As our economy grows stronger, the war for talent will intensify. It’s why Talent Acquisition is one of the hottest topics among our research member clients. Lost in some of the thinking is a very important topic — talent retention — and it’s a big problem for most organizations today.
Brandon Hall Group’s goal is to help our clients drive organizational excellence, and I have yet to see any business have great success if it doesn’t retain top talent. It’s very difficult to succeed unless you can retain 90% of your employee base. If you have to keep hiring new people, it’s incredibly expensive and takes the focus off growth.
The job market is quickly turning into an employee’s market from the employer’s market we have seen since the implosion of the dot.com era, when it was not uncommon to have a new job every year, or even every 6 months. (Job hopping wasn’t necessarily good for the overall economic health and I often wonder what would have happened if companies had better retention strategies like so many do now).
Many companies also notice a remarkably higher rate of turnover among first- and second-year employees. To combat that, progressive companies such as FirstEnergy Corporation, an $18 billion utility company, have implemented new onboarding programs to help drive more of a connection with the company among its newest employees. 
Overall, reducing turnover of top talent needs to be an organizational priority. It is not HR’s sole job, nor is it solely the manager’s or executive’s job. There has to be a strategy to keep good people. Employees usually leave companies because of poor culture, a large culture shift (like when a large company buys a smaller one – you usually see huge turnover), unclear goals and purpose, lack of feedback and generally poor career-path support for employees.
As we enter into this new employee market, the best performing organizations will be those with the best Learning and Talent Management strategies that all tie into increasing talent retention.
