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

The Herman Trend Alert May 6, 2009 Swine Flu, the Global Threat Sometime in the early 1990s, Joyce attended a briefing delivered by the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC). The speaker talked about the future of infectious disease and painted a somewhat frightening picture. He talked about the mobility of our society and the potential for pandemics, based on the already-identified viruses. Between Mad Cow Disease, Bird Flu, and now Swine Flu, some of those forecasts have become a disturbing reality. Until recently, the swine flu in humans was not common. What we are apparently dealing with now is a new and more virulent strain of disease called "influenza A virus subtype H1N1". This new, dangerous illness is a mixture of the genetic material of four similar influenza viruses: one human, one avian, and two swine. This new strain seemingly passes with ease from human to human. The symptoms of 2009 H1N1 strain, comparable to normal influenza, are fever, coughing, and headache. The near-term future will bring an announcement that the disease has reached global pandemic proportions. This situation will affect many areas of our lives at a time when we can ill afford another blow to our ability to conduct business. It will negatively affect travel and hospitality, reduce attendance at conferences, and disrupt business in general. Manufacturers of disinfectants, even disinfectant soaps, will have difficulty keeping up with the demand for their products, as people scramble to protect themselves and their families. Cleaning services will have an excellent year, as will Roche Holding AG, the manufacturers of Tamiflu, an antiviral drug that appears to reduce the virulence of the H1N1 infection. Once the vaccine is developed, other pharmaceutical companies will spring into action to manufacture large quantities of the shots for inoculation. Moreover, keeping everybody safe will add a tremendous amount of time to peoples' work schedules, especially those of childcare workers and teachers. The focus on personal hygiene will be a significant trend. Wise employers will encourage frequent hand-washing, posting signs to reinforce media's messages. The emergence of swine flu is a wildcard that will affect all of us around the world and add to the stress people are already experiencing. © 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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