Family issues: Helping employees balance the demands of work and family is a bigger concern for small-business owners than it is for top executives of the nation's largest companies, reports KeyCorp, the banking company. In a recent survey, 58 percent of small business owners said work-family issues were a major part of the culture in their companies. That compares with 28 percent of executives at Fortune 1000 firms in 1995 who said these issues were a major part of their business culture.
Not so merry: The holidays can be less than a season of cheer, because it's when many companies make decisions on layoffs. "The business decisions for 1998 are being made now," says Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement firm.
