There’s been a lot of ship talk around Avo lately.  Mostly because we’ve been feeling a bit low in the water after the recession and quiet world cup time.  But Avo isn’t the kind of place where the bosses would easily go ‘Hmmmmm… tooo many folks on the boat: Time to make some walk the plank!’  In a market where there have been 232 000 jobs lost already this year, that would just be tossing our precious people to the sharks, so to speak.

In a turn of fate that verges on divine intervention, though, a wonderful opportunity has presented itself in the form of a new ship that just pulled up alongside ours’. Ngikwazi, our sister company, just closed a really exciting deal with a new client which has meant that they have had to staff up an entirely new team.  In the last 3 weeks, some awesome job offers have come the way of our team, and some of our Avos have decided to take advantage of the opportunities that were on offer and ‘jumped ship’.  Most of them are already on board, slaving away at getting the new boat ship-shape and ready to sail.

It’s and exciting new development in the life of the Avo and Ngikwazi group of companies. Congratulations to Andre and his team for landing this fabulous deal. It increases the number of boats in our flotilla, creates real growth opportunities for our talented staff, and gives us all the chance to be part of growing South Africa.

Of course, the reality on our Avo office is that we have some empty chairs: Sandi, Soz, Stephen, Lele and Noma have already moved into new roles on the Ngikwazi ship.  Jeanette is moving across for a short term project 3-month period. And one or two more Avos are looking at roles that will become available a few months down the line. 

To all of you already on the new ship: bon voyage!  We’re missing you already, but wish you all the very very best in this next phase of your careers.  We’ll be watching your progress with pride.

To the Avos in the Avo ship: it’s been really hard to watch some of our precious Avos go, and it’s going to be tough sailing our ship without them.  But we’re now lighter in the water.  As the winds begin to blow after this sluggish time, we’re perfectly positioned to hoist our sails, and shoot off into the sunset.  And at the risk of making my reader vomit, of course I can’t resist saying “All hands on deck…..”!