This Week's Herman Trend Alert Telecommuting to a Better Bottom Line

The Herman Trend Alert September 28, 2005 New Orleans and Gulf Shores Census Will Drop Katrina Job Help: The American Staffing Association is concentrating on helping workers displaced by the hurricane. One of the major job boards has established a special service for employers and employees at www.katrina.jobs. Your company can use the dot-jobs domain, too. Understandably, attention to the impacts of Katrina is focused on the immediate conditions and the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people affected. The devastated communities will face serious long-term challenges with far-reaching implications. The first is clean-up, including removing the health hazards caused directly and indirectly by the flooding. As a sense of normalcy returns, city engineers will be hard at work determining what structures are safe and what homes, businesses, schools, and other buildings must be razed because they are simply unsafe. Land use planners will face some hard decisions. Local leaders will be challenged to return cities to the communities they once were, but that will be impossible. It makes no sense, for instance, to rebuild low income housing that doesn’t meet today’s standards. Building in dangerous areas, or re-creating neighborhoods populated by people struggling to survive, isn’t the best use of space. Looking in hindsight will influence thousands of tough decisions. New homes constructed on sites where heritage homes once stood will be an emotional roller-coaster…and a political football. Expect substantial changes in how New Orleans and other cities redevelop---including massive urban renewal that could only be made possible by the intensity of Hurricane Katrina. The big story is what will not be rebuilt. A significant change will alter the affected areas dramatically. A large portion of the people who left the disaster area---particularly those who were treated shabbily by local rescue efforts---will resettle somewhere else in the country. They will not return to New Orleans, to Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama. There are too many memories and too few opportunities to truly advance in life. If attitudes of community leaders and employers do not change, conditions for people in the lower socio-economic levels of society will not change. Thousands of people who lived on the edge will not return. For many disenfranchised citizens, Katrina means a fresh start with opportunities to establish themselves for who they are now, not for what their pasts have been. The 2010 census will show a lower count and a different demographic than might have been expected. © 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." NEED HELP THINKING ABOUT YOUR FUTURE? Our futurists offer thought-provoking and penetrating insights, along with creative ideas to implement right away. Whether you're looking for a speaker or a consultant or a facilitator for your strategic planning retreat, The Herman Group can help you find a person for your needs, no matter what your topic. Call Joyce at 336-210-3548 to discuss your event. REDUCE COSTS BY LOWERING EMPLOYEE TURNOVER If you knew just how much money turnover is costing your company, you would have handled it ages ago! Turnover costs A LOT and it comes right off the bottom line. Let The Herman Group and its team of very experienced consultants help you address your turnover issues right away. We have an impressive track record and stand ready to help you. Call Carol at 800-227-3566; international, call 336-210-3547 for a no-obligation conference call. 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. 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