You would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t know the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Unfortunately, in business, it almost seems like there is a corollary to the Golden Rule: “Unless, of course, we pay you. Then we can treat you any way we want and you have to like it.”

Managers always seem to want to know why employees won’t do a better job–or be more accountable, or pay more attention to details, or whatever–but, they also seem to be completely unaware of their role in determining the performance they get from those employees. Managers will often treat employees in ways they would never treat friends or family (sometimes they treat everyone poorly, but that’s another problem altogether).

They criticize. They ignore. They berate. They micro-manage to the last detail. They play favorites.

Get the picture?

Unfortunately, I think this is a vicious cycle. Employees who work under this style of management, upon being promoted themselves, often wind up practicing the same style of management they so despised as an employee! Why? In the absence of training, managers often resort to what they have experienced themselves.

Certainly, there are exceptions to this rule, and, unquestionably, there are good managers out there. But they are awful hard to find.

On the other hand, managers who excel and are well-respected have learned that management is about people. Yes, there is planning and organizing involved, and there are problems to solve and decisions to make. But, in the final analysis, the reason any team or department has a manager is almost always because there are people to be managed.

With that in mind, here is one of the most critical pieces of management insight you will ever get: people just want to be appreciated for what they do. Yes, studies have repeatedly shown that the most significant need that any employee has is the need to be appreciated. More important than compensation. More important than benefits. More important than interesting work. All, by the way, of which ARE important–just not as important as being appreciated.

When the chips are down, and all things being equal, employees want to be appreciated for what they do. It doesn’t mean they don’t want to make good money–it simply means that money won’t BUY you a good employee.