When I was running a small state intel shop, one of our concerns (especially as the analysts began to make a name for themselves) was the possibility of other agencies "poaching" them...many tried, none succeeded. Here's some thoughts to hold on to good people...

First, make sure that keeping your high flyers is good for both *them* & the organization. Sometimes, it's time for them to move to new opportunities & professional development.

That said, a bigger paycheck or prestigious organization doesn't always equal better opportunities.

I couldn't compete with federal agencies on pay or access to "cool secret stuff" so what did I offer instead?

1) Opportunity for junior analysts to have a seat at the table & demonstrate their subject matter expertise.

This was HUGE.

Our rule was, if it's your portfolio/product, you'll brief it...regardless of the audience (there were a VERY few exceptions).

This was different from what our analysts saw their peer doing...frequently senior people would brief the work of junior folks & get the credit.

2) Professional development - Instead of pay increases (which we couldn't alter) we carved out training budgets for everyone so we were able to get analysts to some big conferences & training events that most agencies wouldn't send their analysts to.

3) as a subcategory to that, we made sure to get our analysts access to leaders in the field like @selectedwisdom @intelwire @MiaMBloom & this was seen as a BIG advantage over their peer in other 'big name' agencies where junior analysts didn't seem to get the same opportunities

4) We also experimented (successfully) with a "deputy bureau chief" opportunity where I'd rotate analysts for a month and have them help run the shop. They'd work budget, scheduling, leadership issues, etc. to prep them for leadership positions

5) We afforded them time/flexibility to explore analytical lines that may not have seemed to have immediate applicability to our mission but kept their intellectual curiosity fired up. Sometimes they'd get six months in & find nothing...sometimes they'd hit gold.

6) We created strategic plans with our analysts so that they'd have some predictability of what opportunities they'd have over the coming year.

This all was pretty resource/time intensive for me (I had to take a significant amount of work home to make sure I could do these things at the office) but:

a) if you're going to say people are your most important resource you should treat them that way
b) it was fun

Generally, I told my analysts we'd expect to keep them 3-5 years & then they'd be ready to move on (and up!) as we wouldn't have a whole lot of offer them at that point.

But before that time, I think we were very competitive in terms of a complete package of opportunities

One caveat...With all this opportunity can some hefty expectations in terms of professional bearing and quality of work. They were, after all, representing a state cabinet official, sometimes on VERY weighty matters, as well as the reputation of the office.

They did great!