Interesting commentary piece by Nancy Gibbs from the Feb 16 issue of Time Magazine. Titled "Married to the Job" it features Gibb's views on the delicate balance between companies and employees in difficult economic times. It's a short read, but pretty compelling... especially for those who work in large corporations.
Related to the topic of corporations and how they interact with employees... in it's Feb 16 issue, BusinessWeek did a book review of "Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald's: The 7 Leadership Principles that Drive Break Out Success" by Paul Facella. I didn't necessarily find myself compelled to seek out and read the book, but was interested in the employee appreciation practices attributed to McDonald's. The phrase that stood out to me from the review was "at McDonald's, praise is always given in public and always heartfelt."
It's a simple concept, but... there can't always be raises, promotions or bonuses given, but there can be appreciation and respect shown to employees. In the long-run this is going to help achieve success more than a different approach.
