New Economy Changes the Employee/Employer Relationship

As many companies change their strategies to meet an uncertain economy, employees have began to feel the burden. The recession has caused businesses to cut budgets, decrease staff and increase workload. As a result, employees have been forced to work longer days with little to no reward for their extra efforts - and in some cases have taken a pay cut. Before you know it, you've lost some of your best employees to companies who provide a better balance between work and personal life.

The cost to hire a new employee and get them up to speed on the position, business and industry can add up. Obviously, a better strategy is to keep the staff you have. The key is to make sure there is a balanced give/take relationship between the employee and employer. When employees begin to feel that they are giving significantly more than they are getting - problems arise. Productivity decreases, a negative environment is created and discontent spreads through the company.

Instead of eating at restaurants, going to bars or taking elaborate vacations, people have moved towards spending their personal time at home (also referred to as a staycation). For most of us, the days of extravagant spending are gone, which has decreased our need or desire to work long hours in order to afford such luxuries. As a result, today's employees are seeking that balance between how much they work and how much personal time they have.

Employees realize that the current economic environment has been tough on business owners, and in most cases their dissatisfaction can be remedied without any increase in salary or benefits. They know the job market is competitive and would rather not be in the position of looking for a new job. If you're a business owner who finds yourself in this predicament, think about how each of your employees time can be spent working on things that will make a real impact on the bottom line and not just working on busy projects that don't add real value to your company's objectives.