Praise and gratitude of your co-workers and employees should be specific and inclusive of everyone's efforts, writes Joel Schwartzberg. "You'll get extra appreciation points for including a true story or example that illustrates the effort's value," he writes.

Build an agile workforce by teaching employees to anticipate change, telling them what's out of the company's control and emphasizing what stays the same during disruption, writes Armida Markarova, chief learning officer at CareerBloom. "Providing employees with frameworks to address decision-making, with a logical step-by-step approach could help provide the right guidelines, to process decisions effectively without hampering progress or productivity," Markarova writes.

Returning to the office after pandemic-driven remote work can benefit companies and employees by improving collaboration and by enhancing co-worker relationships, in addition to other advantages. However, it is still valuable to offer opportunities for remote work to provide flexibility for employees.

The ADP National Employment Report showed that 568,000 jobs were added to private payrolls in September from 340,000 and the initially reported 374,000 jobs added in August, according to Reuters. For the third quarter, average employment gains dropped to 410,000 jobs from an average 748,000 in the second quarter, according to the report.

Executives have a greater interest in returning to the office most of the time than other employees, according to a Future Forum survey. The report found that most executives want to primarily work on-site and are designing return-to-office plans around their desires while, by contrast, 76% of employees are against a full-time return to offices.

Google is bulking up its Google Nest and Google Maps offerings to feature new tools that will make it easier, and more beneficial, for consumers to change their energy habits. A new feature in Google Maps allows users to opt for routes that will save them money by being more fuel efficient.