In the July issue of T&D Magazine, I read about an interesting online survey. Recently, more than 1,000 managers and senior leaders were surveyed by Right Management, a well-respected HR consulting firm. The findings indicated that 30 percent of employees left their jobs to seek new challenges or opportunities that were not provided to them by their former employer. Another 25 percent left their jobs because of ineffective leadership and 22 percent cited poor relationships with their managers. The article is titled, "Wandering Eyes: Talent mismanagement increases employee turnover."

To me, this contains a very clear message to organizations: Talent management is not just about how well HR departments do their jobs. It's not just about the technology and the tracking systems being implemented to keep on top of talent issues. It's not just about the training opportunities being offered and the succession plans beingimplemented. Talent management is also very clearly abouthow well managers throughout the organization accept and act upon their responsibilities as talent leaders.

Managers need to see how their decisions, behaviors, and actions impact the retention and development of talent. They need to understand that talent management is all about their relationships with employees, their recognition of accomplishments, their development of employee strengths, their recognition of professional and personal needs, their clarity around the organization's current and future objectives, their involvement as part of the company's overall talent management team, and their true partnership with HR/Personnel in the quest to get and keep the best people.

Looking for ideas on how your managers can improve their role as talent leaders?  Here are a few to get you started:

• Frequently communicate progress on the overall goals of the organization and the individual’s impact on achieving these goals.
• Provide both on-the-job and off-the-job learning and development opportunities.
• Create opportunities for your employees to become exposed to other departments and roles within the organization.
• Resist the temptation to hoard your best performers; be an "exporter" of talent.
• Conduct "stay interviews": Regularly meet with employees, especially your high performers.Let them know how important they are to the organization. Ask what will keep them happy and encouraged.

I believe that companies, faced with an ever-increasing array of talent challenges, need to address the mindset and skills of managers around their role in talent management. What would you add to the above list?

Martha ... Your addition is excellent! I once heard Jack Welch say something to the effect that anyone who hoards information isn't someone you want in a key position in your company. Your point about sharing information with employees so that they are in a better position to be successful is right on the mark.

Resist the temptation to hoard information; don't be afraid to hand over this particular key to success. Performers at any level need to have access to information that can transform an employee from average to excellent, or ensure that high performers remain as such.

Interesting questions for the high performers.