Employers: What Are You Doing to Keep Your Best People?

Vision and focus. They almost seem like two different things, right? When we hear the word “vision," many of us think about long-term, strategic planning while “focus" requires us to get very narrow and specific. Last week I had the opportunity to do both – yes, simultaneously – with Good Morning America Workforce Correspondent Tory Johnson. Tory and her team hosted a “Spark & Hustle" conference for approximately 200 women entrepreneurs and – while it was a dynamite event for sure – almost half of the attendees were currently employed and looking to “break out" of corporate life and launch their own businesses. Do they know we're on the heels of a very serious recession? Yes…and they don't care. Empowered by the ability to use social media to market themselves and emboldened by technology (like Square) to become profitable, many of these women are just waiting for the right opportunity to “make the leap" and go out on their own. Sound familiar? The media is ringing the alarm with repeated stories of employee disengagement, but are companies really listening? If you're not serious about keeping your best people emotionally engaged with your business, consider this:

• 1/3 of new hires will leave their organization within two years. (Source: Monster.com)
• When employees leave, the cost to replace them is at least 25% of their total annual compensation. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Successful retention of your top people will require both long-term vision and short-term focus. Are you worried about losing talented employees as the market improves? Please share your experiences with me below. Emily Bennington, founding partner of Professional Studio 365, leads programs that help companies get the most out of their career newbies, while helping said newbies connect their efforts to the organization's big-picture goals.