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Displaying posts for January 2008. Show all posts

Will outsourcing destroy working communities?

Lawrence Jones, January 30th 2008, 2:34PM

I was astounded this week as a colleague of mine told me how he had walked into his bank, queued at the counter for customer service only to be told that he should use the telephone in the corner. He was promptly connected to India.

That a person can go to a bank filled with workers, request to speak to somebody and be told to phone another country is simply astonishing.

I have always thought of myself as a national businessman with a local work ethic. I believe in family values, which is why I recruit staff on personality as well as on skill and why there are one or two of my relatives working in the office.

As a businessman I thoroughly believe in supporting the local community, which is why UKFast spends time in schools and invests in open days for local students.

Many of our staff members come from the three universities in the surrounding area- Manchester, Manchester Met and Salford, as well as further afield. Because we have access to so many skills right on our doorstep, I have never needed to outsource to other countries to find talented employees.

In fact, outsourcing is something I feel very strongly about. I have personally considered moving banks in order to find one which is solely based in the UK for the benefit of both staff and customers.

I am not against hiring people from other countries. Currently in my employment are people from America, China and many other countries. However, outsourcing work is of little benefit to the British economy or local community.

I do recognise there is a general skills shortage in the UK, and some areas do suffer as educated graduates generally migrate London-wards. I find the key is to create a company atmosphere in which employees want to work. Team building activities and office surrounds contribute to higher retention rates.

On the other hand, I would definitely consider seeking products from other countries as buying directly from China, for example, can reduce costs massively. This compares to buying from Britain, produce which has already been imported from China and had the cost hiked up.

People however, are not products. They should not be hired and fired because of expense, but employed for skill and contribute to the business community and its local economy.

Tags: offshoring, outsourcing, ukfast
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Online video changing the face of the web

Lawrence Jones, January 17th 2008, 12:29PM

In 1979, video killed the radio star. Today, online film is set to become the next media craze.

This week a study by Tiscali showed that more than a third of UK consumers log on to watch TV on demand. The figures show double the amount on last year, of people watching television online. I’m sure you’ll agree that’s an astounding increase.

The statistics reflect a growing trend in viewing and producing online video. It is a media format most definitely has its good points - providing dynamic web content on platform that can be seen the world over. And it also has its bad points. I’m recalling the recent happy-slapping craze which swept video download site YouTube.

Online video downloading also has the potential to financially cripple the entertainments industry as downloading free and often illegal video beats buying it by four to one.

But for better or worse, internet video is here, and its here to stay.
For businesses, advertising, marketing and communications videocasting has massive, almost untapped, potential.

For example, when designing your website it’s important to remember that content is king. Lots of text is wonderful for search engine spiders, but it is not just robots who read your web pages. Even if you manage to get a top spot in the search engines, if your content isn’t up to scratch, your organisation’s message is lost.

By adding video content to your site you automatically increase your validity as a company, appearing bigger and more authoritative. Additionally you open up a medium to provide a direct message to your audience.

Video attracts visitors and keeps them. It’s proven that consumers don’t stay long on pages that bore them, which is why reams and reams of text may not convert your hits into sales. Online film gives a face or personality to a format which is otherwise quite flat. It builds a trust with your customers, and can be both informative and entertaining.

In the years to come, videocasting will become more and more commonplace, so start now. Be ahead of the game and your online business will benefit no end. At UKFast , we have had a massive interest in our new videocasting department. We’re producing broadcast quality video for our clients as well as ourselves and the standard of dynamic content we are providing has given some glowing testimonials.

My advice is this: don’t stop writing content, it’s still important to have substantial information on your site. But if you haven’t already, definitely consider dynamic content like podcasts or videocasts to really capture your audience’s attention.

Tags: marketing, seo, videocasting
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