1. Hire the best people -  The contributions of a great hire can be exponentially more than someone who is just "good."
2. Get out of their way - Nobody needs to be micromanaged, but talented people are particularly turned off by it.
3. Build in accountability mechanisms - Periodic reports can be inefficient, but perpetual transparency lends itself to higher quality and better teamwork. 

Thus, the whole three-step process begins with making great hires.  Given the economic status and unemployment rate of most countries these days, finding great talent would seem foolproof.  However, I think a lot of companies don't have good processes for vetting candidates for open positions.  

Over the years, I have been lucky to build some high performing teams.  The single biggest lesson I have learned is to look for intangibles.  Think about your best teammates over the years.  What made them so great?  Was it the big project or strategic sale they closed ten years ago?  Was it that college degree and Cisco certification they earned fifteen years ago?  Or was it their untiring self-discipline, their disarming communication style with customers, their team-building and peer mentoring skills, their ability to quickly understand new concepts, or the contagious positive attitude they spread around the office?  I suspect that their intangible traits were the most valuable for your organization, but how do we detect them during the interview process?  Here are some things I have learned:

• No method is foolproof - Calm down. There is no way to ensure, without a doubt, that you are choosing the right person.  You won't know how effective someone is until after they join your team.  However, by the time you open up a requisition, your company already needs someone in that role.  So, make a speedy decision.  Hemming and hawing for weeks and months will hurt your team in immeasurable ways.
• Signs of perseverance - I might not be able to tell how resilient you are in your professional life, but I will know if you have that same mindset by looking for clues in your personal life.  For example, I once hired a sales engineer who completed an Ironman triathlon.  There is nothing that I would require of him that would be tougher than swimming, cycling and running 140.6 miles.  His grit proved true in his loyalty to the company when the economy slowed and his responsibilities grew.
• Ability to learn - A couple of years ago, I was looking for a marketing intern and one candidate was light on experience but graduated Magna Cum Laude while playing Division One volleyball at an academically challenging university.  That set her apart.  Someone like that, if a good cultural fit and genuinely interested in marketing, will easily be able to learn the necessary skills to outperform someone with more experience and less of an ability to learn.  She certainly met and exceeded our expectations since then.
• Teamwork skills - Joining a company is all about working with a team, and it's very difficult to know what kind of teammate someone is by simply reading a resume and talking to them a few times.  I once had the opportunity to hire a stellar guy who played collegiate soccer, became a leadership consultant, performed well in his sales career and obtained master's degrees in ethics and business administration.  All of those cohort-related ingredients were the perfect recipe for a great team player, and he has now been provided with the opportunity to be the leader of his own team.
• Philanthropic inclinations - I have found that people who are active in the community often bring those same good intentions to their professional life.  The same people who serve the people and organizations in their personal life are usually rock stars in their career as well.  Those qualities and priorities make for great employees who your team can work with and respect.
• Family life - If you want to know more about a person's values and they volunteer information about being a parent, ask them about their children.  Some of the most responsible, ethical, influential people I have worked with have had outstanding families.  
• Raison d'etre - It's important to understand someone's longterm career goals to determine whether your available position would be a good mutual fit.  We have all taken the wrong job at one point, and it's important for us to ensure that we are not aiding someone in making a similar mistake.  Generally, if the person seeks your company (rather than simply responding to a posted description), there is a higher propensity for their interest to be sincere.  It's also important to understand someone's motivations.  My best salespeople are often those who are not driven by financial goals, but are more inclined toward healthy competition, pride in one's work or sharing a company vision which resonates with their interests.
• Okay to be overqualified - There have been multiple times when I have had the chance to bring on someone who has decided to take a step back from management or otherwise seems much more experienced than the position requires.  I once hired a marketing intern who had already co-founded a couple of successful ecommerce companies.  Why are these people interested in positions that might seem junior for them?  It goes back to the previous point.  They enjoy your company, your industry and your role.  If their reasons are on-point, bring them aboard and then worry about exactly which role they will play.  Intuition is okay, but suspicion can be unhealthy.