Since the beginning, the Junior Enterprise Valais (JEVS) motivated a lot of students from the School of Management (HEG) to take part in the association that currently comprises 26 members. They are studying Tourism, Business Administration or Business Information Technology, which leads to skills in various sectors.
Impact of the coronavirus on our business
Because of COVID-19, we had to adapt our methods to keep our team together. It was no longer possible to meet in person and this has led us to change our way of working and communicating, as well as developing an online organization. With the restrictive governmental measures in place, attending external events was no longer possible. Despite of the situation, we still managed to have a winter outing at “La Tzoumaz” (Wallis) to strengthen ties and keep a certain closeness between our members.
We also developed the project “Pro Bono” that consists in doing free mandates/orders to help local industries. It was important for us to support local businesses that had been hardly affected by the pandemic situation, but also not to rest on our laurels and to remain active.
“For a team to work well, there must be a relationship of trust and fairness”
Miguel da Cruz Gaspar, Head of Communication and Event departments
Changes in our organisation
For the sake of making our organisation more fluid, a new organisational chart with departments has been built. Each member had the opportunity to join a working group in the department they liked the most. This allowed to launch new projects, to constantly improve the JEVS thanks to brainstorming and innovative ideas, as well as integrate new members in a more effective and sustainable way. As a result of a more balanced delegation of tasks and a reduction of points of responsibility, the communication between members and business partners improved significantly.
Far from the eyes, close to the heart…
Several members are currently in an exchange semester, including our president Jonatan Gretz, who is in Germany for five months. Despite the heavy timetable and the challenge arising from taking courses in a foreign language, he continues to invest time in our association. He also participates in the online meetings of the Junior Management Spektrum (JMS), providing us other ways of giving meetings, organizing events and mandates.
Our future goals
Launching a collaboration with other Junior Enterprise is one of our future goals. This would allow the acquisition and sharing of expertise in areas not yet exploited: the quality of the execution of the mandates will be enhanced. Another objective would be to be more present on the local and even the national market, without compromising on the strong business relationships with our existing clients. Even if the pandemic forces us to take a step back, the team will remain united thanks to the committee’s ongoing commitment and the participants’ engagement.
