As the economy improves and job opportunities are becoming more fluid, employee retention is becoming critically important. There are myriad reasons employees decide to leave, and some are more easily addressed than others. One reason that most companies fail to deal with employee retention is that they do not have clearly defined career paths. One of the main reasons employees leave is because they fail to understand their career opportunities within a company, and according to studies, only about 40 percent of workers think they have a well-defined career path. More than half of employees say they receive little to no input from their managers about how they can improve. “Clearly, lack of communication from managers along with lack of transparency about career progression within the organization is impacting employee loyalty and hampering retention efforts,” says Ilene Siscovick, partner and North America talent and career leader at Mercer. “By defining advancement opportunities and conveying related competencies, companies can equip employees with the necessary information to grow professionally and financially.”