Realities Hit Even A Tight Labor Market

CFO magazine's February edition packaged together a series of stories on the evolving relationship between employers and employees. In its intro, the magazine notes:

The tight labor market and improving economy have made workers - especially the good ones - more demanding in terms of compensation, benefits, and working conditions. But companies remain determined to cut costs even as they acknowledge a renewed "war on talent."

It goes on to note the widespread discussion about how employee stacks up against sky-high executive compensation. Then it makes an interesting observation:

The compensation picture is clouded by soaring health-care costs, which leave companies feeling hamstrung and employees shortchanged. The move to consumer-driven health care may provide at a partial solution, but can companies in good conscience give employees more control over health-care decisions if there are few dependable sources of information on which to base those decisions?

Finally, the package delves into the consequences of treating employees badly: among them, lawsuits. And, again, the editors make a good observation:

Even if companies botch the nuances of employment law, they can create corporate cultures in which managers know how important it is to listen to employee grievances and to act on them before the matter ends in court. Such cultures may do far more than forestall lawsuits: They may demonstrate that employees are, in fact, true stakeholders, which in turn may help ensure that the employer-employee relationship is rewarding to both parties.

This is one of those packages that, although written for managers, provides a lot of good information to people who want to be smart about the way they operate in today's office environment. Links to three stories are below.

Just Rewards [CFO]
Pin the Tail on the Doctor [CFO]
The Enemy Within [CFO]