The new minimum wage mandate that went into effect April 1 is already having "real-world impacts" in California, according to IFA's Jeff Hanscom. "Businesses are potentially looking at reducing hours, laying off employees," Hanscom said.

Employees who manage a heavy workload but have low job satisfaction are more likely to "cyberloaf" to alleviate stress than their peers who have high self efficacy and high job satisfaction, according to research by Pawel Korzynski, an associate professor at Kozminski University in Poland. Leaders can gauge job satisfaction through surveys or town hall meetings and provide training in time management skills to help employees set goals and accomplish tasks, suggests Korzynski.

Brunch chain First Watch now offers all full- and part-time employees access to child care and elder care at discounted prices through its partner, child care provider Bright Horizons. The benefit was added in response to employee feedback revealing that a lack of affordable care for kids and other loved ones can be a hurdle to career advancement, said chief people officer Laura Sorenson, and programs like this could become a solution for the broader restaurant industry.

Use of AI could have a negative effect on employees' creative work, according to research by management instructors Shane Schweitzer and David De Cremer, who found teams managed by algorithms were viewed as less creative than those led by people. "With algorithmic management in place, you are likely to think less of your employees' creative potential and subsequently provide them with less support to thrive and innovate at work," write the researchers, who add leaders should consider how the technology affects their treatment of the workforce.

The use of games to support learning, development and productivity in the workplace can increase employee engagement when the gamification includes incentives and financial rewards, write researchers Adrian Camilleri and Ananta Neelim, who emphasize the rewards never should replace existing bonuses. "The program should offer frequent, modest individual rewards and management should be transparent, even to the point of publicly exhibiting the strong connection between better performance and more rewards over the long-term," the researchers write.