This Week's Herman Trend Alert Green Banks Thrive

The Herman Trend Alert January 19, 2005 Interest in Telecommuting Rising Internationally As part of our contribution to help the victims of the tsunami in Asia, The Herman Group will donate all the profits from the sale of all of our products purchased from our website through the end of January. Funds will be donated to the Amercian Red Cross for the relief effort. Products includes will be found at our secure on-line store. Telecommuting is increasing in popularity---among workers and employers---on a local, national, and international basis---at least during part of their work week. People work for local companies, for employers across their country, and for employers in other countries. Netilla Networks recently surveyed commuters at London’s Liverpool Street Station and New York’s Penn Station. Seventy percent of those interviewed felt their productivity would rise if offered flexible/home working. And 64 percent indicated they would feel more loyalty toward their employer. An astonishing 90 percent believed a choice to work flexibly---from home or office---was the ideal strategy for employers and employees. Flexibility of work site is clearly an idea whose time has come. Although the average commute of survey participants was two hours per day, most said they would not want to work at home full time: 80 percent shared that they would miss the social aspects of worklife. Of the UK workers surveyed, 52 percent said flexibility would influence their next choice of an employer, similar to United States numbers. In an Epsom study, 81% of UK workers chose “reducing stress” as their reason to work from home. Across the UK, Spain, Germany, France, and Italy, an average of 73% of workers thought home working would reduce stress. According to the European Union's Emergence Project, by 2010 27 million Europeans will work from home with the UK leading the field. By 2005, eight million are projected to work at home, compared to 2.2 million in 2001. The studies suggest that a majority of managers claim to be comfortable with employees’ flexible working arrangements, but are clueless about working environments outside the office or why people work remotely. While 77 percent of employees claim that remote working improves job satisfaction and productivity, three-quarters of managers do not have a good understanding of why staff would choose to work remotely, according to a University of the West of England /Johnson Controls report. Research suggests that France (43%) and the UK (48%) had the lowest levels of home working in the five European countries studied; Germany came top with 60%. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." ANNOUNCING: EMPLOYER OF CHOICE® WORKSHOPS Have you wanted to be recognized as an Employer of Choice®? The first step is to send your champion to The Employer of Choice® Workshop. In Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam (17 and 18 March), Singapore (23 and 24 March), and Accra, Ghana (Week of 29 March), we will hold these two-day learning experiences. We will also hold a workshop in the United States in April. For more information, contact Joyce at 336-210-3548 or email, her: joyce@hermangroup.com. She will refer you to the local sponsor. LOOKING FOR A DYNAMIC KEYNOTE SPEAKER WITH A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE? You need look no farther. Joyce Gioia (joy-yah) is a sought-after speaker in Asia as well as Europe, and of course the United States. Joyce shares her knowledge and expertise about talent engagement and retention with business executives around the globe. Her understandings and insights will inform and fascinate you. For more information on Joyce's topics, call Carol McKinney at 336-282-9370 or visit the web site at http://www.hermangroup.com/joyce.html. GOOD SELECTION = BETTER RETENTION If you are not using pre-employment assessments, you are flying without radar---not very smart in today's highly competitive environment. Let us help you better understand your candidates and your employees. In less than 30 minutes, you will know if they can do the job (abilities); their work behaviors, even their personality and attitudes (like integrity & ethics), and those can't be trained. It's very cost effective, too! For more information, contact Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail assessments@hermangroup.com. Validated for many countries and cultures. We offer in-depth help with job descriptions, too! http://www.hermangroup.com/assessments.html Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. The Herman Trend Alert is received by over 30,000 subscribers in 78 countries, in addition to other websites and printed magazines. Do you enjoy receiving this weekly e-mail update? Contact us about our co-branded Trend Alert service. Click here to sign up for the Herman Trend Alert. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to weekly Herman Trend Alert View this week's Herman Trend Alert Archived Weekly Herman Trend Alerts

[ Home · About · Products · Resources · Media ]

Web site design by WebEditor Design Services, Inc.