This Week's Herman Trend Alert The Consequences of Virtual Meetings

The Herman Trend Alert April 12, 2006 Government Telework Increasing The movement toward telecommuting has momentum in the private sector. However, the public sector has been relatively resistant to permitting telework. Respondents to a survey of government workers last year revealed that only 19 percent were able to telework for part or all of their jobs. Now, the numbers are up substantially, with 41 percent of responding Federal employees indicating that they currently telework. This report comes from CDW Government, Inc, a leading source of Information Technology (IT) solutions for governments and educators. This change is driven by the government’s need to compete more aggressively to attract and hold top talent. The CDW report shows that information technology professionals in the federal sector have significantly expanded technical support for telework initiatives over the past year. Thirty-two percent of surveyed Federal IT professionals indicated that their agency has started or expanded a telework program in the last year. Twenty-eight percent of the same respondents believes that their agency provides IT support to 100 percent of eligible teleworkers---up from just 5 percent of respondents in 2005. Information security is cited as the single most significant inhibitor for broader telework adoption in 2006, as it was in 2005. Fifty-three percent of Federal IT professionals feel that information security is the primary challenge associated with telework, with other issues lagging far behind. Advantages to telecommuting that emerged from the study are consistent with those seen in the private sector. A major concern is employee satisfaction. Results show that 91 percent of Federal employees with the option to telework are either very satisfied or satisfied with their current jobs, compared to 80 percent of Federal employees without the option to telework. This metric is highly significant when striving to retain people who have employment choices. Equally important is employee desire for flexibility. Federal employees cite the elimination of their commute (80 percent) and an improvement in work flexibility (68 percent) as the primary reasons for preferring telework. Of Federal employees that do not telework, 84 percent would telework if allowed to. This issue will be huge for federal managers in the next few years. © 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." BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: RETENTION SPECIALIST PROGRAM A growing number of people have expressed an interest in attending our Employee Retention Specialist Certificate Program. We'd like to schedule on that's convenient for those who want to attend, but need your feedback to do so. Please place RETENTION SPECIALIST in the subject line and Joyce will personally call you back to schedule the workshop. Or you can call Joyce directly at 336-210-3548 (PDT this and next week). BUSINESS IS PICKING UP Most employers are unprepared. The recovery will bring a new set of challenges for employers that have been in prolonged contracted mode. They will need more skilled workers or will need now to begin to upskill their current staffs. But organizations can not engage in Strategic Workforce Planning, when they don't know how. That's where The Herman Group can help. We can help you with your "People Review"----large or small---so that you will know who you will need and when you will need them. . . and we can also guide you to the best sources for the people you will need. For more information, call Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail joyce@hermangroup.com. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEES REALLY THINK AND FEEL Discover what’s really going on in the hearts and minds of your employees. Our InnerViews interviewing service uses SPHRs and PHRs, certified human resource professionals to probe for the information you really need to know. Exit and Stay Interviews, as well as Why-Didn't-You-Take-Our-Offer Interviews. Call Rosalie Catalano at 937-416-7066, or read more at: http://www.hermangroup.com/retentionconnection/exit_interviews.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

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