Category: Outsourcing

HR outsourcing is a great way of keeping your team running smoothly and strengthening the relationships between business leaders, middle management and staff. With outsourced support, your business will benefit from a fresh pair of eyes and an independent perspective – two valuable assets when it comes to personnel management.

We caught up with HR expert Louise who shares her knowledge about the benefits of HR outsourcing and how it works in practice. 

Why are employee relations so important?

Louise: People are your most important asset. It’s easy to think running a business is all about the bottom line, but the reality is that your business won’t grow without good management to bring out the best in your personnel. 

Many employers are struggling to recruit at the moment, which makes employee retention more important than ever. Fortunately, with good communication between management and staff, you can hold onto your employees. A long-term employee offers better value than a newbie, and a happy, well-managed staff means higher productivity and savings right across your business. 

How can outsourced HR support help employers?

Louise: All too often, people are promoted to management because of length of service rather than because they have the right experience. It’s a shame to see managers with great potential and business knowledge fail to manage their teams well simply because the manager hasn’t received the right training to bring everyone together. 

However, HR outsourcing can help you to get the basics of management in place, like a solid employee handbook and up-to-date policies. With these for reference, you should be able to handle day-to-day issues. A good employee handbook also forms a great foundation for further training. For example, I recently trained managers in inclusivity and awareness – this has helped them meet the diverse needs of their teams and make everyone feel included. And a happy team is a productive team, so it’s a win for the business too. 

How do you work alongside an in-house HR team?

Louise: Many businesses I’ve supported have excellent in-house HR managers. However, most HR issues only arise once in a while, meaning that for small and medium-sized businesses, it doesn’t make financial sense to employ a full-time HR team. Instead, HR managers outsource general and specific HR support as the need arises. This is usually better value and also brings a fresh perspective. 

For example, I’ve recently carried out an investigation on behalf of a client – the situation needed someone from outside the business to ask the right questions and give an objective view. 

HR outsourcing from Get Ahead

Louise is just one of our amazing virtual experts ready to share their skills and experience with business owners like you. To find out more about what HR services we offer, explore our HR pages or scroll down for more blogs about business support. 

Business administration support from Get Ahead always works well, but it works even better with strong teamwork. 

One of our administration experts, Lisa shared her experiences of working as part of a team for our UK/US-based client Elevated. In this blog, we look at how this situation came about, the advantages of teamwork for the client, and what that teamwork looks like in a regular working week. 

Developing the client relationship

Elevated is a UK/American business consultancy offering a wide variety of support to its international clients. Get Ahead has been supporting their client team who provide medical training in neuro-critical care. In November 2022, Andrew at Elevated approached Emma, regional director in our East Midlands office (who had provided him support with a previous business), looking for business administration support. He needed help covering email management, customer service, reporting, minute taking, event support, client liaison and ad-hoc project management. Emma immediately matched him with three possible specialists who could deliver all the work remotely from their UK-based home offices.

Although the initial plan was for Andrew and his US business partner to select one or two VA specialists to deliver the requirements, after an introduction meeting, they ended up engaging all three. This was because they were so impressed with the breadth of knowledge and experience of all three candidates…and it turned out to be a very wise decision. 

Why? Because in March 2023, Elevated upgraded all its tech systems. And like many tech refresh projects, this one has had its share of teething troubles, including a sizeable email backlog. Fortunately, the three-person Get Ahead team has the right skills and experience to clear these emails and help Elevated offer the service it prides itself upon. 

What does Get Ahead teamwork look like? 

Lisa, Ruth and Jessica were chosen by Emma because she thought they’d work well together, and because she thought they’d be a good fit for Elevated. She was right! The three VAs quickly found effective ways to work together. As remote workers in a different time zone from their client, they’ve had to do their own team leadership, with support from regional director Emma. 

A weekly Thursday meeting gives them a regular time slot to share information and updates, but also find time for emergency meetings. They have a WhatsApp group for quick questions and are always at the end of the phone and ready to support each other.  

What are the advantages of Get Ahead teamwork for the client?

Elevated are delighted with Lisa, Ruth and Jessica’s work – so we are delighted too! Because there are three people in the team, they can cover each other’s holidays and sick leave. This means continuity for the client – there is always someone to keep on top of the work and ensure that Elevated provides a great service to its own clients. 

This also means more flexibility for Elevated – they can make business decisions without being restricted by the availability of their business support experts. 

Because the three VAs are all part of Get Ahead, it’s easy for them to manage themselves and their own team. They communicate between themselves instead of needing Elevated to act as a conduit. This releases the internal team to address other priorities instead of having to add team leadership to their list. 

Business administration support from Get Ahead

We love putting together teams to deliver great results for our clients. To find out more about how we hand pick the right team for your business, check out our infographic here. 

According to a recent survey of social media trends, video is where it’s at. Research shows that two-thirds of social media users feel that short-form videos are the most engaging form of social media content. Video production for social media means you’ll be creating engaging content to boost your following and strengthen your brand. If that’s something your business could benefit from, read on for some fresh ideas.

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Outsource branding and benefit from a different perspective on your business. The decision to rebrand may feel like a big step and a risky one. However, in the long run, it’s usually better to change your brand and strengthen it than to try and muddle along with something that isn’t fit for purpose.

In this blog, we look at how you know you need to rebrand, the advantages of rebranding and why the decision to outsource branding can help.

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Outsource graphic design for fantastic results to convert your customers. Statistics vary, but all conclude that we process visual information incredibly quickly. This means that, when we visit a website or read a printed flyer, we make the decision about that business in a matter of seconds.

For this reason, it’s really important that our graphic design is as great as our business. In this blog, we look at the five main reasons you should outsource graphic design.

  1. High quality work

Graphic designers create stunning artwork for clients every day. They’re always in creative mode and have high-powered, graphics-friendly tech at their fingertips. And if they work for Get Ahead, they’ll have at least three years’ experience to draw on too. This means that when you outsource graphic design to them, they can produce the outstanding work your business deserves.

  1. Powerful visuals to drive conversions

Experienced graphic designers know the importance of creating visuals that reflect your business and tell its story. They understand how graphics work on a subconscious level, like the significance of different colours and subtle differences between photographs. Of course, you want your website to look appealing and professional, but a good graphic designer can create visuals that work on a deeper level too.

  1. Speed

If you do your own graphic design, it probably isn’t part of your usual working day. Even if you enjoy it, you won’t do it as quickly as someone who does it on a daily basis. But when you outsource graphic design, you’ll know it will be completed in a faster time frame than you could achieve yourself.

  1. Correct file sharing

Outsourcing is always better value when it’s sustainable. When you outsource graphic design, you can expect to receive the designs in the right file format for future use. This means that it’s really easy to commission future marketing collateral, like printing your logo onto promotional items. If you’ve ever needed a new website but don’t have your logo saved in a digital format, you’ll know what we mean! Fortunately, with the correct file format, it’s easier to repurpose photos and layouts, saving you money in the future.

  1. One less thing on your to-do list

We know what it’s like to be a busy business owner – there are so many plates to spin! Fortunately, outsourcing graphic design means that you don’t have to do it all yourself. Pass it on to one of our virtual experts and gain some time back for running your business.

Outsource graphic design to Get Ahead

All our graphic designers are experts in their fields with strong track records of producing outstanding work. If you need graphic design support, we’ll find the right virtual expert for your business – someone with the right personality too! Contact us to find out more – we’d love to hear from you.

Copywriting services are a great solution for regular blogging. Outsource your blog and then turn your attention to your core business, secure in the knowledge there’ll be on-brand content ready to share on a regular basis.

However, just because a blog is published regularly, it doesn’t mean it has to follow the same structure every time. In this blog, we look at ideas for alternatives to the usual format. Read on for inspiration!

  1. Listicles

This amusing and oddly high-pitched word wasn’t in the dictionary ten years ago. But it is now. Listicles – lists that are articles – are increasing in popularity. They’re a great way to share information in bite-size chunks, and they’re easy to repurpose into social media posts. Use the listicle structure (like this!) to share top tips, pros and cons or new ideas.

  1. Quizzes

Everyone loves a quiz and the quiz structure works well in a blog too. Dynamic software is now available to gather and interpret answers (we’ve used this for our online quiz) but you can also create a basic quiz yourself. Write a multiple-choice quiz and ask readers to evaluate their own answers. If they scored mostly As, for example, it might mean they’re coping with their workload well. But mostly Bs would indicate that they need your help. Or something else! Tailor your quiz to your business and make sure one of the results is a clear call to action.

  1. Stories

Marketing folk are always talking about “storytelling” – why not use your blog to literally tell a story? Ask your copywriter to get creative and write a fantastic short story about your business. Invite your readers to peruse it on their tea break. Consider creating characters to represent your ideal customer, or use a setting that relates to what you offer. Have fun with it!

  1. Photo blogging

Depending on what your business does, making a picture-led blog might be the best way of showing potential customers what you offer. Consider a gallery format, with stunning photos of your team or products. Arrange the pictures so that they tell the story. This format is particularly good if you have before and after photos, or you’ve worked closely with a client to develop what they need. However, not all blog pages are set up for pictures so remember to check with your web designer before you get too enthusiastic!

  1. Video blogging

Another idea for a visual blog is to embed a video on your blog page and include the same information in written format underneath it. This means that you’ve catered to people who love video as well as connecting with people who prefer to read. The written text will also give you a chance to optimise the video for a search engine – always a good move.

Copywriting services from Get Ahead

We hope you like our five brilliant ideas to liven up your blog! If you need some blogging support, our experienced copywriters would love to help. As well as writing the copy, they can give guidance on titles, subjects and formats to get the best results for your business. Contact your local regional director to find out more.

Outsource web design and benefit from a fresh pair of eyes, expert knowledge and a quick turnaround.

The internet revolutionised the way we do business, but it has also raised the bar in marketing. Now every website needs a website, and every website needs maintaining. Fortunately, our web experts are here to help! They’ve pooled their three favourite ideas for improving your website without going back to the drawing board. Here are some little changes that could make a big difference.

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Blog writing services help SEO in many ways. When you optimise your website for a search engine, you take steps to help the search engine find it. Adding blogs is one of those steps.

In this blog, we look at four ways in which writing and publishing regular blogs boosts your search engine rankings.  

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Good web design is important because your business website is an online reflection of your business. To be effective, its design, content and functionality all need to work well and look professional.

Let’s take a closer look at our top five reasons why good web design is important.

Why is good web design important?

Good web design is important for lots of reasons. Here are our top five:

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When you outsource social media content to Get Ahead, your new social media manager will often use a scheduling platform. Scheduling platforms like Hootsuite and Buffer help us keep up a consistent presence on social media channels and definitely make life easier. However, there are some pitfalls to avoid too – our social media managers know them all and they thought they’d be useful to share!

In this blog, we look at the benefits of scheduling social media content, and note the pitfalls to avoid.

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