Happy Friday, QFamily Partners!

This message is my monthly COVID-19 client update. And yes, I usually write that in the subject line and start with all the Panama statistics (today at the end of this email), but I am so proud of our team that I first had to share the BIG NEWS about the 2021 Contact Center World Awards for the Americas Region (North, Central, and South America).

Yesterday ONQ won several company and individual awards including:

·         Best Customer Service

·         Best Crisis Management Campaign (COVID-19 Response)

·         Best Human Resources Professional, Caitlin Morvidelli

·         Best Contact Center Trainer, Lucas Fuentes

·         And I am honored to have been named Best Contact Center Executive

The biggest news of this year’s virtual conference was that ONQ was selected to receive the DREAM Team Award, presented to those companies who are champions for their people in the opinion of the Contact Center World International Team. The award-winning companies invest in training, education, and career plans to help staff move throughout the company. ONQ was the sole recipient of this award for the America’s region.

The positive aspect of a virtual awards ceremony was that usually, the company would have a few delegates travel to the conference. Yesterday, several employees were able to watch the awards. You can see clips of them watching the awards by clicking here.

I continually praise our QFamily to anyone who will listen, so these awards are a testament to our entire company’s hard work and dedication. Our executives and leadership team believe in constant encouragement and motivation, and we all hope that these awards help inspire our employees to achieve more in their professional development!

These awards come right as ONQ expands our operations into two other continents. Next week, I will be traveling to Kenya with our CFO, Alan Nottingham, and our “award-winning” trainer, Lucas Fuentes, to open our office in Nyeri. We start training our first class on Monday, October 25. We are also opening an office in Hyderabad, India, which we plan to be up and running by the end of November. We are very excited to be expanding our services to keep up with our growth and because the development falls in line with our newest Core Value.

As many of you know, when ONQ moved to the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), the executive team followed a process to re-evaluate our core values. We decided on three:

·         Value Creation

·         Can-Do Attitude

·         Commitment to Quality

At our most recent quarterly meeting in Houston, we decided to add another: Elevate Others. We believe that this core value is who we are not only within the company but also within the communities we serve and even more so to those we plan to expand.

According to last night’s Ministry of Health (MINSA) report, Panama’s total case number (since the beginning of the pandemic) is 469,796, with 7,294 deaths. Panama vaccination numbers are continually increasing. The country has access to Pfizer and AstraZeneca, with 70% having at least one shot and 55% of the country having both. The curfew has been lifted for the entire country, and gatherings previously limited to 10 people have been raised for fully vaccinated people. The government still maintains mask-wearing as law.

This is an exciting time for us, and we are all grateful that each of you is part of our growing QFamily.

Again, and as always, we hope for you and your loved ones’ safety and well-being. Stay safe out there!