Agree Usman - I do discuss this a bit in my related post: 

http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=1815&doc_id=253286&

Rooting out a political environment in the office space is also very important, in order for creativity to flourish and catch on. Many a times good professionals leave a place because the environment there is not conducive for independent thinking, higher ups need to promote an environment where every employee can let thier imaginations run wild. Often in pressure situations independent thinking is what saves the day.

Good point slfisher, it is very important to tailor non-monetary rewards to the individual.

A few years back -- and of course, now I can't find my notes -- I attended a seminar that talked about the different ways that people get motivated, and how you had to find out what worked for people. (In this particular case, it was for volunteers, but the principle is the same.) For example, some people *loved* public recognition, being brought up in front of everyone, shaking the boss' hand, while everyone applauded. At the same time, other people would *hate* that sort of thing. But there were maybe half a dozen motivators, including public recognition, private recognition, money, that sort of thing. 

ISTR that computer geeks, for example, are more easily motivated by "interesting work" than anything else (such as the people who worked seven days a week, 14 hours a day, on President Obama's campaign). 

This is also why "merit pay" for teachers isn't going to work; people who become teachers obviously aren't motivated by money or they wouldn't take such a poorly paid profession to begin with. 

@B Kraft - glad you had this experience in some companies. and found that those companies tend to do rather well over the long haul.  Yes Enterprise Social Media and gamification within the enterprise does create exceptional opportunities to enagage everyone and create a host of additional non-monetary rewards which employees can be excited about.

@Nicole - some non-monetary rewards do cost some money but there are plenty that do not cost anything.  Managers and leaders need to focus on things they can control rather than lamenting over things they cannot control.

Mansur,

I've been fortunate to have spent my career working for global management teams who understood both the intrinsic and financial value of the kind of leadership you describe. I've been given me the flexibility and autonomy to innovate not only my own organizations, but cross-functionally across the enterprise. I have a number of informal case studies that demonstrate how that leadership translates into real organizational transformation. Technology plays a key role and makes the possibilities almost endless.

On the flip side, I've also worked for one or two companies where that wasn't the case. It becomes clear very quickly that model doesn't translate into a company's sustained success.

So now I have to ask the question, how do you continue to retain strong performing employees when your department or team has to reduce the budget and training is the first line item that is cut?  And not only that, team lunches and holiday celebrations for example are eliminated as well. 

Companies definitely need to put more emphasis on retaining great employees.  Having a team where everyone's skill set is continuing to grow and the team has learned to work effectively as one unit brings about higher productivity (as well as higher team morale) which then allows for the team to meet the company's goals and objectives.

We need better metrics to distinguish the high achiever who takes necessary risks, from the plodder who achieves results by always taking the safe course. 

Absolutely Ariella - fear creates stress and activates the amygdala hijack condition which diminishes human productivity and brain reasoning capacity by a minimum of 20-30%. If you wish to read my friend's thesis here is the link: http://bravozuluconsulting.com/user/KZacheryThesis.pdf