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ITAC RESEARCH SHOWS HOW TO COMBAT HIGH GAS PRICES AND GET DISPLACED EMPLOYEES BACK TO WORK
TELEWORK CAN HELP BUSINESSES AND GOVERNMENTS SUCCESSFULLY RECOVER FROM DISASTERS LIKE KATRINA
Silver Spring, MD - September 2, 2005 - ITAC, the Telework Advisory Group for WorldatWork, conducted research in 2004 that revealed that less than half of the private and public sector organizations contacted by ITAC had included telework in their business continuity plans. This finding was surprising since nearly one in five U.S. companies suffered a disaster in 2004 that caused their companies to cease operations for a period of time, according to a Partnership for Public Warning study commissioned by AT&T. Other research has shown that 43% of companies hit by severe crisis never opened their operations again.
As a result of these findings, ITAC has developed several information resources, now available through its web site, www.workingfromanywhere.org, to help businesses and government agencies better address the aftermath of disasters like Hurricane Katrina. These resources are based on a report published earlier this summer, “Exploring Telework as a Business Continuity Strategy: A Guide to Getting Started.”
Telework enables any organization’s employees to continue working when faced with a variety of disaster-related interruptions, be they man made or natural, by using current communications and computer technologies to work from their home, the home of a friend or family member, on the road, or at a client’s office, simply anywhere. Other terms relating to telework include telecommuting (work at home), virtual work and mobile work.
“ITAC has developed several free and low cost information resources that businesses affected directly by disasters such as Katrina can apply in advance to help shorten their recovery,“ said Robert L. Smith, Jr., Director of ITAC, the Telework Advisory Group for WorldatWork. “At the same time employees affected today by gasoline’s spiraling costs and threats of supply shortage can address this problem by reducing and possibly eliminating their commute when working from home or locations closer to home.”
The information resources available from the ITAC website (www.workingfromanywhere.org) are as follows:
- The ITAC 120-page, research report, “Exploring Telework as a Business Continuity Strategy: A Guide to Getting Started.” This report provides eight detailed steps on how to incorporate telework as part of an organization’s business continuity strategy. In addition the report describes Technology Solutions that enable people to work remotely at anytime, and provides tailored strategies for federal agencies and business case studies to survive disasters. The report is available as a free PDF download or as a printed copy for a modest fee.
- An eight-page Executive Summary of the full report is available for free as a PDF download.
- One-hour webinar (PowerPoint Presentation and Audio of Speakers) on the report’s findings that explains how telework can be incorporated into an organization’s continuity of operations.
The AT&T Foundation and Cisco Systems sponsored the ITAC research and report.
About WorldatWork
WorldatWork (www.worldatwork.org) is the world's leading not-for-profit professional association dedicated to knowledge leadership in compensation, benefits and total rewards. Founded in 1955, WorldatWork is based in Scottsdale, AZ and focuses on human resources disciplines associated with attracting, retaining, and motivating employees.
About ITAC
On January 1, 2005, ITAC became the Telework Advisory Group for WorldatWork. Prior to this year, ITAC was the International Telework Association and Council (ITAC). As part of WorldatWork, ITAC continues its mission of advancing the growth and success of work independent of location. ITAC will be holding its 12th Annual Conference on September 12 & 13, 2005 in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. The conference will address the full range of HR, facilities management, IT and COOP issues for private and public sector implementation of telework.
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