According to new research, despite knowing the costs of turnover, most of the United Kingdom’s midsized companies’ employee engagement and retention practices are severely lacking. The study, which surveyed 223 leaders of midsized organizations, found that only 29 percent of businesses considered their talent-retention strategies formalized. Nearly half said their approach was “thorough but unplanned,” and 27 percent said their approach was ad hoc at best. Ingrid Waterfield, the director of KPMG’s People Powered Performance team, which conducted the study, said, “Despite the fact that many of our clients frequently complain that they are engaged in a ‘war for talent,’ these results show that midsized companies are a lot less systematic than larger businesses in their approach to talent retention.” She added, “While that is not surprising in itself, given the perceived cost of implementing more formalized practices, the impact of a talented individual leaving a smaller business is likely to cause much larger ripples throughout the rest of the company. Talented people take time and cost money to replace. So by not adopting more formalized talent management strategies, companies are almost fighting this war with one hand tied behind their back.”