Over a third of US-based HR professionals believe that business travel will
be reduced in the wake of last month’s terrorist attacks.
In a poll of 5,673 HR staff, conducted by the Society for Human Resource
Management and the technology and research company eePulse, 35 per cent also
think workers will be more wary of working in high-rise buildings.
Over half feel that staff would no longer consider travel as glamorous and a
similar proportion say that organisations would put higher security in place.
Sixty per cent of respondents believe their companies were either not
prepared at all to deal with the consequences of the attacks or were only
prepared to a small extent. Nearly half say their company did not have a
disaster plan in place.
SHRM president Helen Drinan said, "Since most companies feel they were
not prepared to deal with the aftermath of the attacks, one of the most
important changes that can come is that employers and employees work together
to set in place a crisis management plan.
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"As rare as such attacks are, companies should be prepared to
respond."
Dr Theresa Welbourne, CEO of eePulse, said, "Although many respondents reported
that employees felt helpless, reaching out to the workforce through meetings
and direct actions, from donating money, organising blood drives and garage
sales, helped many employees cope."
