[ChrisMarshallNY]

Paying more is not the answer (but it is also not not the answer -we need to pay well). Improving the workplace environment, into a place people want to stay, is important.

My friend could double his salary, moving almost anywhere else, but he gets a lot of perks at his work, and is treated extremely well by his managers.

They just gave him a rave review, and that did more to boost his willingness to stay, than a 10% raise. He will still negotiate a better salary, but is more likely to be satisfied with less than he might have, if they tried to treat him badly.

Treating employees with Respect can actually improve the bottom line. They may well be willing to remain in difficult situations, if they feel they are personally valued.

I know this from personal experience. When they rolled up my team, after almost 27 years, the employee with the least tenure had a decade. These were top-shelf C++ image processing engineers, that could have gotten much higher salaries, elsewhere.

[trinsic2]

Yeah I agree with this. It really depends on the culture of the business. If the employee feels valued, giving raises increases feeling valued.

The problem is our current form of corporate culture. Employees don't feel like they matter, there efforts are a cog in a wheel. If you get a raise in this type culture, it only matters to the bottom line and there is no incentive produce because the employee is already unhappy in the first place.

Change your business culture and these problems will disappear, IMHO.