Never Have the “What Would It Take to Keep You Here?” Conversation
When someone says it's about the money, it's never about the money.<p>So in order to prevent the "I have a better offer" discussion, you have to innoculate your people ahead of time. Make them immune to better offers by making them unavailable to those who would make them.<p>Find out what really motivates each person and engineer the "perfect job description" for them:<p><pre><code>  - meaningful work
  - quality working conditions
  - proper work/life balance
  - appropriate compensation / benefits
  - a well-defined mutually agreed upon future career path
  - proper recognition
  - congruent culture (work mates)
</code></pre>
Make it so that people <i>love</i> coming to work. It's not that hard if you really want to.<p>Do that and you will never lose them. If you can't (or won't), then they were never really yours in the first place.