Like many of us, I suspect you’ve spent a little time over the past few weeks thinking about 2012 and how you can make the most of the next 365 days.

If you’re a manager, I hope one thing you’ve considered is your current team and each individual who reports to you. Some questions to consider:

• Do you have great people?
• If not, what’s your plan for upgrading?
• If so, are you giving these individuals the support they need to excel?
• How has each person on your team increased in value over the past year?

And, most importantly,

• What are you doing to ensure your top performers want to stick around?

To that end, I recommend Eric Jackson’s terrific article on what not to do to retain your top talent Top Ten Reasons Why Large Companies Fail To Keep Their Best Talent – Forbes

What I find especially interesting about this piece is that while it’s directed toward managers in large companies, every single item holds true for medium and small businesses as well. There is absolutely no reason companies of any size can’t offer their people career path planning, effective performance reviews, or opportunities to develop their creative ideas. And it’s not just the big guys who benefit from sharing a clear vision, communicating strategies openly and making sure their managers are great people to work for.

If you use these ideas to create and implement a checklist for ways your company can maximize its talent in 2012, my guess is most of your other goals will be much easier to achieve.

What are you doing to ensure you hang on to your best people this year? Where are your biggest opportunities? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.