This post originally appears in my Work In Progress blog for Forbes.com:

Hiring in 2011 was stronger than previous years, and the uptick has continued in 2012. This is no secret to your staff, who have endured low or no salary increases and a higher workload. The fact that job market reports are positive, coupled with the frustration and exhaustion of recent years, makes this a ripe opportunity for your staff to take off for your competitors. The ones who will go first are the ones who can – these are typically the ones who add the most value. Can you afford to lose them?

Companies need to have an overarching strategy around employee retention. But this post is for you, the individual manager. Your company may or may not be good at employee retention. But you can’t just cede control of your team dynamics to what the company happens to do. As the immediate supervisor you have a lot of influence over how your specific direct reports feel. Handle things well and you can retain your team, even if your company’s lack of retention efforts causes everyone else to upload their resumes to Monster!

Find out what matters to individual members of your team. Let’s say you have two direct reports, Dick and Jane. Dick values ongoing feedback. He wants to hear from you what he’s doing well and how he can improve. Jane values career advancement. She doesn’t need to hear from you as much as Dick does. What signals to her that she does a good job is getting tapped for bigger, better or at least different projects. If you focus on giving effusive feedback, you satisfy Dick’s needs but not Jane’s. If you just assume that everyone wants a stretch role, you play to Jane’s preference but not Dick’s. Ideally, you manage your team, including retention of your team, according to what they value as individuals.

Make sure your team realizes they matter. It’s not just about catering to what the team wants. People are often driven by a sense of mission and purpose. Have you been filling in your team about the company’s mission and how what your team does specifically impacts the mission. You as the manager are privy to a lot more of the strategy and long-term planning than your direct reports. While you can’t always share everything, make sure you share enough to keep your team excited and aware that what they do has impact.

Don’t be afraid to get personal. I do NOT mean that you invade privacy or try to become your team’s best friend. But in the extreme overwork of the last few years, with everyone putting in longer hours and busier days, lunch dates, casual banter, friendly drop-ins slipped, if not disappeared entirely. Yes, it is an investment of time and effort to have lunch (or breakfast or afternoon tea) with your direct reports and get to know them as people. But there really is no substitute for slowing things down even for just that one hour and putting a human interaction into all this business focus. There are other ways to interact than breaking bread but everyone needs to eat, and it’s more personal and enjoyable than yet another meeting.

The job market is improving. If you like where you are, you might think this good news doesn’t affect you. But if you manage people and the better market encourages them to leave, then it does affect you. It’s been a rough few years. Make sure you focus on employee retention.