One of the most important roles a manager must perform is that of protecting the organization's investment in the critical resource of talent. In today's economic environment, it's especially hard to keep employees engaged and motivated. Competition is global, ideas are developed quickly and cheaply and people are willing to change jobs often.

The HR Bytes blog is calling for tools that will help companies measure the effect of talent drain on the company's bottom line by taking into account the amount of money spent acquiring and training staff members. Measurement tools will be helpful , but excellent managers can start now by taking these actions:

• Identify the critical skills needed to run your organization.
• Assess your current staff against these skills and identify gaps
• Put plans in place to close the gaps through training or hiring

When you take these steps, it gives you a clear picture of your staff's strengths which you can then take into account when making assignments. A sure way to engage and motivate an individual is to assign them a task they enjoy and are good at. It might mean the difference between keeping your talent pool strong or having it drain away.