Thirty percent of your employees don’t show up for work one day. What would you do? Would you close for business? Try to make it with a skeleton staff? And how would these choices impact your bottom line? Now imagine that those same employees – or more – were unable to get to work for three days or longer.

It’s a scenario that most Georgia business owners don’t think will happen to them, and, hopefully, it won’t. But recent history indicates that we need to prepare. Most of us never imagined that North Georgia roads would look like rivers last September as a 500-year flood swept the state. But that’s exactly what happened.

Georgia is also susceptible to tornadoes, as we saw in March 2008 when one spiraled through downtown Atlanta and caused damage in 15 counties across the state. Ice storms can literally freeze northern portions of state, and Dr. Patrick O’Neal, chief of the Georgia Department of Community Health’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Division, expects one third of Georgians to contract H1N1 flu. My goal is not to cause panic, but to show businesses the importance of preparing for, weather-related emergencies, pandemic, and other unforeseen disasters today.

I believe many business owners approach continuity planning with the best of intentions. But it can fall to the bottom of the list among payroll, sales and day-to-day operations. Ready Georgia, the emergency preparedness campaign from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, also supported by the Georgia Department of Community Health Division of Public Health, can help. It offers a Ready Your Business guide to assist Georgia companies of any size with disaster planning. The guide can help planners identify key decision makers during a disaster, assess which disasters your organization is most vulnerable to, and determine essential business functions that must be maintained. It also helps organize important communication information, such as customer phone numbers, vendor email addresses and insurance provider contact information, in one location.

Working in conjunction with organizations like The Clean Air Campaign, can help businesses develop a comprehensive crisis plan to see them through a variety of situations. The Clean Air Campaign offers no-cost assistance to start or formalize a worksite telework program and can also help you apply for tax credits that cover the cost.

Business continuity plans that include telework programs can help protect our state’s economy, your business and the future of your employees. It’s time to move emergency preparedness to the top of the list, and get your business Ready.

Charley English is the director of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and the Office of Homeland Security. He oversees all state governmental actions designed to ensure mitigation and preparedness, appropriate response and timely recovery from natural and man-made hazards which may impact the state of Georgia.

The World Health Organization recently elevated the H1N1 epidemic to “pandemic” status, meaning the virus has spread across every continent and still presents significant risks to public health. Few people realize that nearly half of all the H1N1 cases being tracked are right here in the U.S. We’re focused on things like washing our hands more often, but as employers and individuals, are we prepared for what happens next?

The problem is we don’t yet know what will be asked of us.

It is precisely for situations like these – in the time before an event like a pandemic escalates further and creates a series of challenges that happen in rapid succession – that employers draft formal business continuity plans.

Increasingly, companies are finding that teleworking is an essential tool in preparing for, and recovering from, a catastrophic natural or man-made disaster. Whether it is “home-based” or “remote-office based,” teleworking moves the work to the employee, rather than moving the employee to the work, which, in the event of a pandemic, can help prevent the spread of health risks.

Situations like the current swine flu pandemic have happened before. During the SARS breakout of 2003, many Hong Kong and Montreal based firms opted for teleworking to conduct “business as usual,” thereby minimizing human contact while still working closely with customers. In fact, SARS was a catalyst for many businesses that are integrating teleworking into their business continuity plans as a means of “social distancing” while operating critical functions within the organization.

Implementation Steps for Disaster Preparedness
Every employer is unique in the needs and considerations that must go into planning, but the key to business continuity is emergency preparedness, which entails having a program in place that has been tested prior to the emergency and an advocate that can champion the program. Consider these issues:

1. Gaining support from all levels of management. Management will need to know how telework would impact productivity and the bottom line.
2. Knowing which employees could work from home or a remote location. Some jobs may not seem appropriate for teleworking at first, but in an emergency, all employees may need to work from home or another location.
3. Locating alternative facilities where employees could work. If your building becomes inaccessible, all work may need to be performed from an alternate location.
4. Determining equipment needs and resources. At a minimum, you need to determine the types of equipment necessary for employees to accomplish their work. This can vary for each employee or work unit.
5. Developing remote access to office files. Teleworkers may need access to information and software to perform tasks. Some companies have back up files stored off-site, which can be accessed in an emergency.
6. Training employees and managers on teleworking procedures. Businesses have found that employees with prior teleworking training are able to respond quicker and more effectively to unexpected circumstances.
7. Establishing a teleworking pilot program and monitoring results. A well-rehearsed plan is important to ensure your business can respond to a crisis. A pilot program for select employees can help polish your emergency teleworking procedures.

Lessons Learned From Recent Disasters
Employers that have had to put their business continuity plans into motion offer this wisdom:

1. The telecommunications infrastructure may be more robust than the roadway infrastructure.
2. Investments in technology and back-up systems are the backbone of many recovery programs.
3. Pre-planning and testing of the plan are the key to quick recovery.

Employers can learn more about what makes a solid business continuity plan when they attend The Clean Air Campaign’s next Lunch and Learn event on telework, the telework tax credit and the role of telework in business continuity planning on July 16.

Next week is a great week to shake up the routine a little in your daily commute. The Clean Air Campaign, together with Clark Howard and the crew at 750 AM WSB and the region's local Transportation Management Associations, want you to pick a day next week to give your car the day off. Last year, some 1,300 metro Atlanta commuters pledged to do it (when gas prices rose above $4 last year, it's easy to see why). This year, let's raise the bar! You can sign up here to take part.

Need a little motivation to participate this go around? Here are five great reasons to give your car the day off:

1. Every mile you drive alone is costing you 54 cents. That adds up over time, especially in Atlanta, which is recognized as one of the most expensive areas for commuters nationwide. Did you know the average metro ATL household spends more than $8,000 a year on transportation costs? That's more than we spend on food.
2. You can get more done when you're not behind the wheel. With an average commute time in the region of 36 minutes each way, we're all looking for ways to be more productive. Why not hop on an Xpress bus or carpool and read a book or catch up on e-mail?
3. Half of all smog-forming emissions come from the tailpipes of cars and trucks. That's a major factor in the number of days we experience when air quality is deemed unhealthy for outdoor activity. Fewer tailpipes is good for the air we breathe. Try carpooling. If you need help finding a person to share the ride, The Clean Air Campaign can direct you to RideSmart, a division of the Atlanta Regional Commission that runs a service to match commuters who live and work near each other.
4. Not having to drive means less stress from the grind of traffic and the "unpredictable actions" of other commuters who are competing for space on the roads. You don't have to get worked up about the dummy who zooms past you and changes lanes without signaling when you're teleworking.
5. When you leave your car in the driveway and choose a different way to get to work, you're not using up as much energy. Try MARTA. They're also supporting an event next week -- on Thursday, June 18 -- called "Dump the Pump." We all remember how exasperating it was last year to shell out big bucks for gas. It's still painful to pay $2.50 a gallon. Try an alternative so you don't need to fill up the tank as often.

Giving your car the day off one day next week is just a starting point, of course. We want you to do it once in hopes that you'll consider doing it more often. There are more than 350,000 commuters across town who have come to enjoy alternatives to driving alone. We need more to accomplish our mission of less traffic and cleaner air.

Telecommuter Appreciation Week is coming to a close, which presents some key opportunities to brag on the success more employers are finding with telework as a critical workplace strategy that creates bottom-line benefits. Clearly, the current economic conditions employers are facing do not invite much capacity for expansion or risk-taking. The focus is squarely on riding out the financial storm, looking internally at operational efficiency and keeping the workforce motivated.

These priorities match extremely well with the adoption of telework programs. And when it's made available, employees are jumping at the opportunity to telework because of its myriad benefits: savings on commute costs and work attire, reclaimed time from not having to travel to work and enhanced work/life balance. Seldom have these factors been more important to employees than in the current economic climate.

The nation's most well-regarded employers are leading the charge, as evidenced by the latest release of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. 83% offer telework.

The numbers indicate occasional telework is becoming more widespread. A study found the number of employees who work remotely at least once a month jumped from approximately 28.7 million Americans in 2006 to 33.7 million in 2008 -- a 17-percent increase in that two-year span.

From The Clean Air Campaign's perspective, the best commute is the one that doesn't involve a tailpipe, as every mile driven puts a pound of pollution into the air we breathe. Telework stands out among the cleanest commute options available in a region that is regarded as one of the most wired in the U.S.

To the quarter-million-plus teleworkers in metro Atlanta, thanks for doing your part to make our roads a little clearer and the air a little cleaner. Your efforts are appreciated not just during Telecommuter Appreciation Week, but every time you work from home.

Do you ever sit at work and listen to a co-worker sneeze, cough and sniffle his or her way through the day? Do you ever want to tap that person on the shoulder and say, “go home before you make us all sick!”?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that every year in the U.S., five to 20 percent of the population gets the flu. So how do you keep your business running with the cold and flu season in full swing?

An easy answer to keeping germs out of the workplace is a telework program. For all of those employees who think the world will end if they don’t show up; for all the loyal workers who don’t want to use a sick day; for employers who don’t want to allow one sick employee to infect the whole office, I have three friendly – and obvious – words of advice: Work. From. Home.

Stuart Brown, M.D., former director of the Georgia Division of Public Health, said that “someone coughing deposits germs on workplace surfaces – conference tables, the copy machine and telephones. So anything you can do to limit that helps reduce the risk of infection spreading to other employees.”

So here’s my recommendation to everyone suffering with a cold or the flu who still has manged to summon enough energy to be on the clock: Telework! Atlanta is one of the most wired cities – let’s try to make it one of the healthiest too.

Telework holds the promise of improved efficiency for employers -- and improved quality of life for employees -- in metro Atlanta. To many businesses, the concept might seem like it's still light years away. And for some job functions, telework is not an appropriate strategy. But computer technology and quantum leaps in Internet connectivity have put telework programs within reach for a growing number of employers in the region.

Consider the rise of broadband Internet access over the past few years. According to Scarborough Research, 56% of Atlanta households with Internet access now have broadband (DSL or high-speed) connections. That's one of the reasons Forbes magazine recognized Atlanta as the nation's most wired region for telework in each of the past two years.

While more employers are looking into telework as part of a comprehensive workplace strategy -- The Clean Air Campaign presently has 40 active projects with Atlanta employers -- there are some common misperceptions about telework that persist:

1. Employees who telework do so five days a week.
Only rarely are there situations where employees solely telework. For the majority of our employer Partners, their telework programs have employees working remotely just 1-2 days a week. The remaining workdays are spent in the office.

2. If an employer starts a telework program, they must allow all employees to participate.
If telework were considered to be an employee benefit, then everyone would have to be eligible. But The Clean Air Campaign has always promoted telework as a business strategy – and a privilege. As such, the most diligent and capable workers are the ones who should pilot a program.

3. Employees who telework are less productive than their office counterparts.
This concern is common among managers who feel that if they cannot see the work being done, they have fewer assurances their staffers are being productive. Studies show teleworkers are typically 10 to 30 percent more productive because of the reduced number of interruptions encountered, compared to a normal day in the office.

While most employees would jump at the chance to start teleworking, employers have to take time to perform their due diligence and evaluate whether telework makes good business sense in their organization. The Clean Air Campaign stands ready with information and experience gleaned from assisting 80 employers with telework programs, impacting more than 6,000 employees in the past five years.

We’re co-hosting a Lunch and Learn event with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce on September 4 focusing on telework and the Georgia Telework Tax Credit. If you are a manager contemplating telework for your team, register for this event … and post a reply here to let us know what your questions or concerns are about introducing telework into your operation.

How many meetings have you driven to in the past week? Are you scheduling more conference calls or finding other ways to communicate to stay off the roads (and away from the gas station)? This week the spotlight is on Web conferencing. In two days, we’ve got a free lunch and learn seminar that might offer even more relief to you or your employer. We offer a series of free training seminars annually, but this is the first time we’ve offered this subject.

And if you think it’s just for offices – think again. The Associated Press recently reported on a University of Oklahoma alumnus who will be co-teaching a class from Iraq via Web conference. TV correspondent Mike Boettcher will be embedded with U.S. soldiers in Iraq for 15 months and will teach the “War and Media” class this fall from the front lines. But I digress…

Our July 10 training seminar will be led by Henry E. Liebling, a consultant with 20+ years experience, and promises to teach you the best practices for holding a meeting without ever leaving your office - and how Web conferencing can improve productivity.

We’ve also got two other training seminars that may be of interest later in 2008. On September 4, we’ll be going over the Georgia Telework Tax Credit, and on November 10, we’ll present the “State of the Commute.” But I’ll remind you about those when they get a little closer.

If you can’t join us at DeKalb Technical College on Thursday, check back soon for the session recap. If you are joining us, great. I’ll see you there!