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Most entrepreneurs are good at seeing opportunities and finding ways to meet needs in the marketplace. Similarly, successful leaders are adept at creating value, managing costs, and understanding their target markets. But many leaders lose sight of the #1 asset of their business and the various ways that asset can be neglected and eventually lost. That asset? Team members.

When I am conducting an Appreciation at Work training session with a workgroup, a common comment and question is similar to what Jack, a manager at a senior care living center, asked: “I ‘get’ the concept of communicating appreciation to my team and the need to make it personal and individualized.  But I have team members who report to me that I rarely see.

The workforce is changing rapidly, with the number of millennial employees expected to surpass baby boomers (individuals in their late 50s and older) by 2019 and they will comprise nearly half of the total working population by 2020. Organizational leaders and HR professionals affirm knowing and understanding your employees is critical in order to have (and keep) an effective workforce, thus, distinguishing and addressing the differences between employees of different age groups is important.

Despite the evidence that appreciation is both desired and beneficial to both employees and businesses, not everyone likes to be shown appreciation in the same ways.   We have found that identifying an individual’s preferred language of appreciation is key to “hit the mark” and not waste time and energy doing something not valued by the recipient. Determining what type of appreciation colleagues want can be discovered by having team members take an assessment to identify both their preferred language of appreciation, as well as the specific actions meaningful to them.

I grew up in a conservative Midwestern family and within the context of a family-owned business. Cussing was not acceptable, but one four-letter word was used. The worst thing you could be was LAZY. Everyone needed to be doing something or LOOK like you were being productive. While this has proven to serve me well professionally (I have co-authored three books and authored one, one of which has sold nearly 300,000 copies), I developed a life habit of keeping busy which has NOT been helpful to me personally.

Employee engagement has become a core concept in human resource management – and rightfully so. Numerous research studies have demonstrated positive results for organizations when employee engagement is high – reduced staff turnover, increased productivity, improved customer ratings.   However, I want to propose to you that employee engagement isn’t really what you want to focus on. Because if you focus primarily on employee engagement, you will likely “miss the target.”   Why? Because employee engagement isn’t a behavior or even an attitude. Employee engagement is a result that flows from other targeted behaviors.      Let me give you an example from daily life. A lot of us, myself included, often want to lose weight. We want to weigh less than we do now. But that is not really our true goal – just to weigh less.