Top Talent

3: Give Employees Meaningfu Nonmonetary Rewards

Reality bites hard these days. “Last year I was managing 70 people, all located in New York,” reported one participant in a Hidden Brain Drain strategy session. “This year, after layoffs, I manage 125 people in New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. The number of managers has been reduced, and I’ve had to take on additional groups around the world. Hours are crazy because of the global scope of my new responsibilities.”

With salaries dwindling and the scope of work on the rise, managers can no longer rely on financial incentives to keep their A players performing at their peak. Instead, managers are forced to find new and creative ways of motivating top performers to give their best. From ...