I have twice in my career been asked to take over and resurrect failing IT Operation teams comprising of Sys Admins, DBAs, Service Desk, etc.

The underlying failing on both occasions was a lack of effective leadership, standard setting and poor recruitment process. The latter being the most corrosive over time. The organisation had hired people purely on their technical abilities over their soft skills which is completely the wrong way around. Therefore please indulge me to paraphrase the question and provide a different answer.

If you recruit someone on their aptitude (capacity) to learn, keeness, motivation, who is respectful of others, consciencious, honest, (note NO technical skills), you can then provide the framework in which they can grow and acquire the mere technical skills. Recruiting on a person's core DNA / behavioural traits has consistently proven a successful method. Any immediate high-end technical skills needed are filled short-term via the contractor market.

What you get, over time, is a committed, capable and customer focussed workforce. At least that's been my experience.

ps the single most important tech skill for a DBA is their ability to ensure the recoverability of an organisation's data