Organizations that have a strong degree of trust, especially employees trusting managers, show higher levels of efficiency and productivity and reduced turnover costs, Randy Conley of The Ken Blanchard Cos. said at this week's ATD conference in Washington, D.C. Conley outlined his approach for nurturing trust using the ABCD trust model, which includes assessing oneself according to four categories: able, believable, connected and dependable.

There is no silver bullet for retaining employees, but certain tactics can help organizations find and keep quality talent, Deborah Sweeney writes. Sweeney suggests three strategies -- developing a vision statement, revamping job descriptions and not rushing the hiring process.

Employers should consider policies and benefits aimed at helping Generation X workers who increasingly are responsible for caregiver duties at home and are the least financially secure, compared with baby boomers and millennials, said MetLife's Bradd Chignoli. Caregiver leave, flexible work schedules and locations, disability insurance, financial wellness programs and voluntary benefits are some of the options for helping caregivers in the workplace.

Artificial intelligence and other technologies will take over some tasks now done by humans, but there is reason to believe technology will produce new jobs and opportunities, says Megan Lamberth at the Center for a New American Security. "Those at the beginning of their career will be able to learn these new skills and transition into these new careers, but many at the mid-career level will need retraining programs to break into these emerging fields," she says.

Toxic workplaces can only be solved by managers who help employees be themselves, create meaning, learning and connection in the work, and model what they teach, says Moe Carrick. "Somewhere along the line we have degraded our thinking about people as commodities it seems, rather than the unique, complex (and messy) humans that we are," she says.