Thirty-nine percent of managers say that employee retention will be a "top trend affecting policies that impact employees" at U.S. businesses this year, according to a study of 107 managers by the Society for Human Resource Management. Last year, 34 percent cited retention as a "top trend."

The same question asked of 310 human resources professionals yielded similar results. Forty percent said that retention will be a top issue this year, compared with 36 percent last year. Retention increased more as a priority of human resources from 2004 to 2005 than all other issues, including health care cost increases, communication and morale, economic uncertainty, productivity, and aligning compensation and benefits with company values.

Among C-level executives, 33 percent said that retention is a top priority this year, the same percentage as last year.

The SHRM survey was conducted November 16-29.