The US manufacturing sector is having difficulty attracting software developers and engineers to bring big data and automation to the factory floor. Manufacturers say they can't match salaries and benefits offered in Silicon Valley.

Wal-Mart has seen sales and customer satisfaction improve as it has increased average employee wages and made the path to management more transparent. "We realized quickly that wages are only one part of it, that what also matters are the schedules we give people, the hours that they work, the training we give them, the opportunities you provide them," Chief Operating Officer Judith McKenna said.

Textio CEO Kieran Snyder found 88% of female work performance reviews included critical feedback, while just 59% of their male counterparts were criticized in a 2014 study. Companies must discuss gender issues more openly to counter the disparity in how workers are treated and promoted based on their gender, according to McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.org.

Gamification, when implemented properly, can boost employee engagement, particularly among millennials, writes Chris Bruce, co-founder of Thomsons Online Benefits. Bruce offers tips for effective gamification, including personalizing rewards and implementing data analytics to measure results.

The workers' compensation system is placing more costs on employees and other benefit programs instead of employers and carriers, says David Michaels, the assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Updated best practices are necessary to ensure adequate wage replacement for injured workers.

Women make up more than half of chief human resources and generally are satisfied with their work, but it can be difficult to interact with other departments that function more like a boys club, writes Georgene Huang, CEO of Fairygodboss. HR, and women in high-ranking HR positions, can do a lot to improve diversity issues, but "they will need more support and authority to act," she writes.