I really appreciate your attention to detail on the report you did for me last week. The facts were clear and it was error free. It's great having such a thorough, dependable person on staff. A word of praise is far more meaningful to a person if it is tied back to one of his or her qualities such as enthusiasm, intelligence, positive attitude or integrity than if it's tied to performance results. We all know that communication is an ongoing process.
Praise is all about focusing on the good things that a person does.
Instead of focusing only on areas needing improvement, accentuate the positive. Praise motivates people to action and gives them a sense of self-worth. A few minutes now can pay big dividends long term.