Gallup’s Workforce Data Offers Insight on How To Maximize
Internet Strategies And Your Bottom Line
Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the January 16, 2002 edition of U.S.
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Internet Telephoning Reaches for Maturity
Convergence is where we are headed. Wireless devices
the size of a peppermint patty strapped to the wrists of traveling
business people will carry news, live football games, phone calls
from the boss, and real-time video of the kids chasing the dog through
the living room. “That won’t happen tomorrow,” says Chuck
Rutledge of all-encompassing electronic convergence, but less
comprehensive
examples of the coming together of our communications devices are
here today.
Rutledge, vice president of marketing for Eatontown-based Quintum
Technologies, speaks on “Convergence: New Service Deployment
Possibilities
for Enterprise and Service Providers” on Thursday, January 17,
at 8 a.m. The free event is sponsored by the New Jersey Technology
Council and takes place at the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s
Hazell Center in Newark. Other speakers are Mike Watson of iQ
NetSolutions, and Mike Krueger of Dialout.Net. Both companies
have headquarters in New Hampshire.
Quintum, a 53-employee company that was founded in 1998, works on
telecommunications convergence, bringing the computer and the
telephone
together. The IT network is used to carry phone calls as well as data.
Now, early days for the technology, Rutledge explains that the
convergence
is at the transport level. In other works, voice and data use a single
infrastructure, and typically it is IT focused. Both go over the
Internet.
Even this marriage — far short of live streaming video viewed
on a wireless wristwatch — is just getting underway. “It’s
still mostly data over data networks and voice over voice
networks,”
says Rutledge. But early adopters — those folks who banished
personal
secretaries and passed out laptops back in the late-1980s — are
beginning to sign up. The technology is especially well suited for
industries where one company has many outposts. Financial firms, with
brokerage offices in every sizable city, are early adopters. So are
retail businesses with hundreds of stores, and airlines with ticket
offices throughout the world.
The big draw of the telecom convergence technology is that it saves
money. It uses one infrastructure rather than two, allowing companies
to do away with the trunk lines that typically carry phone calls among
their far-flung offices, or at least their major offices. And it cuts
down on phone charges. “Companies with offices in South American
and Asia can spend 50 cents a minute on phone calls,” says
Rutledge.
Calls over an IT network cost nothing most of the time.
The cost savings aren’t enough to get too many IT officers to champion
the systems to their bosses, not yet. Many fear going out on a limb
for a new technology. “I haven’t tried it, no one I know has tried
it,” the thinking goes. It’s too risky to take a chance,
especially
with a company’s core communications on the line. Fears break down
into three categories, says Rutledge.
Quality of service. “There are lots of problems withvoice (over the Internet),” Rutledge admits. The Internet wasnot designed to carry continuous information. Its data passes througha number of hubs on its way from Point A to Point B. “Things getstacked up,” he says, “and sometimes nothing comes out theother end.”The new convergence systems answer this objection by monitoring voicetransmissions and switching to another network when one backs up.”Sometimes that means going back to the telephone network,”Rutledge says. Convergence does not mean a company can ditch its phoneservice altogether. Not at all. It is necessary for local calls, for911, and, once in a while, as a back-up when Internet networks gettoo clogged up to carry voice clearly and reliably.Ease of integration. Companies have their IT systems andtheir phone lines in place. Ripping either out to obtain convergenceis a proposition few want to undertake. Convergence businesses thatwant to attract customers need to minimize changes to existingnetworks.Ease of use. Nearly all of us grew up with telephones.Although some will remember party lines, where neighbors shared aconnection and each had to listen for his own distinct ring, theinstrumentshave always been incredibly easy to use. Compared with nearly anypiece of equipment in the home or office, including the electric canopener, and certainly the VCR, the phone is a delightful no-brainer.No company wants to tinker with the lovely certainty that is a dialtone.Seamless telecommunications convergence, says Rutledge, means”usersdon’t see a change.” Anyone who has experimented with placingfree Internet calls over a PC can vouch for a fact that no amountof “free” makes up for the poor connections, dropped calls,and hassles of placing a call. This is not the case with in-officetelecommunications convergence systems like those Quintum installs,Rutledge assures. In offices already wired for convergence, everyonepicks up the phone and dials, the same way they always have done.Switching to an optimum connection occurs out of sight, and usersnever detect it.Rutledge, who hold a bachelor’s degree in engineering fromMonmouthUniversity, Class of 1982, worked for Vialog Communications beforejoining Quintum. Before that, he spent 13 years at AT&T. Telecomconvergencesystems still take a leap of faith, but those willing to become earlyadopters can reap substantial financial rewards. “Payback onsystemstends to be nine to ten months,” Rutledge says, “but somecompanies can be paid back in weeks.”Top Of PageGallup’s Workforce Data Offers Insight on How To MaximizeHuman CapitalPeople. Few companies can do without lots and lots ofthem. But how to get the most out of these humans for the greatergood — and profitability — of the company? The GallupManagementJournal (GMJ), a glossy new business magazine published by the GallupOrganization in conjunction with Time Inc. Custom Printing, existsin large part to provide answers.GMJ’s founding editor-in-chief is Jessica Korn, a graduate ofYale, who holds a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard. Beforejoining GMJ, she served as program advisor on the New InformationEconomy at the Freedom Forum’s Media Studies Center in New York,adjunctprofessor at Columbia’s Graduate School of Business, and lead staffadvisor on the enactment and implementation of the TelecommunicationsAct of 1996.Korn speaks on “Power to the People: What the Numbers Tell Usabout the Impact People Have on an Organization’s Performance AllAcross the Board,” on Wednesday, January 23, at 5 p.m., at ameetingof the American Society for Quality, at Raritan Valley CommunityCollege.Cost: $25. Call 609-730-9681.The numbers in GMJ, many derived from Gallup surveys, fuel articlesthat delve into the many factors that make a difference betweenemployeeswho contribute to a company’s success, and those who sabotage it.These excerpts illustrate the breadth of factors at work in humaninteraction on the job:The gender question. These days, women find morefulfillmentin their jobs and personal lives than men do — and the gap haswidened. In GMJ’s second annual survey of U.S. workers, engagementamong women rose at twice the rate it did for men. This is significantbecause, as Gallup knows from its research, higher levels of employeeengagement (which predict satisfaction and emotions like loyalty andpride) result in higher productivity.Think big, act small. Gallup has measured engagement foremployees at small and large companies. The key findings: Engagementis highest (33 percent of employees) at companies with fewer than50 workers. Engagement is lowest (22 percent) at companies with 1,000to 5,000 employees.Gallup researchers trace the higher engagement of small-companyemployeesto their greater sense of “local control,” the feeling ofconnection to, and accountability for, company output. But at largecompanies, hierarchy and bureaucracy can make employees feel theircontributions don’t matter.To replicate the local control of small companies, managers at largecompanies should bear in mind that some work units within anorganizationcan be engaged at the small-company level. In work units of fewerthan 10 people, however, engagement will soar or plummet dependingon the manager. That’s because in small groups each member keenlyfeels a good manager’s ability to communicate and motivate — anda bad manager’s incompetence. So, if you expect your small teams tobe top performing, make sure your managers are up to the challenge.Talk of ages. The best and the brightest in any workplaceare bound to share certain traits, such as a sense of responsibilityand a positive attitude. But one thing they won’t have in common istheir ages. That’s because highly dedicated employees are found acrossthe age spectrum. In GMJ’s fourth national survey of U.S. workers,the percentage who say they are engaged, or deeply involved in theirwork, varied only slightly by age group.So, what might we learn about boosting engagement by examining someworkplace attitudes of different age groups? As it turns out, agegroups vary significantly in their view of the workplace as ameritocracy:Only about a quarter of workers age 25 or older strongly believe thatpromotion is based on ability, compared with 40 percent of18-to-24-year-olds.And only about a quarter to a third of workers age 25 or older trusttheir company to be fair to all employees, compared with 45 percentof younger workers.If the older workers’ more jaded view truly reflects their experience,managers should be able to boost engagement by asserting that theircompanies are committed to fairness. That doesn’t mean everyone whowants a promotion will get one. But it does require managers torecognizeall employees appropriately.Cost of disaffected workers. Actively disengaged workerstend to be less productive and report being less loyal to theircompanies,more stressed, and less secure in their work. They miss more daysand are less satisfied with their personal lives.Like death and taxes, these workers will always be with us. But theirnumbers can be reduced, and great benefits will result from makingeven small inroads into the problem. Using two approaches, we estimatethat the lower productivity of actively disengaged workers penalizesU.S. economic performance by about $300 billion, nearly equal to thenation’s defense budget.The 24.7 million actively disengaged employees miss 86.5 million morework days than average workers and 13.6 million more days becauseof illness. These numbers do not include the effect on turnover,safety,or health-care costs.Gallup’s conclusion, according to the magazine: “Wecalculatethat with all other macro-economic factors staying constant, afive-percentagepoint decrease in the percentage of actively engaged employees wouldboost U.S. productivity by $79 billion a year.”Top Of PageInternet Strategies And Your Bottom LineHaving a web presence is an integral part of businessin all industries. It is the way you present your company or use yourpresence that will make the difference and allow you to stand outfrom the rest.Dean McDavitt, vice president of business development forInternetcompany FASTNET, speaks on “Web/Internet strategies and yourbottomline” at a multi-topic GetContactX seminar on Thursday, January24, at 8 a.m. at the Ramada Inn, Route 1 South. Other topics are”Positioningyour company in light of new business trends and technologychanges”and “Human resource issues for small to mid-sized companies.”Paul Mlynarski, tax partner at Deloitte & Touche, addressesthe former topic, and Patrick McCann of HR Logic speaks on thelatter.McDavitt, a graduate of Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania,who holds a master’s degree in public administration, has been withFASTNET for two years. The company, based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,says businesses need to ask whether their websites give a goodrepresentationof the business, are easy to navigate, download with lightening speed,and contain interactive elements. Each factor is crucial. The bestwebsites also let internal and external customers gather informationand order products.The list of what makes a website an important business asset differsbased on its audience and their needs. Via E-mail, McDavitt offeredthe following tips:Looks aren’t everything. A great looking website can bevery cool, McDavitt says, but will accomplish nothing if it does notmeet the needs of your audience. To build a profitable site, you needto have an outstanding marketing and sales influence in the creationstage. A site should be designed to drive revenue that will affectthe bottom line. Your site should have enough information to allowa person to make a decision about your company or products on thefirst visit.Make E-commerce easy. To create greater profits, a goodE-commerce solution or application is key. The package should be veryuser friendly and not flashy. Use the least amount of steps possiblefor the site visitor to accomplish what they set out to do, and ensurethat the process is easy to understand. Simplify the process.Customerswant a site that shows the product, helps them understand the product,and presents the best information so they don’t have to look anyfurther.People do not have much free time these days, so they need a visitto a website to be fast and comprehensive — not time consuming.Don’t stop at U.S. borders. A good example of a customereffectively using a web site to generate profits is a company thathas a product with international appeal. FASTNET worked with a companythat had an international pharmaceutical product. They had no webpresence to allow international companies to order the product onlineand receive up-to-date information on the status of their orders.Their international sales accounted for only 5 percent of all salesactivity. That percentage went up 90 percent after they created auser-friendly site with up-to-date information and a simplifiedorderingprocess. The goal was giving users a pain free experience.Websites are becoming an application that allow users to be moreinteractivewith a company or product they are dealing with. Your visitors areno longer just doing research. If you want your products to berecognizedacross the globe, you need a website to reach your entire audience.The web has created the opportunity to mine diamonds not only in yourbackyard but also in the backyard of others at a fraction of the costof traditional marketing strategies.If the site is down, you’re out. The key to ensuring thatprospective customers see your website is to make sure it stays upand running. Choose a host that has the infrastructure and technicalsupport to monitor the availability of the site. A common mistakecompanies make is spending big money developing a website, and penniesto host it. No matter how good your site is, if it is not availablewhen people want to see it, then you have no site at all.Spend the money to keep your business running 24/7. A website workswhen you sleep, and needs to be monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days aweek. Do your homework on the company hosting your site to make sureit meets all the criteria for keeping your site running seamlessly.Look for a 24/7 fully operational and manned hosting center. It isvery important to know what type of connectivity the facility hasto the Internet. Can the provider implement VPNs (Virtual PrivateNetworks) for your internal and external customers? Can it secureyour site from unwanted intruders?If the visitors to your website find it very slow and painful to evenget into your site and get started, they will run and may never comeback. Your site is a representation of how you do business and howimportant the customer is to you. If you want to boost your revenueand enhance your reputation, create a fast, interactive,international,easy-to-navigate website, and make sure it is working on your bottomline 24/Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
