While we know that good things happen when employees feel appreciated, communicating appreciation to staff is not a miracle salve that cures all wounds. Sometimes well-meaning supervisors (and sometimes leaders who don’t want to do the hard work of dealing with problems) try to use appreciation as a quick fix solution for deeper issues that need to be addressed. Here are five sets of circumstances when appreciation should not be the first action taken. Employees are not getting paid regularly. One time I was asked to train staff of a non-profit organization in how to show appreciation to one another. Throughout the training, they were quite passive and difficult to engage. After a couple of days, I found out they had not earned regular paychecks...