It is no secret that employee mobility is greater than it was a century ago, and that keeping good people can be a difficult, if worthwhile, enterprise.

Managers recognize the need to recruit the best talent available, but not all are aware that keeping talented workers usually means developing them, and that means offering them opportunities to find satisfaction on the job, along with recognition and chances for advancement.

In the introduction to the book Capturing the People Advantage, Richard Rawlinson, Walter McFarland and Laird Post maintain that the success that organizations are seeking is tied up in human-capital strategies that involve the development and retention of people after they are hired:

• Recognizing that high performance requires great leaders. These leaders, through their example and their influence on the culture, directly drive higher levels of employee engagement and retention.
• Rethinking the connection between learning and strategic goals. High-quality learning programs can drive change, innovation and, ultimately, business value. Nonetheless, many organizations and for-profits still struggle to embed learning in their organizations.
• Emphasizing adaptability and resiliency in the workforce. The resilience demanded in organizations these days depends on having people on board who can quickly and effectively adopt new ways of thinking, working and behaving.