How to retain good employees?

Simple.
Talk to them and get to know their expectations.
Reach on a mutual agreement based on that, be it renumerations, benefits or simply a pat on the back will do at times, trust me:)

Offer a good remmuneration package,Have a good working relationship with your staff .Know your employees strenghts and weakness , give them tasks that will allow them to use their skills and receive job satisfaction.Praise them for a job completed correctly.
Provide constant training to encourage personal growth.Know your employees and be there for them in times of personal crisis.

retain on market base remuneration.

Staff should feel there is always opportunity to use their skills, they should feel safe in work environment, enbale them to create health & strong relations with senior staff, health organization culture, perfoamnce evaluation and constructive feedback system, effective communication and fair compensation and benifits packages.

Employment and indeed good one is hard to get.
The most valuable investment a company has is human resource and there is always need to retain the best employees because they're your source of business prowess and sucess.
Many employees need job security to stay on.
But what is job security? Staff development program through training,promotions and synergy.
Good medical scheme, staff welfare programs etc.
Employees need to feel important and part of the company.

See the middle management behaviour in your organization and monitor them very closely and keep them as a bridge of both side of employee and management. You will see the exact reasons for the high labour turnover in your organization

the employee should feel safe in work

Create a staff development department to support staff members by providing them with training, continous evaluation to gain salary promotions and raises, Provide them with questionnairs to ask them of what they would like to have and if they have any concerns that can make their life easier, Meet with them and compliment them for their excellent work.

The6 Steps For Retaining Good Employees

A dedicated customer support employee left the company last month to pursue a career in recruiting and HR.  I was surprised that she didn’t think to ask if there were internal positions that could give her a similar opportunity, since we’re a recruiting company ourselves. I reached out to her thinking she might have been unhappy and that prompted her to leave.  As it turned out, she was very happy at Ivy Exec — she just never thought a similar opportunity existed at the company.  We shared  an “Ah ha!” moment when we realized we’d both made a mistake: she hadn’t shared her career aspirations with us, and we hadn’t made it clear enough that it’s OK to have a two way dialog about career goals. This turn of events made me reflect on how we can communicate better to encourage employees to be more open about their professional goals.

As a manager you need to encourage an ongoing, two way dialog that’s based on trust – about assignments and about deliverables, of course – but beyond that, about an employee’s career goals and aspirations.  If, as a manager, you don’t know how an employee would like to grow professionally, you can’t tailor opportunities to meet their needs, and you risk losing them.

So how do you build “trust”?  Especially if employees are remotely located, possibly from different cultures, and the primary relationship is “virtual” at best….

1)     Communicate, communicate, communicate:  The funny thing about communication is that it’s as much about the words you say, as it is about the tone of your voice combined with eye contact, hand gestures, body positioning, and even touch (that proverbial “pat on the back”.) In a paper by Dr. Edward Wertheim of Northeastern University, D’Amore-McKim School of Business, he found that a large percentage of the meaning we derive from communication (some studies suggest over90%) is derived from the non-verbal cues the other person gives.  So, if you only meet “virtually” with your team, much of your message and their response to it may be lost. Face time, however scarce, is an immensely important factor in communicating well and establishing trust. If you are managing employees in remote locations, try to meet with them in person on a regular basis – maybe not monthly — but at least2 to3 times per year.

2)     Coach COH -1.87% rather than manage:  Try to balance giving your team members the authority, the tools and the space they need to do their jobs – empowering them – and staying checked-in as they execute their responsibilities. Be accessible for, and open to, problem solving – whether it’s brainstorming next steps or fighting fires.  And, be accessible personally – taking a genuine interest in employees as individuals, as people.

3)     Establish clear performance metrics and make employees accountable for delivering: Establish well defined metrics for evaluating an employee’s contribution to achieving business goals. Expect and demand good work. Review performance versus those metrics on a regular basis.  Acknowledge good work when it’s delivered.  Discuss work that missed the mark and jointly determine how to avoid a repeat performance in the next round.

4)     Leverage performance reviews to gain insights into employee’ goals and aspirations:  As your company grows and matures, and more infrastructure is formalized, performance reviews can be opportunities to discuss employees’ career goals, and obtain input for creating stretch opportunities for them — both within their current roles and in new roles.

5)     Create growth opportunities: When hiring, look inside first.  Make it a priority to scan the internal environment first to see if there are existing employees who could stretch into the new position…growing to the next level.  Make sure employees are aware of internal openings and have a chance to apply for them if they’re interested.

6)     Underscore positive feedback with something tangible:  Beyond salary/bonus/equity, think about “rewarding” employees for truly superior performance — How about dinner on the company as a spot award?  Or, recognizing employees’ start-date anniversaries?  Or, closing the office early before a holiday to allow the team to get a jump on the holiday? Or, awarding a personal day after completion of a ‘hairy-scary’ assignment?  At the end of the day – words are just words.  While feedback is important, people also need to feel appreciated in a tangible way.  The return in terms of employee loyalty and commitment will far outweigh the financial cost of these “spot” awards over the long run.

If you systematically follow these steps, you will be able to retain good employees. Or, at least when good employees decide to leave, they will leave knowing the career growth options available to them at your company.

I have one answer the Pyramid of Needs, it depends on the employee, some are motivated by pay increase and better benefits, some by acknowledgement, other by their superiors believing in them and helping them by providing them training, etc. it depends on which level of employee you are trying to retain. Lower levels pay and money works, but at the higher levels, it's more acknowledgement and believing in their work.

Train them, gain salary raise, envolve them in decision making & always meet with them to know if they are facing any problem or to congratualte them for the good job they made.