Demand for top talent is growing, and retention of high performers is critical for any organization's success. Keeping the best and the brightest around, however, is not as easy as it would seem. Leadership must ask itself if it knows what employees want, and better yet if employees know what they want. The answers to these questions are critical in understanding if an organization is aligned with employee needs, and if retention will be a feasible goal. One way to do this—although it might seem morbid at first—is to ask employees to write their own obituaries. Once the shock of the request goes away, employees will be asked to answer questions they may not have ever considered about what they want for themselves and what they want out of their lives. From this exercise, leadership can extrapolate an employee's values, and what that employee considers meaningful and important. If an employee and an organization are a good match, these core values should align and the company should be providing avenues for the employee to achieve their lifetime goals. If this isn’t the case, expect turnover and disengaged employees.