ITAC Exclusive Case Study: J.D. Edwards & Company...

ITAC Exclusive Case Study: J.D. Edwards & Company...

Telework is often considered a work/life benefit, but J.D. Edwards & Company, a Denver-based software development firm, has taken the concept to a new dimension. At J.D. Edwards, telework is also a highly successful diversity retention tool.

To attract and retain a diverse workforce, the company developed telework options for employees with disabilities, older workers and moms who needed to stay at home. As a result, J.D. Edwards reduced turnover and saved replacement expenses, which the company estimates to be about 2.5 times a person's annual salary.

"We wanted to introduce a uniform, structured program to enhance recruiting and retention efforts and help employees obtain work/life balance," says Wanda Brackins, manager, work/life innovations and diversity.

The complete story of J.D. Edwards' innovative telework program can be found on the member's only section of ITAC's web site - http://www.telecommute.org/membersonly/casestudies/jdedwards.html

NOTE: ITAC's member's only section provides ITAC proprietary telework case studies, special reports and links to dozens of other case studies. Go to Membership [http://www.telecommute.org/membership] for more details on the value of ITAC membership.

ITAC News…

Last chance to register for September 26th Annual
Still time to register for the members-only ITAC Annual Conference that will be held September 26th, from 1:00 - 8:00pm in NYC. The keynote speaker is Mike Bell of the Gartner Group who will provide attendees with new insights on the Agile Workplace (see Newsbits story below on Gartner's research). Commentary on the research will be provided by Ray Boggs of IDC, one of the deans of telework/SOHO market research. Sponsors are federal agencies GSA and OPM, along with MCK Communications and Gil Gordon Associates. More details can be found at http://www.telecommute.org/conference/2002overview.html

ITAC Surveying Government Agencies
ITAC is asking local, state and federal government telework managers to take a brief online survey to help ITAC set the agenda for the newly-formed Agency Special Interest Committee (ASPIC). Only government employees may join ASPIC and take the survey. Go to the ITAC home page, to connect to the online survey and learn more about ASPIC.

September 5th Webinar Now Archived
ITAC's second webinar of the year, "Making the Business Case For Telework," was held on September 5th featuring presentations by AT&T and Eli Lilly. AT&T revealed its guerrilla warfare approach to obtaining senior management support for telework. Eli Lilly provided several tips including establishing a cross-functional team that includes HR, facilities management and IT. The webinar was made possible by the Net conferencing services provided by WorldCom [http://e-meetings.wcom.com/index.php3], ITAC's official webinar sponsor. You can hear and view the webinar until October 4th. For details on how to access the archived webinar go to http://www.telecommute.org/webseminars/index.html.

Gartner predicts agile workplace growth
By 2005, predicts Gartner Inc., 30 percent of the largest global companies will have started agile-workplace projects.

Gartner, an analysis and research firm located in Stamford, Connecticut participated in a yearlong study of workplace flexibility with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They published their results earlier this year in "The Agile Workplace: Supporting People and Their Work." The study had 22 industry sponsors, many with innovative workplace programs, such as Cigna, Cisco Systems, Procter & Gamble, Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard.

Elements of the agile workplace include telecommuting, task forces, internal SWAT teams and instant-anywhere communications. These workplaces are characterized by self-selecting organizational units based on work, shared knowledge and peer compatibility.

"We are seeing the impact of virtual workplaces colliding with traditional corporate practices," said Michael Bell, Gartner Research vice president and project co-director. "The Agile Workplace has its focus on the work itself -- not on the technology, the buildings or the organizational chart. This new environment can be highly motivating for employees only if executives lead this renaissance properly."

Learn more about the Agile Workplace on September 26th at the ITAC members-only conference in New York City.

Work/life balance is worker's chief concern this year
Despite an uncertain economy, today's professionals are more concerned with finding time for family than with fear of layoffs. A recent study by Office Team, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based staffing services firm, asked respondents to rate their number-one career worry. Nearly a third (32 percent) of workers polled answered that the ability to balance business and personal demands was their top priority. Twenty-two percent cited job security, while another 18 percent identified earning a competitive salary as their key issue.

ABC publishes new remote work study
The vast majority of workers at mid-size and large companies work regularly with people they cannot see. More than 80 percent of full-time American employees either labor off-site or work with others who work at a distance, according to a new survey conducted by the American Business Collaboration, a project focusing on work/life issues at US corporations.

Among the findings:

• Off-site workers are likely to work more hours than their on-site colleagues, yet they are less likely to feel physically and emotionally drained at the end of the day.
• Managers, co-workers, and off-site workers all agree that off-site workers rate as well as or better than on-site workers on measurements of productivity, concentration, stress levels, and job satisfaction.
• Special training for managing off-site workers is rarely provided to managers. More than half of all managers supervise off-site workers, but only one in eight receive any training in this area.
• Mobile workers, those who move from place to place and may work from their cars or hotel rooms, are most reliant on communications but are less well-equipped than teleworkers or on-site employees.

Mark your calendar...
 

September 24	Telework & Communications Conference, Herndon, VA. Presented by the Telework Consortium.
September 26	ITAC Annual Members-Only Conference. Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York, NY. You must be a paid member by September 25th to join this exclusive event
September 27	Federal Telework Update Session, New York, NY. Open only to Federal employees who register to attend the ITAC conference.
October 10 - 12	IFMA World Workplace 2002, Toronto, Canada..

The fine print...

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Staff
Written and edited by June Langhoff [http://www.langhoff.com ] freelance writer and author of The Telecommuter's Advisor.
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