Recruiting and Retention Are the Number One Issues Troubling Business Leaders Today

The number one issue troubling business leaders today is the increasing difficulty of recruiting and retaining qualified talent. There is a talent shortage at every level, in every industry. The talent wars are back on and more heated than ever.

We at RainmakerThinking have been tracking this trend since the mid-1990s, basing our findings on hundreds of thousands of interviews, survey responses, and consulting sessions with business leaders, managers, and rank-and-file employees from hundreds of companies. Hiring managers report – at every level, in every industry, in organizations small and mid-size and large-scale alike – that hiring and retaining top talent is more difficult today than at any time in recent memory.

Make no mistake, the talent wars are affecting organizations of every shape and size:

Average durations of employment are decreasing Voluntary unplanned turnover rates are increasing Departure demand (number of those employed but seeking other employment) is…