More than two-thirds of HR managers have named training as the key to retaining talent.
The survey, by Video Arts, found that 70% of HR managers surveyed believed training and coaching to be an effective method of keeping staff.
Just 12% cited pay as the best method of retention.
The survey also found that HR professionals were critical of managers skills, citing people management, leadership and communication as the three skills lacking in British bosses.
For Martin Addison, Director of Video Arts, this was one of the most important findings of the survey.
He called on managers to keep their leadership skills up-to-date.
"Being in charge doesn't mean that your leaderships skills are beyond improvement," Mr Addison added.
Reflecting increased competition in the marketplace, approximately 60 per cent of respondents cited customer service, motivation and leadership as the 'hottest' training topics for their organisation for this year and the next.
* Video Arts interviewed 170 HR managers at the HRD Conference and Exhibition in April.
· Only 12% believed that increased pay would be the most effective method of retaining staff.
- 70% believed training and coaching (70%) was effective in retaining staff.
· IT is no longer considered a mainstream training topic with only 0.5% of interviewees believing it to be a hot topic this year.
· Best practice and advice from other organisations (35%), online measurement tools (34%) and pre-printed questionnaires (25%) were the top three tools which respondents believed would help them to better measure the success of training provided.
