Most companies lost top talent in past year: Survey

Three-quarters lost top performers compared to one-half last year

Despite a generally slow job market, 75 per cent of employers lost high-performing employees they did not want to lose during the past year, according to a survey by Right Management. That’s considerably more than last year when 54 per cent of respondents reported losing talent.

Only 13 per cent of survey respondents’ organizations saw no departures of top talent over the past 12 months, found the survey of 268 organizations throughout North America.

“We found that most organizations are finding it tough to hold onto their best people even when there are relatively few job openings,” said Bram Lowsky, Right Management’s group executive vice-president for the Americas.

“Previous research findings tell us there’s a furious war for top talent underway, constant poaching of high performers by competing companies and, overall, a very restive workforce. The latest survey shows organizations losing the employees they need, erosion that may accelerate once the job market picks up.”

Modest turnover is always to be expected, said Lowsky.

“The challenge is always to retain your best contributors, to target them for development and show them they have a future with the organization. It’s really not enough to tell them to wait until the economy improves, especially if they’re new employees and more impatient for opportunity and advancement.”

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