For HR, there’s a lot of insight embedded in these Sly and the Family Stone lyrics:

“If you want me to stay
I'll be around today
To be available for you to see
I'm about to go
And then you'll know
For me to stay here I've got to be me”

The U.S. Bureau of Labor estimated the 2007 annual voluntary turnover rate at about 24 percent. Talent replacement costs can range anywhere from 30% to 150% of annual compensation to even more—when you take into account lost business performance, customer satisfaction, cost of acquisition, and the cost of developing the new employee to the same level of performance as their predecessor. Vacancy alone can cost thousands per day. Multiply this against your attrition rate and you can see why retention is important to the bottom line.

And your challenges in this area appear to be greater than ever before. Here’s a roundup of some interesting articles, studies, and findings:

The article How to hire, train, and retain great employees lists real-world costs for replacing employees while mentioning: “The Harvard Business Review reports that the number one reason people leave is Job Content…Thankfully, an easy, inexpensive, and powerful fix is available: Accurate job descriptions.”

The Natives are Restless—Again says: “more people anticipate leaving their employers this year than last.”

Human Resource Executive Online reports: “More than 60% of Professionals Have Switched Employers at Least Twice in the Last Five Years”

Knowledge@Wharton states that even in fast-growing markets like China: “It takes more than a competitive salary to retain staff.”

Watson Wyatt/WorldatWork Survey finds: “more than half of companies report difficulty retaining top-performing (52 percent) and critical-skill (56 percent) workers.”

Hodes 2007 Workplace Study – Playing for Keeps/Recruiting for Retention found the top two reasons employees are looking or are open to new employment are: limited career path (51%) and compensation (benefits and pay) not in line with skill set (50%), and concludes: “it is imperative that companies focus on quality of hires and finding long term talent, as opposed to just filling open seats…”

That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news.

You can help improve retention by systematizing performance management and internal mobility recruiting processes that deliver the job descriptions, career planning, interactive performance reviews, quality of hire metrics, and job visibility that people really want if you want them to stay.