Do you or your staff spend a lot of time travelling to and from meetings? Does the experience of travelling leave you too tired and stressed to perform at your best when you get there? Then maybe the solution is not to go in the first place.

An article on The Register website highlights the disadvantages of travelling for face-to-face meetings. Traffic, overcrowded trains, poor power or connectivity for laptops and more combine to make the experience an unpleasant one.

However, a report from Quocirca reveals that using video conferencing technology not only removes the need to travel (and its attendant costs), but also increases productivity.

Key findings included:

· Businesses rely on many modes of communication, with email now as important as the phone.

· Meeting face to face can be both costly and ineffective - Despite this use of other media, it is still very valuable to see the other participants to gauge emotion, establish trust and grow relationships. But, not only are travel costs becoming increasingly significant, so is the time that has to be committed to scheduling, rescheduling and participating in a meeting.

· Productivity, not travel costs, is the main reason users replace journeys with video - While saving money by avoiding travel and environmental concerns are often mentioned as benefits of video conferencing, those using it are more influenced by the productivity gains it offers and the increase in focus and attention of participants. There is also a recognisable personal benefit in freeing up time, releasing a weighty number of hours for the work/life balance.

· But those without video conferencing today are looking to cut future travel bills - Short term travel costs, commuting and the longer term environmental issues are more important potential benefits to those currently without video conferencing solutions.

· IT infrastructure capability needs to align with user demand and strategic direction.

To find out more about how ICT can help your business, and what ICT projects are available in the North West, visit the Greater Merseyside Digital Development Agency website.

A new report unveiled today by the British Chambers of Commerce, UK Skills: Making the Grade, has uncovered the increasing difficulties British businesses face in finding employees with the right skills.

55% of employers said that they find it more difficult to recruit skilled employees today than five years ago, revealing the true extent of the worrying skills gap in British workers. The report strengthens the need for the Government to place business needs at the heart of plans to revise vocational training for young people and adults.

This view is echoed by employers throughout the country such as Tim Crabtree, MD of Abbot Solutions in High Wycombe, who are finding it difficult to recruit staff with the required skills:

“I spent a year trying to recruit someone for one position. There were people who came to the interview were absolutely awful in terms of their attitude, and there were others who were very nice but the one thing they had in common was their lack of skills.”

The commitment of businesses to the personal development of their staff was also revealed in the survey with a majority recognising the importance of training. Over 83% of small businesses provided training for their staff and 77% make professional assessments of staff training needs and evaluate the effectiveness of the training they pay for.

PSN HR Director Dean Hunter says: “Training is as important as recruitment. Research shows the main reason people leave their jobs is due to lack of development, so training and re-training is a must if you want to keep your staff.”

The survey also found that businesses find it difficult to access training. The cost of training, time taken away from the businesses in order to attend training courses and limited eligibility for government funding were the main barriers cited by businesses.

David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce says; “As the effects of globalisation are more widely felt it is imperative that the UK workforce is highly-skilled if our economy is to remain competitive. The current education and vocational training system is failing to provide workers with the skills that businesses need. If this is not effectively addressed UK businesses will be seriously disadvantaged.”

While the BCC recognises the effort the Government is making in increasing the skills base in the UK , certain parts of the Government’s skills strategy have to be improved for example only a sixth of employers felt that their Sector Skills Council effectively represented their needs.

Louise Potter, the British Chambers of Commerce Policy Advisor for UK Skills says; “Businesses recognise the importance of skills which is why they spend on average £350, per employee, per year on training. However, for many small businesses it can be difficult to absorb this cost. Government support initiatives such as Train to Gain are the right way forward in engaging more SME’s in training and we will be working with them in increasing awareness of the scheme amongst SME’s.

Download a PDF of the report from the BCC website.

More on the skills gap from the Chamber blog. 

Click more for the report’s key findings.

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