Making employees happy is simple when you follow this one rule

You can’t expect a cow to lay eggs or a hen to give milk.

Too many companies are spending too much money trying to train people to do jobs that they don’t like and aren’t good at while overlooking the areas where these same employees can thrive.

Countless studies have shown that targeted training helps talented people get even better but does next to nothing to raise the performance of those who didn’t have an aptitude for the skill in the first place.

If you want to have a productive workplace and contented employees, identify the skills that each individual is good at and provide them with the training and support they need to hone these talents as far as they can take them.

For every task that one employee struggles with, there is probably another who loves that kind of challenge and thrives at it. A cow is an expert at giving milk, but if the job is laying eggs then she’s an udder failure. Need eggs? Then hire a hen.

Of course, if there are no tasks in your office that are a good fit for one of your employees, it’s best that the two of you part company.

But if you have employees who excel in some things but not others, encourage and cultivate those talents. Don’t expect them to be experts at everything.

In short: Don’t try to convert highly skilled Jills into mediocre Jacks of all trades.