In today’s hypercompetitive employment market, businesses have little choice but to roll out a carpet paved with a good salary, solid benefits and unusual perks. These factors definitely grab the attention of the highly educated and trained candidates. For a few months, your new hire will likely appreciate all the great things you offered to get her to jump ship. Before long though, the "what’s next" line of thinking starts.

Your top employees will constantly be targeted by competitors, so be prepared to think creatively and generously if you want to ensure loyalty. Raises are always nice, but if you give the same raise to everyone, you could be setting yourself up for an unhappy workforce. In his Entrepreneur​.com article John Rampton relays the story of an employer who decided to bring all employees up to a base salary over the course of a three-​year period. The plan sounded good on paper and generated a lot of press for the company. Before long, people were complaining. It didn’t seem fair for all employees to be raised up to the same salary level when some individuals took on more responsibility and worked harder than others.

To make sure your new hire stays loyal, you need to do more than offer money. If your competitors are rolling out cool benefits like allowing employees to bring their dogs to work or building nap rooms, pay attention. Survey your team members and ask them which benefits they’d like to see put in place. If your company touts physical fitness, why not pay for a partial gym membership?

Finally, have you checked out the work environment lately? It’s trendy to have everyone working in close quarters these days so teams can collaborate. The truth is, many employees can’t focus in the open space environment. Distractions abound – whether it’s the sight of people gossiping in the corner, the odor coming from someone’s spicy meal, or the sound of a co-​working scheduling her next massage in a very loud voice – and productivity suffers.

Keep tabs on what’s working for your team members and what isn’t. Don’t hesitate to introduce change and maintain a culture that instills loyalty.