Corrections or additions?
Prepared for the September 5, 2000 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper.
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Virtual One Site: Growth at CyLogix
Hiring good personnel is essential for speedy growth,
and one method is to open branches in different geographical locations
to tap different job markets. But companies that sprout too many
branches
can develop what is known as "branch office syndrome," so
that workers in the outlying districts feel as if they are in a
"second
tier."
Andy Phillips and Matt Figurski, Wall Street technology experts and
co-founders of the IT company CyLogix, on Washington Road, are doing
their best to avoid that. "With each expansion, we have taken
special care to avoid the `branch office syndrome,’ taking steps to
ensure that all staff at all locations get to know each other and
are included in all activities, both professional and
recreational,"
says Figurski, the chief operating officer.
"We knew that we did not want to lose the open communication and
team mind set that had served us so well through our early years,"
says Phillips, president and CEO. An alumnus of Middlesex University
in Great Britain, Class of 1977, he began working for a major
brokerage
company in 1986, and co-founded CyLogix 10 years later. "We
decided
to become what we call a `virtual one site,’ an organization in which
our geographic divisions do not divide our technical, cultural, and
social infrastructure."
Phillips and Figurski opened CyLogix in 1996 with one client and 10
software developers. Now, in addition to the headquarters at 36
Washington
Road, the company has more than 200 employees in three locations.
The first branch opened in Scranton, Pennsylvania, last January and
is already getting bigger. The second facility, in Boston, opened
in August. Cylogix will open a fourth facility in Bridgewater early
next year, and will host an open house for IT professionals on
Saturday,
September 16, from 10 a.m. to 6 pm. at the Somerset Double Tree
(609-275-8998
or www.cylogix.com).
For the financial services industry, CyLogix offers all phases of
custom software development, system component integration, application
outsourcing, and staff augmentation. It has broadened its client base
from one major client to several, and the founders hope to widen their
focus to other industries.
It is expensive, Phillips admits, to have a "virtual one
site,"
but rather than a financial cost, "the cost here takes the form
of the constant flow of creative energy expended to turn this concept
from an idea into a reality."
Open communication is necessary to success, he believes. Everybody
needs to be working "on the same page" for the company to
be stable. The methods:
the company is so spread out, the meetings are audio-conferenced to
the various locations. The CEO and COO introduce new staff members
and tell about their background.
offices to welcome and orient new employees, and managers visit all
locations frequently.
barbecues
on alternate Fridays in summer are held simultaneously at all
locations.
All employees have the same experience whether in the home office
or not.
social and recreational events hosted by each location at different
times of year.
business
and cultural tasks, as well as volunteer work, to bring together
people
from locations and departments who would otherwise never have the
opportunity to work together. For instance, a task force consisting
of workers from the Princeton Junction and Scranton locations worked
all summer to design a new performance evaluation process.
The tools needed to accomplish this "togetherness" include
a site map on the company’s intranet showing exactly where each person
sits, plus a photo and bio of everyone. New employees are added to
the map as soon as they are hired. CyLogix has an intranet-based
knowledge
repository and a virtual LAN, so all employees can access data from
anywhere, including their homes.
Also, remote electronic white-boards are used for business meetings
spanning more than one location. "We have found that, in our
idea-based
business, this tool used in conjunction with audio conferencing brings
more value than video conferencing," says Figursky.
As for the company’s business model, it calls for standards and
procedures
to be determined on the corporate level, but implementation and
profit/loss
responsibility are handed to local managers.
"Many talented people in this business are weary of being a cog
in the wheel at a big company, and want to make a more meaningful
contribution to their organization," says Phillips. "Others
have burned by startups that faltered. We offer a viable
alternative."
Top Of Page
Wired at Work
If you have Internet access at work, you are among 30
million other Americans who are similarly wired, says a Labor Day
report sponsored by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, based
in Washington, D.C. Surveys funded by Pew Charitable Trusts found
that 37 percent of full-time workers have Internet access at their
jobs (www.pewinternet.org).
Princeton Survey Research Associates, located at Montgomery Commons,
carried out the telephone surveys of 12,571 American adults, more
than half of them Internet users (www.psra.com). The findings:
workers"
go online at least once per day.
to do their jobs, say 72 percent of the wired workers. Those in the
age group from 25 to 29 are most likely to do work-related research
on the Web. A fifth of those in that online age bracket do research
for work on a typical day.
There is a small gender gap; a five-point spread that puts men ahead
of women on this question. The education gap is wider. Of college
graduates, 65 percent of Internet users have gone online to do
work-related
research compared to 35 percent of high school graduates.
they
know someone who has been disciplined or fired because of his or her
use of the Internet on the job. Of all Americans, 11 percent know
a person who got into this kind of trouble.
Top Of Page
Addiction Counselors
courses to professionals eager to earn a New Jersey alcohol and drug
counseling certificate this September. The Institute offers all of
the necessary 270 hours of education required for certification or
re-certification through morning and evening classes held on weekdays
and Saturdays. Classes will be held at University Behavioral Health
Care’s Piscataway campus or the Mercer Trenton Addiction Science
Center,
218 North Broad Street, Trenton.
Some classes at the Trenton campus include Ethics for Addiction Parts
I and II beginning on December 6, Legal Issues for Addictions
Counselors
I and II beginning on January 1, AIDS and Chemical Dependency Parts
I and II beginning on January 31, and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/ Fetal
Alcohol Effects beginning on April 11. Tuition is $40 per seminar.
To register or obtain a course catalog, call 732-235-3440.
Top Of Page
TCNJ Web Page
web-based catalog system, and a more Internet compatible website.
The new catalog system is described as an easier way for community
members to utilize the library services offered to them through the
college, and makes students’ lives much easier.
The new web page was designed after library staffers spoke out about
the old page, which took a long time to load. It may be viewed at
Top Of Page
Speakers Bureau
Speakers Bureau, where volunteer attorneys address school, community,
and senior citizens groups throughout the state on numerous areas
of the law. Lawyers are available to speak on such topics as corporate
law, zoning, medical malpractice, criminal law/juvenile delinquency/
hate crimes, sexual harassment, and more by special request. Allow
30 days for the arrangement of your request.
Mail requests to New Jersey State Bar Foundation, Attention Speaker’s
Bureau, One Constitution Square, New Brunswick 08901-1500, or fax
request to 732-828-0034.
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