September 2007
In this issue

√ Client Appreciation
√ Time Saving Tips
√  Remote Workforce
√  Inc. 5,000
√  Tech Tip
√  Employee Spotlight
 

With our recent relocation to Ft. Washington, PA, complete, we’re pleased to invite you and your colleagues to a Client Appreciation Open House.

Join us on Thursday, Oct. 25th, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm for drinks and light fare as we celebrate 13 years of business success and share our appreciation for the many great clients who have made it all possible. Questions and R.S.V.P.s by Oct. 19th should be directed to Lauren Kane (lauren.kane@itsolutions-inc.com) or call 866.PICK.ITS (866.742.5487).
Click here for directions. We hope you can join us on the 25th!

Over an eight-hour workday, that little 6 percent adds up to 2.5 hours searching a week. With just five employees, you're talking 13 hours, and if you're paying them, say, $30 an hour, that's $390 a week or $20,280 a year. That's enough to hire someone part time, or outfit a nice break room. Foosball would be nice. (Indeed, another study found that the productivity loss to conduct online research cost businesses $31 billion.)

Allow us to offer you a few tips on retrieving the piece of the web for which you're looking.

Exact Phrase
You’re more likely to get where you want faster if you use an "exact phrase" as your search terms. Example: "automobile" will yield vastly different results than "Toyota Matrix." Use quotation marks, which is common search-engine syntax for "look for that perfectly exact phrase, please." Many search engines also have a box for "Exact Phrase Match" that you can check if you have punctuation mark issues.

Abstract
The workplace has undergone fundamental changes over the past decade. No longer is the corporation housed within physical walls; it now transcends those buildings, even extending beyond distant geographic borders. The corporate network too, expands far beyond the corporate perimeter to provide access to partners, clients, suppliers, and traveling workers. But the institution that has brought about the greatest change and controversy in the workplace is that of telecommuting.

Telecommuting has become a way of life. Its growing acceptance is driven by many factors including initiatives to reduce pollution and congestion, the soaring cost of office space, and the challenges of communicating across international time zones. State and federal government offices have become the most enthusiastic proponents of teleworking, and most federal agencies are now required to have teleworking programs available to qualified employees. Private corporations, while not under legislative mandate to do so, often find that they too must develop remote worker programs in order to retain quality employees.

Even as a morale-booster, telecommuting has a great deal to offer by allowing workers a more flexible lifestyle. It's a definite attraction for companies based in high-priced urban areas where the cost of living is scaring the workforce away to a longer, more stressful commute. And the high cost of gas doesn't help matters.  

Offices Can Become Unusable
Then there's the unexpected. What steps should be taken to prepare against natural, economic or health emergencies such as earthquake, hurricanes, flooding, extreme weather or pandemics like avian flu? A virtual workforce of telecommuters might be the only way of staying in business in the event that the company's facilities are uninhabitable, roads have become impassable, or conditions make a journey to work too dangerous to contemplate.

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