we all missed the live, real-time collaboration, our video tools and remote access helped us feel like we were together.
In the spring of this year, as signs of the pandemic-designated restrictions were lifting, we began the discussion about bringing employees back to the office. We believed communication was key. The leadership team met one on one and in person with each employee to assess their readiness to return to our workplace. Given three months of advance notice, could they arrange child care, commuting and other facets of daily in-office life? Did we need to offer a hybrid schedule?”
Read the full article in PBN here.
PS – If you are looking to self-assess your existing IT systems and evaluate your level of risk, our 30-page IT Playbook is full of information to help you. Send us an email and we’ll forward a copy to you. And, if you are not following strict security protocols — including regular user training of anyone with credentials to access your network — reach out to our team at NetCenergy to review your situation.
Nick Eckman joined NetCenergy in 2016 from an international gaming company. Nick’s experience with supervising and implementing secure, fiber and copper wire infrastructure services provides our clients with a team of highly trained and experienced technicians. In addition to the skills required to manage our infrastructure services department, Nick brings a very experienced and focused approach to project management and is a stickler for accurate documentation for every project designed and built by his team.
Peter Lachapelle joined NetCenergy in 2015 and is responsible for leading all of NetCenergy’s operations and accounting functions. Each department within NetCenergy reports through Lachapelle. He brings his years of experience to maintain a pragmatic, efficient, client-focused team at NetCenergy. Lachapelle joined NetCenergy after completing a 27-year career with a Rhode Island, federally-charted bank which culminated in his senior management position as COO and CFO for the bank.
Peter Nelson has 25+ years of technology and management experience and has been with NetCenergy since inception. Peter serves as the VP of Engineering at NetCenergy. His role consists of managing the engineering staff, driving the companies technology strategy, and ensuring NetCenergy keeps up to date on new technologies and solutions.
As a Founding Partner, Dan is a result oriented individual who is always focusing on what is best for his client. He understands that business applications empower an organization and that technology must support those critical business applications. Dan’s technology career started in 1990 at EMC Corporation. Through the years, he has represented technology and consulting services for several organizations until 2003, when he and Don Nokes founded NetCenergy.
As President of NetCenergy, Don is responsible for ensuring client satisfaction, overseeing overall performance, and for providing direction to the organization. Prior to co-founding the firm with Dan Charland, Don held senior leadership positions with IT service firms ranging in size from $3 Billion to $10 Million in annual sales.
With decades of hands-on HR experience, Margery Ahearn is our Director of Human Resources, overseeing all hiring of new positions for NetCenergy with a careful eye on sourcing technology savvy engineers and skilled office-based professionals who fit our company culture, understand our commitment to our clients, and bring their time and talents to our team. Margery has both a BA and MBA in Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.