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

The Herman Trend Alert May 2, 2000 Work-Life: Sharp Line or Fuzzy? 243 days until January 1, 2001 The "buzz" today emphasizes the importance of balance between work life and personal life. The message clearly separates the two aspects and suggests they should remain separate and distinct. Or is that really the message? This work-life issue is confusing, fuzzy, and bewildering. Workers aren't sure what they want or what to do. Employers are equally baffled. On one hand, there is a belief that work and personal lives should be totally disconnected. When people leave work, they should enter a life experience that is apart from work. When they return to work, their personal lives should be left at home. The talk about balance says people should not work late, should not work on their days-off, and should not take work home. On the other hand, there is so much to do at work. All those tasks must get done, no matter how long it takes. It's essential to take care of the customers-or clients-no matter what time investment is required. They pay our salaries. Sound familiar? The labor shortage means we don't have enough people to get the work done "normally," so we all have to pitch in. We'd hire more people if we could, but we just can't find enough qualified applicants. Then the guilt sets in . . . or is it some sort of strategy to keep people working and make work attractive as sort of an extension of personal life? Flex-time helps workers blend work and personal time demands. Concierge services relieve the personal errand strain. Now employers are offering on-line shopping to workers, using work or home computers. Proponents say the opportunity to shop on-line (perhaps with company-sponsored discounts), refinance your mortgage from your desk, buy flowers or clothes or groceries, and even do your banking from work actually increases productivity. The time savings alone, not considering the stress and the distraction, suggest that doing personal things at work makes sense. This mixing of work and personal-on the job and at home-blurs the fine line between the two lives. This issue will be confusing for a while, maybe 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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