Recently I have been working with companies and executives who have been experiencing failure with strategies that brought them success in the past. However, the world has changed. This requires each of us to adapt and evolve as leaders. Unfortunately, many of us are stuck approaching new challenges the same way we did in the past, thinking the old way will still work.

Although employees haven't changed, the work environment they find themselves in has changed. Many have taken on not only larger workloads, but also pay cuts. As a leader, what have you done to adjust your leadership approach during these changing times? If you haven't adapted, you may be in for a rude awakening. Recent surveys have shown that as the economy stabilizes and starts to trend upwards, high performing employees will be more likely to leave their jobs. Given this predicted trend, how can you, as a leader, retain your star performers and not lose them to your competitors?

Before valuable employees start leaving, now is the time to make adjustments to your leadership approach. Below you will find four simple and low cost steps you can take:

1. COMMUNICATE THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

I recently met with a group of partners who expressed their concern about the low morale in their organization which they believed was due to pay cuts. When I asked them if employees understood what needed to happen in order to have their salaries restored to 100%, the answer was no. Therefore, if you have not clearly articulated your company's path to recovery, don't wait! Once you have the defined the criteria, report your company's progress to recovery on a consistent and frequent basis. Unless employees know and understand your plan for recovery and are made aware of the progress, they will make up their own stories, which I can promise you never have happy endings!

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