Participants listed the following as the three biggest challenges facing their organizations:

• Ensuring employees remain engaged and productive (36%)
• Developing leaders (28%)
• Retaining key talent as the economy recovers (24%)

An Apparent Failure to Communicate

HR professionals noted the importance of "increasing communication with employees" when asked about improving worker engagement and retention, according to the article detailing the survey results. However, most of the time that amounts to pumping up the amount of communication sent to employees – but not necessarily in an effective way.

As one HR executive aptly put it, "It's not about increasing communication volume. It's about providing more context around the information you're providing."

Even in a large, heavily matrixed organization, there is no shortage of ways for management to more effectively communicate with their teams – from quarterly or semi-annual town hall meetings with the entire company; to monthly or bimonthly team meetings; to weekly 1:1 meetings between supervisors and their direct reports.

Regular e-mails from the CEO, COO or CHRO can also be meaningful, provided they're written on topics that employees find relevant and in language they can understand. An example of what not to disseminate regularly might be detailed reports regarding the company's financial performance. Periodic summaries or alerts that the details are available on the firm's intranet will likely suffice for information of a more technical nature.

It May Seem Like Common Sense...

Some retention aids are comprised of common sense and effective management. Here are just a few from Humanresources.com:

• Employees tend to quit managers or supervisors more often than they do their jobs or organizations. Supervisors need to communicate effectively with their direct reports about performance expectations and feedback, earnings potential and a framework in which the individual can succeed.
• Staffers need to feel free to express their opinions about what aspects of their team, department – or the organization as a whole – could be improved. It's important to provide employees with the opportunity to give constructive feedback and feel they are being heard.
• Use your employees' skills, talent and experience effectively, and they will feel more motivated to perform at their jobs – even to do tasks outside of their formal job descriptions.

...Aided by the Proper Toolkit

In 2014, an effective HCM system for recruitment and retention will include talent management software for most organizations. This is typically a system of integrated applications that HR professionals can tap into for more efficient hiring and retention. Components of a typical talent management software system, according to searchfinancialapplications.com, will include:

• An application tracking system (ATS) for more effective recruitment and applicant identification.
• Performance management software to help managers track employee progress and goals.
• Learning and development encompassing training of new hires, and ongoing education and certification procedures to help more experienced workers enhance their skill sets.
• Compensation management to ensure that employee performance is appropriately rewarded

The Numbers Tell the Story

Besides the toll that poor retention and frequent turnover take on morale and the corporate psyche, there are serious financial implications as well. A number of industry estimates place the cost of losing a middle manager at around 100% of the individual's salary, with the loss of a more senior manager even higher – as much as double annual compensation.

In terms of replacing lost workers, consider a simple fact of demographics. With 76 million Baby Boom-age workers heading out the door or preparing for retirement in the next decade or so, the incoming millennial generation only numbers roughly 44 million. Simply put, the U.S. work force is shrinking by leaps and bounds, making employee retention that much more critical.

Any HCM tools or techniques – from more effective management to talent management or the latest cloud-based software systems – should be enlisted to help HR professionals hire and retain a quality work force.