In the last of our "Best of" series, we're focusing on retention. Take a look at the best from our Talent and HR News Weekly Roundups in 2014 that cover anything having to do with retaining your employees. We'll be back next week with fresh news roundups for 2015!

1) Engage and retain staff in 2014 and beyond from HR Zone

"It’s a common misconception that an individual’s performance at work is based solely on just their capability. Whilst possessing the right skills and abilities is important, in today’s competitive business world, it is based on so much more than this.  The silent threat of ghost turnover - The period of economic recession played host to a stagnating pool of talent. Suffering from uncompetitive reward and constrained training and development budgets, staff stayed in their current roles, not because of job satisfaction but because of job security. This is known as ‘ghost turnover’ – employees who want to leave their current jobs but can’t due to a lack of alternative or secure opportunities."

2) Turning Your Biggest Recruiting Challenge Into Your Biggest Asset from TLNT

"Wow, HR is focused on bringing the right talent into their organizations, and the single biggest obstacle is not skills shortages, candidate supply or qualifications — it’s their internal business partners. This challenge is hurting recruiting efforts. Respondents told us that 10 percent of new hires don’t complete their first year. And it’s at the nine-month mark that employees begin to feel disenchanted with their new role. Think about that for a moment: Three months before their first annual review and they’re already losing interest. They also told us that, nearly two-thirds (61 percent) of the time, when a new hire doesn’t work out, skills are not the cause. So what is the cause? Unfortunately, we didn’t ask that specific question; however, if you consider the commonly held belief that two-thirds of people quit their boss and not their job or company, evidence starts to build."

3) 4 Ways To Retain Top Talent from Westchester Magazine

"As a search professional, I am never surprised by how much effort goes into the pursuit and discovery of talented professionals hired into the organizations I support.  Recruiting is hard work, and being careful with talent acquisition is critical. You can’t spend too much effort and thought as you hire. That said, I am frequently surprised by how little care and feeding goes on after the hire.  Big mistake! It makes sense that if you have made a good hire, you want to establish an environment that will keep that great employee in your organization."

4) The 10 commandments of hiring and employee retention from Multibriefs

"I. Thou shalt commit yourself to hiring and retaining only the best. If you are going to succeed, you cannot settle for run-of-the-mill employees. Mediocre employees breed mediocrity, so make sure you recruit and select only the best employees. II. Thou shalt not be unduly influenced by dazzling answers and false appearances. Applicants are generally better prepared for interviews than most employers. They receive coaching and rehearse pat answers to standard interview questions. They know how to dress to impress and will mightily try to do just that."

5) Here’s Why You’re Not Hiring the Best and the Brightest from First Round Capital

"What’s the most consistent piece of advice you get as a startup? Always hire the best people. Never compromise in your hiring standards, no matter how big your company gets. And it’s true. A great team can take an okay idea and transform it into an incredible, world-beating product. But something has always bugged me about this advice. There’s an elephant in the room in the form of an implied clause: Always hire the best people… who are willing to live in San Francisco. Substitute Mountain View, New York, Boston, Chicago, or any other city. The problem is the same. We pay lip service to the idea of hiring the best people in the world — but in reality, we’re only hiring the best people who happen to be close by."

Lexi Gordon is a Lead Consultant for exaqueo, a workforce consultancy that helps organizations build their cultures, employer brands and talent strategies. Contact exaqueo to learn more about how we can help you build a workforce that’s aligned with your company culture and develop an employer brand that will allow your business to scale the right way.