From Business Week – Bad times affect expectations on both sides. But managers can turn downturns into an opportunity to build employee loyalty
“To attract, retain, and motivate employees, employers made promises that really could be kept only if the pace of growth in the business continued. Expected growth in profitability and in opportunities were the fuel that fed the “deal” that employers were able to offer employees. At many companies growth plans have since been shelved in favor of retrenchment plans. This recasting of the employment context raises a number of important questions, among them:
• How should we expect the nature of the employer-employee relationship to evolve?
• How have the tools employers have to attract and reward employees changed, and what does that mean for how managers must manage?”
