Life at GO

What a better way to mark this year's Boss Day, than to celebrate our very own Nikhil Patil, CEO at GO plc for the past 36 months.  He has moved from Mumbai, to the States, to Switzerland, Dubai, London and Malta, and many other places in between. He has had a very colourful path so far, being the mind behind strategy, operations, mergers and acquisitions across telecoms companies including GO, Cablenet, BMIT and Interoute.  Before his appointment as a CEO at GO in 2018, he served as a Non-Executive Director of GO, where with the company’s senior management he defined and implemented new strategies that allowed GO to diversify and expand its business both in Malta and Cyprus. He also ventured into the property market where he led Malta Properties Company as CEO for three years.   Here is a glimpse of the man behind the boss and how he perceives the world outside of telecoms.  1. What did you want to be when you were growing up?  A World Adventurer. 2. ...

Preparation is half the victory   Don’t you just feel a sense of accomplishment after the budgeting period is complete? You have everything planned out and you just need to action them in due time. BUT WAIT! What if a global pandemic had to happen and all your planning doesn’t make sense anymore? This is 2020.    The struggle We always plan our upcoming wellbeing initiatives before the year even starts and early on in 2020 we had to adjust to the new reality, revamp the whole wellbeing program for the year and act fast . Everyone was going through different emotions and we needed to be there for each other, but how? We had no way of researching what other companies were doing or finding the best practices and advice from experts as everyone was experiencing this first hand.   As a team we were constantly meeting to brainstorm and support each other. We reassessed our wellbeing strategy to evaluate how we can best adapt to the current situation and overcome ...

  6th October is the World Cerebral Palsy Day and it holds a special place in our hearts at GO. Our colleague Jeanesse Abela is a cerebral palsy champion who works hard to raise awareness and educate the local community to look beyond the disability.  Cerebral palsy is one of the most common childhood disabilities that affects the ability to move and maintain balance and posture. Cerebral means having to do with the brain, and palsy refers to the weakness or problems with using the muscles. Today, it is estimated that around 17 million people live with cerebral palsy and World CP Day is an opportunity for the whole world to come together to recognise and spread awareness of what it is and how early intervention can improve the lives of people with it. Jeanesse is a bundle of positivity and never stops smiling. She had to overcome a lot of difficulties while growing up and she managed to do so through her perseverance and passion about life. She has been part of the GO family ...

At GO, we constantly strive to create and foster diversity, making room for learning opportunities as we continuously work together towards a more inclusive experience. This time round, we chose to honour the Deaf and Blind communities. In doing so, we wanted to extend a helping hand and support both the Deaf and the Blind societies in Malta, with the ultimate aim of raising awareness and exposure of these communities. Advocating for deaf & blind in the workplace We believe that deaf or blind individuals should not be defined by their impairment. Just like any other individual, they too have a lot to offer to society and the workplace, and through the use of technology as well as an increase of awareness amongst other colleagues, they are able to implement certain strategies that allow them to work around the hurdles and challenges posed by their hearing or vision impairments.  The essence of our message is to depict that n ot only do people who are deaf or blind...

I am no stranger to working from home.  It has been part and parcel of my life ever since I re-entered the workforce after having had my two boys, Charlie and Michael now aged 10 and 9.  When I first joined GO, in fact, I must confess that one of the main incentives at the time for doing so and for leaving my previous employment, were its family-friendly measures.  Even before COVID-19 hijacked our lives, GO’s remote working options were inspiring and ahead of their time, allowing employees the space to cultivate a work-life balance. This is an issue which so many working parents generally struggle with.   Just hours after the first few cases in Malta were reported, those whose tasks allowed them to, were immediately asked and encouraged to work from home to avoid the spread. Now that most other businesses and national institutions have had to take similar steps, life looks very different for many of us.   Working from home has taken a comp...

Now that we are all being instructed to avoid any non-essential outings from our homes and to practice social distancing, many of us are developing mixed feelings about any upcoming holidays or days off work. The usual excitement of " YAY tomorrow is a public holiday!"  is being replaced by thoughts of boredom and not knowing how to pass the time whilst stuck inside. So we thought of sharing with you some ideas of how you can keep yourself entertained and busy on a day off in the comfort of your home! Spring cleaning This one’s for my fellow organising-obsessed people! For me, nothing beats the feeling of de-cluttering and deep-cleaning those drawers, cupboards or wardrobes that don’t usually see the light of day.  For those of you who are not too keen on spring cleaning, this might be the perfect time for you to fall in love with all things organised; because let’s face it, it’s a rare thing to have so much ‘free’ time on our hands. So make the most of it...

This is the time to make your wellbeing a priority! COVID-19 is not only affecting us physically but also mentally, this time of crisis is creating stress and anxiety for a large amount of people. The reality is that we are in this together, and at one point or another many of us will experience stress and anxiety, yet the important thing is that we have the right tools and healthy coping mechanisms in place to combat these overwhelming emotions as soon as they hit us. We need to figure out how we are going to put our well-being at the forefront as we get through this trying time together. Every individual reacts differently to stress and anxiety, whether it is a change in sleeping or eating patterns, finding difficulty in concentrating or increased use of alcohol or other substances. In a worrying time like this, being anxious is normal, so do not get stuck in over analysing that anxiety. Like in all other stressful situations, we will be able to adapt to a new way of livi...