According to a recent conversation with John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas– a lot.

“The country is coming to terms with permanently higher gas prices,” Challenger says.

Employees are hurting, and companies are responding by offering compressed work schedules, four-day weeks, telecommuting, gas cards and car-pooling.

These are more than short-term fixes, Challenger says. They are the beginning of a revolution in the office that will result in productivity being the central value of work, rather the number of hours logged by employees. They also dovetail with other trends like globalization and a 24-hour view of the workday that accommodates all time zones—Asia, Europe and the United States.

Tom Knight, a partner with Axiom Consulting Partners in Chicago agrees.  His recent study with Mark Masson highlights the need for companies to develop creative compensation in the face of an impending recession.  In this paper that speaks specifically to sales professionals, Knight notes “as the administrator of the sales compensation plan, HR professionals are uniquely positioned to leverage these insights to develop contingency plans. When designed and executed well, contingency plans not only optimize sales costs, but also motivate and retain sales professionals, thereby enabling the company to emerge stronger and more competitive from a down economy.”

A recent conversation I had with a senior account executive highlights the need for creative planning. Faced with a 60 mile round trip commute and little increase in 2008 base salary, he struggled with the decision to take a job closer to home.  A savvy HR department caught wind of this and set up a plan for him to telecommute 3 days a week. He stayed with the company; they averted the need to recruit a new sales star.  A smart decision all around– attract, retain, motivate. Isn’t that our mantra?

Let’s start a conversation– what is your company doing to be creative in a tough economy? What best practices can we share?