The Recognition Mistake Costing You Your Best People

She leaned over to me in the middle of her own party. We were honoring an administrator who had given our association 18 years of her working life. The room was full, the tributes were sincere and I remember thinking we had finally gotten recognition right. Then she whispered five words that changed how I have thought about appreciation ever since: "You know I hate this, right?"

She would have taken a handwritten note over the whole event.

TL;DR: Organizational strategist Michelle Kozin has spent 20 years studying why the same recognition that energizes one employee humiliates another. Her answer has nothing to do with better wording or bigger budgets. It comes down to what she calls the platinum rule, treating people the way they want to be treated rather than the way you would. That single shift, Kozin argues, explains far more about manufacturing turnover than any exit interview checking the "pay" box ever will.

Please select this link to read the complete blog post from Lisa Ryan's LinkedIn page.