What can organizations do to retain top talent?

Organizations can retain top talent by offering competitive pay and benefits. While pay is not always the top reason for employees quitting, competitive compensation packages, including benefits, can help to retain employees. Many organizations are becoming creative with the benefits they offer. For instance, Google offers employees free massages and rides back and forth to work. Some organizations are attracting and retaining employees by offering them student-loan repayment assistance. Programs such as these are helping companies retain Generation Z and millennial workers, who tend to switch employers frequently.
But for many firms, especially smaller ones, matching pay and benefits such as these isn't possible. Perks that don't cost a lot can go a long way toward retaining employees though. Flextime, telecommuting, relaxed dress codes or no dress codes, summer hours, and modest performance bonuses are examples. Requiring employees to shut off their mobile phones after hours is another work-life balance perk firms are increasingly giving their employees.
Factors other than pay and benefits also prompt employees to quit: They quit their jobs because they think their input isn't valued, they were a poor fit for the job in the first place, or they have too few growth and advancement opportunities.
The Carnegie study found that leadership is the key reason for turnover. Managers and leaders have to demonstrate interest in and empathy toward their employees. They also need to help employees grow and develop.
Some firms conduct "stay" interviews with long-time employees to determine why they have remained with the firm for as long as they have. What do they like about it, and what needs improving? Organizations can then use that information to develop retention strategies.