Set "clear, measurable" goals for employees so they don't waste time doing things that don't contribute to desired outcomes, writes Kim Scott, cofounder of Radical Candor. Critical elements to goal-setting are listening, clarifying, allowing limited debate, deciding on which goals to pursue, connecting team and company goals, and learning from the results, Scott says.

One-on-one meetings with direct reports are more effective when they have a clear purpose, active listening from leaders and end on a proactive note, writes John Schwepker, executive vice president of sales at Abstrakt Marketing Group. "Actions speak much louder than words, and maintaining a set schedule for one-on-ones lets your employees know you are serious about their success," Schwepker writes.

Employers should decide whether they want to pay remote employees based on their location or value, write Fisher Philips attorneys Danielle Hultenius Moore and J. Hagood Tighe. A location-based pay strategy should include factors such as the local market pay rate, taxes and cost of living, while companies choosing a value-based approach should look at whether rates are competitive in the most expensive areas, they write.

Employers should focus on retraining and promoting existing employees by taking an approach similar to campus recruitment, write Guild Education's Matthew Daniel and Tom Dowd. "Meanwhile, rather than 'buying' their way out of a talent issue externally, managers and executives can cultivate a culture of opportunity for all workers," they write.

The Friendly Forces advocacy group has launched an online tool that rates employers based on their military leave policies, with those offering paid leave and differential pay on top. "Just saying you love veterans and troops doesn't really help me if you don't have a policy that supports them getting called up for a domestic emergency or deployment or anything like that, because you can talk all day about loving veterans, but it really comes down to, are your policies truly supporting them or not?" asked Eric Evans, an Army Reserve captain who is CEO of Friendly Forces.

Back in 1969, half of kids in the US between the ages of 5 and 14 walked or biked to school. Now, that number is now down to 11%. There are many trends to blame -- ranging from the scattered location of schools to families that live within walking distance to schools staying in their houses long after their kids have aged out of the local school -- but part of the issue revolves around parents simply not instilling the walk/bike habit in their kids.