How to Encourage and Retain Exceptional Individuals

"There are many ways to improve the quality of the
working life of employees.  Here are three fundamental
principles:

1.      Challenge employees by assuming they can do
more than their apparent credentials would lead one to assume.
        People are wonderfully resourceful; they can conquer mountains if
only they believe they can.  And the best way to get them to believe in
themselves is for you to believe in them.

2.      Establish measurement criteria for achievable goals.
        If a race had no finish line, no one would ever know
whether anyone had won, when the winning took place, or who
 the winner was.  Such a race would be unsatisfactory.  Similarly,
any challenge is meaningless if its ultimate goal cannot be measured.

3.      Make business life fun.  
        Most people spend the majority of their time working, so the
opportunity exists for employers to make this time as stimulating as
possible.  Simply stated, making work challenging, enjoyable, and fun will
motivate most employees to devote more of their time to work, or at least,
to be more productive (Engel, 1998, p.82, 85)."

Reference: Engel, P.H. (1998). The exceptional individual: achieving
business success one person at a time.  New York: St. Martin's Press.