Are you having difficulty securing enough talent to efficiently run your business or concerned about upcoming retirements and the need to replace folks with deep knowledge and skills? You are not alone! In order to address these concerns, your best bet is to have a long-term plan in place that both helps you retain current talent and recruit new employees. Here are ten suggestions that can help you ensure access to the best possible talent pool in your business.

An important element of engaging existing employees is to let them know how they are contributing to the business. Sometimes employees may feel disconnected from business goals and not sure if the work they are doing is making a meaningful contribution. By being clear about business goals and outcomes, and explaining how each team has contributed to achievement of those goals and outcomes, employees can feel more motivated and are likely to stay onboard longer. The same holds true for the hiring process—make it clear to potential employees how their work can benefit the overall organization, and even the industry.

In addition to being transparent about organizational goals, objectives, and outcomes, it is also important to provide employees with feedback on their performance on a regular basis, at least quarterly. This normally can be done by their immediate supervisor. It helps identify issues before they become problems, gives employees guidance on how they can move their career forward. This should be based on key performance indicators that are provided to each employee/team, with the review providing metrics with respect to their performance against those KPIs. It also gives employees an opportunity to voice any issues or concerns that they have—and it is critical to ensure the employee feels heard, and that the issues will be addressed one way or another. This is particularly true as we bring in the next generation of employees, who are likely to have a different perspective on the workplace.