Every corporate leader wants to keep turnover as low as possible. At a time when the average annual turnover rate is around 30%, that's understandable and smart. However, the only way to understand why people are leaving is to understand—and fix—the systemic, operational, cultural, and leadership issues driving them to leave.

It's easy to forget that people are at the heart of the solution to lowering turnover. People sometimes get lost in a landscape punctuated by big data and predictive analytics. Make no doubt about it: If you want better retention rates, you need to identify why people choose to say goodbye. Only when you have your answers can you figure out how to give them a reason to stay.

You might be tempted to settle for the standard explanation that turnover is mostly salary-driven. Therefore, you can't keep talented workers if you can't increase compensation. Although it's not the whole story, it does help you get closer to the root cause. Employees will absolutely leave for more money, but it's hardly the sole reason, or even the primary reason, great people resign. It's only one factor that makes the grass seem greener elsewhere.

Case in point, consider the role of bosses and managers in whether an employee stays or goes. When you have a subpar boss, you have a problem. More than seven out of 10 employees admit they've worked with a toxic boss during their working life. Is it any wonder that 34% of people who say they're looking for another job cite a toxic culture as a primary reason? It seems a reasonably straightforward connection to assume that toxicity from a manager could make a whole culture feel negative and stressful.

However, bad bosses are just one reason for turnover. There are many others. For instance, numerous people feel like they have zero growth opportunities where they are. From their perspectives, hunting for a different employer is the only way they'll have a chance at a promotion or challenge. Accordingly, they update their resumes, submit applications through digital job boards, and vanish into the HR files of past employees — rarely to be heard from again.

The good news is that you don't have to spend a fortune to keep your best people. While you can't hope to keep everyone at your company engaged and satisfied for the long haul, you can take two relatively cost-effective steps to minimize your turnover by maximizing your "people investment."

1. View your team as being on your side.

Frequently, executives forget that when facing big dilemmas (e.g., a looming inflation-based layoff), they have the option of involving their employees in the discussion. Crowdsourcing ideas during times of trouble might sound risky, but it can build camaraderie and foster true innovation. It also can save jobs from being lost to voluntary or involuntary attrition.

Our organization once worked with a business that had a million-dollar customer suddenly pull out. It was a tremendous blow to the bottom line. The obvious way to recoup the instant loss was to cut staff right away. However, the business's leaders genuinely valued their people and wanted to find an alternative. That's why they pulled everyone into groups and said, "We have 30 days to figure out how to cut corners without losing people, and we need your help."

The employees were glad to be asked to work on this issue, and they answered their company's call with cost-saving suggestions. Many were implemented successfully and they exceeded their target savings. They were so excited they wanted to continue the process.

In another example, a previous client was impacted by tough economic times. Still, instead of layoffs, they implemented rolling right-sizing, where people (at all levels, including senior leaders) periodically took a week off. Was there still some attrition? Yes. Yet the company's long-term function and retention stayed high because everyone felt like part of a cohesive, trusted team. Contrast this with their competitors who laid people off and then had a significant hiring challenge of hiring when the economy turned around.

2. Invest in your human capital.

Turnover is a financial hardship. Finding and training a decent replacement can cost anywhere from 50% to 200% of an employee's salary. The last thing you want is to go through an endless and expensive cycle of sourcing, interviewing, and onboarding candidates and new hires when you don't have to. One way to appeal to high performers is to put funds into building the skills of your existing team members.

Fortunately, you can upskill and develop your people in diverse and economical ways. For instance, you might set up a formal mentorship program or rotate employees into different jobs. This setup allows them to gain exposure to where their talents could be used. Or, you might give employees tuition reimbursement assistance so they can pursue their career passions as they like.

Career pathing through the creation of structured, one-on-one individual development plans designed between managers and employees can work wonders, too. When your people can see a way to move through your organization over the next five years, they have less reason to move on. Why should they when their brainpower, knowledge, and potential can be used to the fullest extent where they are? When people feel valued, it's harder for them to want to leave.

The bottom line is that if you're losing sleep at night because of current turnover or the threat of turnover, you may need to broaden your approach to retention strategies. By taking a people-centered approach rather than a purely fiscal-focused one, you can identify and establish changes to make it more appealing for employees to plant roots and grow with your team.

Gloria St. Martin-Lowry is the president of HPWP Group, a company that promotes leadership and organizational development through positivity, coaching, and problem-solving. HPWP is driven to create high-performing workplaces by partnering with courageous leaders who value the contributions of team members.