Aliaxis’ commitment to care has taken on new meaning since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. From adapting workplaces to ensure the safety of our people to supporting frontline workers in our communities and so much more, it’s been inspiring to see this value materialise in so many ways across our company.
So inspiring, in fact, that over the summer I started thinking of new ways we could flex our commitment to care muscles. At the height of the lockdowns in Europe, I was comparing how people in different countries experienced different levels of restrictions with my colleagues Amedeo Macchiavello (Aliaxis Group), Paulo Sardinha (Aliaxis Iberia, Portugal) and Juan Enrique Martínez (Aliaxis Iberia, Spain).
Each one of us has experienced how sport can play a key role when it comes to refreshing our batteries, discovering new places and making the most of a day. It makes us passionate about things like cycling and running, and we connect on Strava, a mobile app that tracks and shares various athletic activities. So, while I had been able to continue cycling on a regular basis here in Germany, the others in our group were stuck at home due to their respective lockdown situations.
As bad as not being able to cycle was for my colleagues in Italy, Spain and Portugal, we quickly realised that this was nothing compared to what some of our other colleagues around the world were experiencing in these uncertain times. We decided to take action and thought to leverage our shared passion for good, which is how the Aliaxis Athletes Club came to be.
Inspired by the Aliaxis Solidarity Fund, the initiative is simple and open for all Aliaxis employees to join. Set up on the Strava platform, the Aliaxis Athletes Club lets our people track and share their workouts (cycling, running, walking, swimming, golf, kayaking and more). It’s a great way to network and support each other in our healthy activities.
Once the club was up and running, we took things a step further with the Aliaxis Athletes Club Challenge where we tracked all our activities for an entire month and followed-up by making a donation to the Aliaxis Solidarity Fund. Donations were entirely voluntary and anonymous; supporting the fund in any way we could is what mattered most. Beyond this support, the Aliaxis Athletes Club Challenge gave us a chance to connect and inspire each other, while fuelling the competitive spirit that pushes athletes to break their normal boundaries.
The Aliaxis Athletes Club hopes to keep flexing our commitment to care muscles and continue building a network that will last long after the pandemic is brought under control. Many of us can’t wait to meet up in person to take a bike ride or go running together, but we’re also really thankful to have a virtual club to meet in, no matter where we are in the world.
By Jan Treiber
Segment Manager Industry, Germany
Recent Employee stories
