According to Harris Allied, a New York City-based recruiting firm, the first quarter is often when employees look for new job opportunities, but employers can proactively take steps to retain their top talent.

"Employees have just received their year-end bonus, and companies have fresh budgets for hiring new talent this time of year, so we typically see a lot of job changes right about now," says Kathy Harris, managing director at Harris Allied. "But there are steps a hiring manager or a team leader can take to close the back door to retain their best employees and prevent them from taking a job elsewhere. People join companies but leave managers, so the difference can really be made at a departmental or even team level.

"Many managers would be surprised to know that it's not money but culture and work-life issues that typically make or break the decision to seek out new opportunities."