At an event a few years ago, I was asked what I thought was the number one thing that organizations needed to focus on in the current economy. My answer is always the same...your people. "Take good care of your people in this economic downturn, especially the ones you want to keep, because when the economy picks back up those organizations that take good care of their people will retain them, and those that don't will see them leaving." But as things go, the economy went farther south than anyone was expecting and 'taking care of your people' was hard to do. I get this. However, what we are seeing in the workplace is exactly what I had predicted. Great employees are now looking for a better opportunity, a better culture, authentic leadership, a great place to work, a bit more flexibility...all sorts of things and they are not always about 'more money'.

Among our research efforts, we track the job search market here in the DC Metro area to see who is hiring and why. Where are people going? Which organizations have a large number of openings, and why.. all of these things give us clues as to what is really happening in the marketplace.

What can you do if you seem to be loosing some of your best talent? Four things:

1. Get Real Data & Information. Exit interviews facilitated by a third party will help get the answers you're looking for. You need unbiased data and information to make smart business decisions. Perhaps it is a department's culture, a specific manager, or the break room coffee, who knows? But guessing will not help, so getting to the bottom of employee departures is key.

2. Authentic Counter Offers. If you are lucky enough to be in a position to counter offer in order to retain your talent, make the offer authentic and make it matter. Quickly determine what matters most to the individual and be flexible in what you can offer. The key to an authentic counter offer is asking a lot of questions in order to gain clarity around the individual's priorities, not yours or the organizations. Once their needs are identified you can prepare a counter that is authentic and meaningful to the individual.

3. Deal With the Real Issues. Once the real issues for departures are identified, deal with them authentically, quickly and definitively, then communicate with the current staff why the changes are made. When employees see leaders making changes for the better, they are less likely to shop their resume around.

4. Examine Your Organizational Culture. So many leaders truly miss how critically important organizational culture is to their bottom line. Both large and small organizations who get this see greater ROI, profits, employee satisfaction, etc. The list of benefits goes on. Culture is not something that is easily assessed from inside the organization as it can be from an external point of view.

See a few key themes here? Real data and information is critical. Getting real about the situation and coming to terms with reality. Being authentic and speaking truth to your employees. Examining culture is critical. All of these things lead to a healthy organization and help to retain your best talent who remain during a healthy economy as well as the downturns.