Employee satisfaction...

Howard Schultz makes a number of interesting points in this Harvard Business Review piece - but, his take on the employee/employer relationship I find especially interesting, Schultz writes:

"...consider how the relationship between employers and employees has evolved from a paternalistic, command-and-control contract to a more collaborative, employee-driven model. Today, enlightened employers know that, if they want great people to perform at the top of their game, they must engage and care for employees' well-being on a variety of fronts that go beyond a paycheck."

And some, obviously, understand this -
Scroll through this list of companies and their pay and perks
- 100 Best Companies to Work For -

SAS in Cary, NC is ranked number one. An excerpt:
"What makes it so great?
A 14-year veteran of this list, the software firm takes the top spot for the second year running.

Its perks are epic: on-site healthcare, high quality childcare at $410 per month, summer camp for kids, car cleaning, a beauty salon, and more -- it’s all enough to make a state-of-the-art, 66,000-square-foot gym seem like nothing special by comparison.

This year, strong employee feedback sent its numbers even higher. Says one manager: "People stay at SAS in large part because they are happy, but to dig a little deeper, I would argue that people don’t leave SAS because they feel regarded -- seen, attended to and cared for. I have stayed for that reason, and love what I do for that reason.""

And HERE for the recent best in the World List -
An excerpt:
"So what makes these companies’ workplaces so pleasant? It differs from company to company, but the running thread in all of them seems to be that they make the little guy feel as important as the top dog. The three traits all of these companies had were employee trust in management, employee pride in the company and workers feeling camaraderie with other colleagues that they were all striving toward a common goal, according to USA Today."

How many of the companies in your community share attributes with these companies? How many of those that don't treat their employee's similarly bitch and moan about not being able to find workers?