2. Commit to careers – play the long game

HR and business leaders have to embrace the reality that the people they hire are more likely to leave than they are to stay. And this means they have to abandon the Tony Soprano approach to outplacements. (“If you quit, you’re dead to me!”)

^{2. Commit to careers – play the long game}

^{Instead of retaining the employee, HR leaders must instead focus on retaining their relationship with their people after they leave the business.}

This will require an inversion of current practices. Instead of asking people “what will it take to make you stay here?”, get used to asking your people “where would you like to go next?” An enlightened leader must acknowledge that not everybody is going to spend 30 years with the company and celebrate the success of their leavers.

Taking this attitude – and setting up a strong alumni relations program – can pay off in a real way in the long term, with past employees becoming your future customers as they move and grow.

More importantly, it can also help you to boost retention by creating “boomerang” employees. After all, in a tight talent market with high rates of turnover, given enough time, many of your choices of recruit are likely to be people who’ve already worked with you.

You’ll also need to start asking yourself which companies you’d most like to hire from, building on the skills audit questions asked as part of our first pillar.