Quincy Newspapers, Inc. (QNI) is a family-owned media company that originated in the newspapers of Quincy, Illinois. The company's history can be traced back to 1835, when the Bounty Land Register was one of only four newspapers in all of Illinois. Over the next century, a number of mergers followed. In 1935, the Quincy Herald-Whig emerged, and it still operates under that name today. The company moved into radio in 1947 and began television broadcasts in 1953.
alph M. Oakley is Vice President, director, and assistant secretary of QNI, and Chief Operating Officer of the Broadcast Division of QNI.
The corporation was formed in Quincy on July 1, 1926, as a publishing company upon the consolidation of Quincy Herald, direct descendant of the Illinois Bounty Land Register first published in Quincy in 1835, and the Quincy Whig-Journal, descendant of the Quincy Whig founded in 1838. The Herald-Whig publishes 7 days a week.
In September, we surveyed some of our clients asking them to rank in order of importance topics they felt were the most important to their organization relating to employee recruitment and retention. By far, employee retention was the topic most managers wanted more information on, followed by reducing contract labor, then reducing their cost per hire.
As most of us have seen, employee loyalty is very short-lived, and most hospital employees do not expect to be with the same employer for more than a couple of years. The fact is the employee's basic needs are changing. Finding and keeping good talent is not just about money anymore. Believe it or not, it’s typically third down the line of reasons employees leave.
In most cases, we discovered that candidates do not leave for just more money, or to avoid difficult job circumstances. Research conducted by our organization found that employees usually leave because of human factors such as; greater job appreciation, better working relationship with management, better geographic location to their family, better work environment, more flex-time, etc.
RadSciences Group has tried to keep the formula for employee retention relatively simple, but unfortunately, it’s not. However, we have determined that there are three key ingredients to effective employee retention.
1. Creating a better working environment
2. Develop a career and recognition plan
3. Appreciating employees financially
Quincy Newspapers belies its name by being a leading TV broadcaster serving markets in the Midwest. It owns and operates about a dozen stations located mostly in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. Most of its stations are affiliated with NBC and ABC, while a two are affiliates of FOX. Quincy Newspapers does own two newspapers, The New Jersey Herald (Newton) and Quincy Herald-Whig (Illinois), along with a couple radio stations and a video production business. The family-owned company was formed by the Oakley and Lindsay families in 1926 to publish the Herald-Whig.
the epic shifts taking place within media and advertising organizations are causing many to rethink business processes and budgets. For Quincy Newspapers, Inc. (QNI), a family-owned media company based in Quincy, Illinois, the financial and productivity costs of routine business travel were becoming increasingly untenable. As a growing media organization with 16 offices dispersed throughout the Midwest, QNI turned to LifeSize HD video conferencing systems to reduce travel expenses – including the sale of the company plane – while fostering greater opportunity for both executives and staff to collaborate face-to-face.
“The world changed in 2008 and we had to make a smart decision about how we would maintain the efficiency of our business while undertaking some significant cost-cutting measures,” said Brady Dreasler, Director of Capital, Engineering, and Facilities at Quincy Newspapers. Now, the company plane is gone and LifeSize is in – and we haven’t looked back. Since implementing LifeSize, we’ve seen a quick ROI in terms of improved communications across our offices and a significantly reduced travel budget. With less travel comes more time at home, and that’s had a positive impact on our staff’s quality and overall morale.”
QNI has deployed a total of 16 LifeSize systems at its headquarters and regional centers, including LifeSize® Express™, LifeSize® Team MP™ and LifeSize® Room™ systems. HD video is now used to host a wide range of communications for the company’s 800 employees, including weekly departmental head meetings, employee training, and remote job interviews. QNI is also using its LifeSize systems to conduct talent scouting, and news directors are using the video output on the LifeSize codec to test video directly from the production camera before a show airs. LifeSize systems were also a core component of QNI’s coordinated effort to manage FCC requirements during the switch-over from analog to digital transmission at the company’s 12 broadcast affiliates.
The next step for QNI is to integrate the LifeSize systems into on-location, recurring news segments. Not only is the LifeSize system far less expensive than a standard TV camera or microwave system, QNI can also permanently place an HD video system from a recurring reporting site, such as a hospital or school. This option provides an “always-on” capability where a reporter can simply walk in, turn on the LifeSize system and broadcast live in HD.
“Using the LifeSize video systems is addictive,” Dreasler continued. “Department heads are communicating and making real-time decisions that directly impact the success of our newspaper, radio and broadcast business. Our talent coach is looking at the ability to interactively train and prepare on-air talent. Our conference rooms are constantly filled, and that’s a good thing because it means everyone is taking an active role in moving our company forward.”
“Smart companies like Quincy are turning to video communications as a cost-saving business tool in today’s economic climate,” said Colin Buechler, Senior Vice President of Marketing, LifeSize Communications, Inc. “Not only have they seen a rapid ROI from travel dollars saved, they’re poised to realize significant productivity gains and competitive advantage from new and innovative uses of HD video. We are excited to be a technology partner to progressive companies like Quincy.”
alph M. Oakley is Vice President, director, and assistant secretary of QNI, and Chief Operating Officer of the Broadcast Division of QNI.
The corporation was formed in Quincy on July 1, 1926, as a publishing company upon the consolidation of Quincy Herald, direct descendant of the Illinois Bounty Land Register first published in Quincy in 1835, and the Quincy Whig-Journal, descendant of the Quincy Whig founded in 1838. The Herald-Whig publishes 7 days a week.
In September, we surveyed some of our clients asking them to rank in order of importance topics they felt were the most important to their organization relating to employee recruitment and retention. By far, employee retention was the topic most managers wanted more information on, followed by reducing contract labor, then reducing their cost per hire.
As most of us have seen, employee loyalty is very short-lived, and most hospital employees do not expect to be with the same employer for more than a couple of years. The fact is the employee's basic needs are changing. Finding and keeping good talent is not just about money anymore. Believe it or not, it’s typically third down the line of reasons employees leave.
In most cases, we discovered that candidates do not leave for just more money, or to avoid difficult job circumstances. Research conducted by our organization found that employees usually leave because of human factors such as; greater job appreciation, better working relationship with management, better geographic location to their family, better work environment, more flex-time, etc.
RadSciences Group has tried to keep the formula for employee retention relatively simple, but unfortunately, it’s not. However, we have determined that there are three key ingredients to effective employee retention.
1. Creating a better working environment
2. Develop a career and recognition plan
3. Appreciating employees financially
Quincy Newspapers belies its name by being a leading TV broadcaster serving markets in the Midwest. It owns and operates about a dozen stations located mostly in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. Most of its stations are affiliated with NBC and ABC, while a two are affiliates of FOX. Quincy Newspapers does own two newspapers, The New Jersey Herald (Newton) and Quincy Herald-Whig (Illinois), along with a couple radio stations and a video production business. The family-owned company was formed by the Oakley and Lindsay families in 1926 to publish the Herald-Whig.
the epic shifts taking place within media and advertising organizations are causing many to rethink business processes and budgets. For Quincy Newspapers, Inc. (QNI), a family-owned media company based in Quincy, Illinois, the financial and productivity costs of routine business travel were becoming increasingly untenable. As a growing media organization with 16 offices dispersed throughout the Midwest, QNI turned to LifeSize HD video conferencing systems to reduce travel expenses – including the sale of the company plane – while fostering greater opportunity for both executives and staff to collaborate face-to-face.
“The world changed in 2008 and we had to make a smart decision about how we would maintain the efficiency of our business while undertaking some significant cost-cutting measures,” said Brady Dreasler, Director of Capital, Engineering, and Facilities at Quincy Newspapers. Now, the company plane is gone and LifeSize is in – and we haven’t looked back. Since implementing LifeSize, we’ve seen a quick ROI in terms of improved communications across our offices and a significantly reduced travel budget. With less travel comes more time at home, and that’s had a positive impact on our staff’s quality and overall morale.”
QNI has deployed a total of 16 LifeSize systems at its headquarters and regional centers, including LifeSize® Express™, LifeSize® Team MP™ and LifeSize® Room™ systems. HD video is now used to host a wide range of communications for the company’s 800 employees, including weekly departmental head meetings, employee training, and remote job interviews. QNI is also using its LifeSize systems to conduct talent scouting, and news directors are using the video output on the LifeSize codec to test video directly from the production camera before a show airs. LifeSize systems were also a core component of QNI’s coordinated effort to manage FCC requirements during the switch-over from analog to digital transmission at the company’s 12 broadcast affiliates.
The next step for QNI is to integrate the LifeSize systems into on-location, recurring news segments. Not only is the LifeSize system far less expensive than a standard TV camera or microwave system, QNI can also permanently place an HD video system from a recurring reporting site, such as a hospital or school. This option provides an “always-on” capability where a reporter can simply walk in, turn on the LifeSize system and broadcast live in HD.
“Using the LifeSize video systems is addictive,” Dreasler continued. “Department heads are communicating and making real-time decisions that directly impact the success of our newspaper, radio and broadcast business. Our talent coach is looking at the ability to interactively train and prepare on-air talent. Our conference rooms are constantly filled, and that’s a good thing because it means everyone is taking an active role in moving our company forward.”
“Smart companies like Quincy are turning to video communications as a cost-saving business tool in today’s economic climate,” said Colin Buechler, Senior Vice President of Marketing, LifeSize Communications, Inc. “Not only have they seen a rapid ROI from travel dollars saved, they’re poised to realize significant productivity gains and competitive advantage from new and innovative uses of HD video. We are excited to be a technology partner to progressive companies like Quincy.”
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