安德森说：“不推荐其他人到自己所在的公司工作，以及不主动告诉其他人公司的职位空缺，这就是一个非常明显的警告信号，表明这个人对公司不再抱有幻想，愿意接受其他任何地方提供的机会。我们认为，对这四个问题的回答可以帮助雇主明确应该将留住人才工作的重点放在哪里。”

    雇主如何分辨员工的回答是否可靠呢？安德森表示，管理层应该与公司最希望留住的人才坐下来，进行深入地交流。他建议雇主这样问：“你对自己的工作还像以前一样满怀激情吗？或者你在这家公司有没有其他希望从事的岗位，或者你认为作为一家公司，我们应该做到却没能做到的事情有哪些？”

    安德森称，关键是要“弄明白，这名高管为什么在这家公司工作，以及他或她对于未来有什么看法。哪些方面可以比目前的现状有所改进？如何让他（她）与高层和上司的关系更加牢固和高效？”

    安德森承认，没有什么行之有效的方法能确定谁会辞职，猎头开出的利益丰厚的机会令人难以抗拒，即使最铁杆的拥护者也难抵诱惑。即便如此，“开放而直接的讨论可以帮助雇主们了解”公司的明星员工们如何看待他们的职业——以及要想吸引员工留在公司到底需要开出什么条件。

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    "Not recommending the company to others as a place to work, and not actively referring people for job openings, is a clear early warning sign that the person is disenchanted and is open to offers elsewhere," Anderson notes, adding, "We really think that the answers to all four questions could help employers identify where to focus their retention efforts."

    How do you elicit honest answers? Anderson says top management has to sit down with the talent the company most wants to keep and start some in-depth conversations. He recommends asking, "Are you passionate about what you're doing? Or is there something else here that you'd rather be doing, or that you think we as a company should be doing but we're not?"

    The idea, Anderson says, is to "get at the heart of why this executive is here and how he or she sees the future. What could be going better than it is? How could his or her relationships with higher-ups, and direct reports, be stronger and more effective than they are now?"

    Anderson acknowledges that there's no surefire way to tell who's going to quit, and a recruiter calling with an irresistibly juicy opportunity has been known to tempt even the most diehard loyalist. Even so, "open and direct discussions can go a long way toward getting insights" into how your star players see their current roles — and what it would take to entice them to stick around.