Meaningful Work and Appreciated Performance

Good salaries, kind treatment, and great benefits won't be enough if people don't sense that their work is meaningful. If that component is missing, you can rest assured that it will be noticed. No one may complain but eventually some of the finest people will leave. 

Surveys on motivation may cite lack of appreciation as a major reason for resignations but I believe the cause is more closely tied to a lack of self-respect produced by the absence of meaning. Appreciation and meaning are flip sides of the valuable currency of respect. 

Effective leaders make certain that both are in ample supply.