Despite living in a fast-paced world, the need to capture fleeting moments in a photograph has increased dramatically over the last decade. Smartphones are now capable of small miracles, but of course, documenting them still requires professional tools and accessories for keen amateurs and professionals alike.
The name Fotoplus from Pécs is known nationwide, the company has been operating since 1990 and has always kept up with the trends. This requires a highly planned and coordinated approach. The introduction of the Beeward system has worked perfectly for the company," says Zoltán Erdősi, managing director of Fotoplus Kft.
How did the cooperation with Beeward develop? Why was it important or a good opportunity to try out the platform?
The professional relationship is not new, as we have been working together with Gergő Fincza and Máté Lovas for more than ten years. They created our first webshop, and I think they did an exemplary job, and then we got all the technical support from them. We have changed in the meantime, but the relationship has remained the same, and they are also currently redesigning our image rendering site. I was therefore very confident and open when Matthew approached me and introduced us to Beeward's system.
What finally decided to introduce it?
Our situation is specific. We have our headquarters in Pécs, but we also have a shop here and in Budapest.
It can be said that the capital is the second centre, because the majority of the traffic is there and almost half of the colleagues work in Budapest. I think it is very important to have a good team spirit within the company. If you combine this with excellent communication, you can practically work wonders.
Zoltán Erdősi
Managing Director
Fotoplus Ltd.
That sounds great, of course, but what does it mean in everyday life? What can get in the way of good communication within a company?
Sometimes I find that if a colleague doesn't know something or is stuck in a process, they prefer not to ask the other colleague. Perhaps they feel ashamed that they should know the answer, and in many cases important information is lost because of this cluelessness. But if this communication takes place in a good and civilised way, you can build an excellent team. There is a huge intellectual capital within the company, but we need to be able to use it well and collectively.
How does Beeward relate to all this?
It makes up for what is not included in official communication and correspondence. Even if one of my colleagues writes to another saying that I'm in the process and asking for a favour, this is just the framework. There is no personalisation, no reward, no recognition, although these are important factors in a working environment.
When we interviewed colleagues, we found that even those who are otherwise a bit more reserved started to communicate more and more on this platform.
Of course, there's also a sense of humour, but the point of such messages is really to thank the other person for their help. Face to face, in person, this may be difficult for a more inhibited person.
As an employer, how do you see motivating and rewarding your colleagues? Does Beeward take such burdens off your shoulders?
It's very interesting what you're asking, because I hadn't thought about it from that point of view. I'm a believer that to motivate colleagues, and I will try to do a lot to achieve this, but the Beeward has put into this a momentum, which was not present before. My colleagues started to encourage and reward each other to perform better. They realised that if you give positive feedback to others, you get positive feedback back.
So I can say, yes, the platform took it off my shoulders that it was my job to praise colleagues every single timeif they did something right. This process now you can between each other and works without me.
Is there a typical Beeward reward in your company?
No, there is a very wide range. I see that if the gift is imaginative, then the act of getting it is in itself a motivation. I know of several cases where a colleague was specifically motivated to perform better or to do a favour. Praise is important in itself, because it's obviously good for everyone, and unfortunately in our world we are getting less and less of it.
The world has changed a lot since 1990, including photography and visual culture. How do you keep up with these fast-changing trends?
We started our activities in the analogue photography era. Of course, the later advent of digital photography was a huge change and a challenge, as it led to a complete change of habits. What a thrill it was to be able to roll film after a holiday or any event! Later, that magic disappeared, and with digital cameras the cost of materials disappeared, so you can shoot as much as you like, and the results are instantly visible on the screen. And the internet and social media became the number one platform for publishing. We have had to change because of the rapid decline in traditional photo editing. We have put more emphasis on the digital tools and accessories trade, which has taken over.
I guess this was not the last change...
No, I don't think so, as smartphones have virtually replaced compact cameras. So we decided to make it our mission to serve advanced amateurs and professionals (sports photographers, photojournalists). In hindsight, this proved to be a good decision. We offer several events, professional days and product presentations, which are very popular.
What is interesting is that recently people are starting to go back to analogue, roll film photography. Young people are picking up old cameras and waiting excitedly to see the results of the development. Once again, we have to adapt to this new fashion, which requires special equipment and chemicals. Let us not forget corporate communication, which I consider to be of the utmost importance. We have to be visible and appeal to our customers, which requires the production of modern, fresh content.
And that's where Beeward comes into the picture again: if your work team is motivated, has a good atmosphere and looks out for each other, you can see the signs of this from the outside.
We hope you are already following the Fotoplus community!
👍 Facebook: fotoplusHU
🤳 Instagram: fotoplushu
📷 Webshop: https://fotoplus.hu/
🖼️ Image processing: https://keprendeles.fotoplus.hu
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