Paid Social Team Through 2020

2020.

The year that perhaps many will not forget for decades to come.

The experience for GEI’s Paid Social Team was no different. Life kept sailing smoothly until March 2020 when the COVID-19 virus hit the entire world, including India. This was the first time we ever experienced a total lockdown across the country. We had minimal access to the outside world, running only on the essentials. While work-from-home defined the ‘New Normal’, we instantly started missing the supposed mundane routine of getting ready and travelling to office, punching attendance, working alongside peers and of course, the watercooler conversations and conference room discussions.

Since we deal in international studies sector, travel restrictions across the world was read as potential business loss by us. Another looming issue was the operational complexities in arranging remote work setup for the entire team.   

But as they say – ‘when times get tough, the tough gets going.’ The team members rose to the occasion and displayed an exceptional sense of sincerity, commitment and dedication towards each task at hand and delivered excellence every single time, irrespective of the unique work conditions. 

The biggest challenge for our team perhaps, was to quickly shift the strategy focus from campus courses to online and distance learning. Thanks to the adaptability and agility displayed by the team, not only did we implement a new strategy but also witnessed great success in terms of the leads and applications received for each of our brands. In fact, we ended up investing more on paid social channels than what we did in 2019! We went on to add 4 new brands to our portfolio (R3 medical brands and Trebas) and also introduced a new paid social platform – Quora, for our brands and tasted success in it too. Our team members were on top of things when it came to their core job and it was a personal success that we did not receive any complaints regarding the performance or productivity of the team members.

"Pandemic proved that we are not just employees of GEI but a family. It always stood by us in emergency and need. Always concerned about our safety round the clock." - Srinivas Rai Lakkoju, Executive, Paid Social

While the number of COVID cases were reaching an all-time high mark, locust attacks, floods and farmers protest were some other critical national issues that rattled people in general. However, these tough times worked as a catalyst for our team to come together and, have everyone find support in everyone.  We stood united as brute strength, all through those testing times, stepping up for each other as and when needed.  

For each of us, our teamwork spirit is the hallmark of our unwavering faith in GEI and the pride that we take in being a part of this employee-first organisation. Even with the toughest of challenges in the past year, we were never asked to give up on our personal lives, on the contrary, we were encouraged to spend more time with our families at home. It is these small actions that make the biggest impressions for a company and we, as a team, couldn’t have lucked out better with GEI!

2021, bring it on!