How to Retain Top Talent in Ontario
A practical guide for GTA and Durham Region leaders | 2026
Leadership Development
Durham Region
Gurley Leadership Solutions
Ajax, Ontario
LMI Canada Licensed
Lean Certified
Six Sigma Black Belt
35+ Years Experience
Ajax, Ontario
Retaining top talent in Ontario has become one of the most pressing challenges for business owners and executives across the Greater Toronto Area and Durham Region. The average voluntary turnover rate in Canada has climbed to 11.9%, and more than half of Canadian employees say they thought about leaving their current role within the last year. For small and mid-sized organizations, every departure carries a cost that is far greater than most owners realize.
After 35 years in senior executive roles at Fortune 100 organizations, I have seen this pattern repeat itself in every industry and every size of company. The good news is that most turnover is preventable, and the solution is simpler than most leaders expect.
Why Is Retaining Top Talent in Ontario So Difficult Right Now?
The retention challenge in Ontario is real and it is getting harder. According to Mercer’s 2024 Canadian Turnover Survey of 1,146 organizations, the average voluntary turnover rate in Canada is 11.9%, with retail and wholesale sectors reaching 25.9%. One in three Canadian employers is expecting turnover to increase further in the year ahead.
The reasons employees leave are well documented. Pay is always a factor, but it rarely tells the whole story. When organizations in Durham Region and the GTA ask why their best people resigned, the answers almost always point back to leadership: unclear expectations, no path for growth, feeling undervalued, and poor communication from their immediate manager.
These are not HR problems. They are leadership problems, and leadership problems have leadership solutions.
What Do Top Performers in Ontario Actually Need to Stay?
Top performers are not primarily motivated by pay increases alone. They are motivated by progress, clarity, and the quality of the leader above them. Based on my work with organizations across Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Clarington, Pickering, and the broader GTA, the factors that keep your best people are consistent:
- A leader who sets clear, written goals and connects individual work to the bigger picture
- Consistent, honest communication about expectations and performance
- Meaningful delegation that stretches their capability and builds their confidence
- A visible path for growth and advancement inside the organization
- A culture where contribution is recognized and people feel genuinely valued
Every one of these factors is directly shaped by the quality of your leaders. This is why investing in leadership training and skills development is the most reliable way to retain top talent in Ontario, not just over the short term but as a permanent competitive advantage.
How Does Leadership Development Retain Top Talent?
When your leaders are equipped with practical skills in goal setting, communication, delegation, and team development, the effect ripples through every level of the organization. Your best people feel challenged. They feel valued. They see a future for themselves. That is what keeps them.
Through a proven program from Leadership Management International, customized to your organization, I work directly with your leaders over a structured series of spaced working sessions. The program is applied to your real goals and your real people, not delivered as a generic workshop and then left to fade. Behavioural change is tracked. Results are measured. The improvement in retention is a direct outcome of the improvement in leadership, and that connection is visible and accountable. Learn more about Malcolm Gurley’s background and how this approach works.
What Does the Research Say About Retaining Top Talent?
What National Training Organizations Have Found
FranklinCovey’s research on employee retention shows that when both leaders and organizations actively support skill building, employees are 9 times more likely to remain with their company one year from now, compared to organizations where neither leaders nor the organization invest in development. The gap between organizations that develop their people and those that do not is not a small one.
Dale Carnegie’s research on employee engagement found that only 28% of employees are very satisfied with their immediate leader, making the quality of front-line management the single most commonly cited driver of voluntary departure across industries and organization sizes.
Both findings point to the same conclusion: developing your leaders is the most direct path to retaining your top people. Where the solution differs is in how it is delivered. Large national programs offer frameworks and workshops. What produces lasting retention improvement in organizations across Durham Region and the GTA is direct, customized involvement with your specific leaders, applied to your specific goals and culture, over a structured multi-session program with measurable outcomes. That is what Gurley Leadership Solutions is built to deliver.
How Do You Know If Your Organization Has a Retention Risk?
According to McLean and Company’s 2025 HR Trends Survey, organizations with voluntary turnover rates below 10% were significantly more likely to report strong performance against their strategic objectives, while those above 10% showed a consistent pattern of underperformance tied to leadership gaps and cultural issues.
Here are the warning signs I look for when working with organizations trying to retain top talent in Ontario:
- Your best people are consistently the busiest, which means delegation is weak and they are carrying more than they should
- Exit interviews reveal themes around unclear direction, poor communication, or feeling unrecognized
- Engagement scores are declining even though compensation has not changed
- Middle managers were promoted for technical skill but never developed as leaders
- There is no formal process for developing the next generation of leaders from within
If any of these apply to your organization, the risk to your retention of top talent is real and growing. The good news is that it is correctable, and the results of correction are measurable. Visit the FAQ page to read common questions about getting started.
How Do You Build a Culture That Retains Top Talent in Ontario?
Culture is the sum of how your leaders behave every day. It is not a values statement or an offsite event. When your leaders set clear expectations, follow through on commitments, recognize contribution consistently, and invest in the people around them, retention improves because the culture becomes somewhere people genuinely want to work.
This is the core of what Leadership Management International programs are designed to produce. Through structured, spaced sessions applied to real organizational goals, your leaders develop the habits that build a retention culture from the inside out. Malcolm Gurley works with organizations across manufacturing, healthcare, not-for-profit, engineering, and operations sectors throughout the Greater Toronto Area and Durham Region, including Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Clarington, Pickering, Barrie, and Mississauga.
Ready to Retain Top Talent at Your Organization?
Request a free no-obligation meeting with Malcolm Gurley. In a 15-minute call, we will identify the leadership gaps most likely driving turnover at your organization and outline what a program would look like for your team.
Call 416.669.7644 | Mon to Fri, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Frequently Asked Questions About Retaining Top Talent in Ontario
How do I retain top talent in Ontario?
The most reliable way to retain top talent in Ontario is to develop the leadership effectiveness of your managers. Gallup research shows that managers account for 70% of the variance in team engagement. When your leaders set clear goals, communicate consistently, and recognize contribution, your best people have a reason to stay. A proven program from Leadership Management International, customized to your organization, builds these skills with measurable results.
How do I build a better company culture?
Culture is built through the daily behaviour of your leaders, not through mission statements or team events. When leaders set clear expectations, delegate effectively, follow through on commitments, and actively develop the people around them, the culture becomes one where top talent chooses to stay. Leadership training and skills development is the most direct path to a retention culture in any organization in the GTA or Durham Region.
What are the warning signs that my team is burning out?
Watch for your strongest contributors carrying a disproportionate load, declining engagement during meetings, rising errors or missed deadlines, and exit interviews pointing to unclear direction or feeling unrecognized. These are all symptoms of leadership gaps, not employee problems. Addressing the leadership development needs of your managers is the fastest way to reverse these patterns before your best people resign.
What is the ROI of leadership development programs?
Well-implemented leadership development programs that directly address the factors driving turnover typically deliver a return on investment of 10:1 or better. The savings come from avoided replacement costs, which can reach 150% of an employee’s annual salary, combined with measurable gains in productivity, engagement, and goal attainment. Government funding may be available to help offset training costs. Contact Malcolm Gurley directly to find out more.
Do you work with companies in Durham Region to help them retain top talent?
Yes. Gurley Leadership Solutions is based in Ajax, Ontario and works directly with organizations across Durham Region and the Greater Toronto Area, including Whitby, Oshawa, Clarington, Pickering, Barrie, and Mississauga, across manufacturing, healthcare, not-for-profit, engineering, and operations sectors. Every program is delivered in person and customized to the specific goals of your organization.
About the Author: Malcolm Gurley
Malcolm Gurley is President of Gurley Leadership Solutions Inc., based in Ajax, Ontario. With more than 35 years of senior executive experience at Fortune 100 and manufacturing organizations including Honeywell, Johnson Controls, and Armstrong Fluid Technology, he helps organizations across the Greater Toronto Area and Durham Region retain top talent by developing leadership effectiveness at every level. He is LMI Canada licensed, Lean Certified, and a Six Sigma Black Belt. Every program Malcolm delivers is a proven Leadership Management International program, customized to the organization, with a return on investment of typically 10:1 or better. Learn more about Malcolm Gurley and why organizations choose Gurley Leadership Solutions.
