As reported previously today on TMCnet, Microsoft (News - Alert) just announced that CEO Steve Ballmer will be retiring this year. Judging from Microsoft’s stock price and commentary from TMC’s Tony Rizzo (News - Alert), among others, it seems most folks see this as good news.

Regardless of who takes over as Microsoft’s new CEO, as long as the end result is a dynamic new leader who will emerge with a mandate to drive mobile-age change, the company’s stock will finally overcome its years of lethargy, says TMCnet’s Rizzo. (It was up 7 percent this morning already.)

Industry analyst Jeff Kagan, meanwhile, says that while Ballmer has done quite a bit of good at Microsoft over many years, the new CEO should not do things the way Steve Ballmer (News - Alert) has done them. And he’s not just referring to technology. He’s talking about people.

“The next Microsoft CEO should do business like the legendary Herb Kelleher former CEO of Southwest Airlines,” suggests Kagan. “Kelleher always said workers come first. Workers, then customers, then shareholders. He always said employees come first. Then they take great care of customers. Then that makes shareholders happy.”

This idea is, of course, not a new one. We’ve been hearing about the importance of happy employees for some time.

I remember I first caught wind of this idea when PAETEC (News - Alert) CEO Arunas Chesonis and David Dorsey came out with a book many years ago called “It Isn’t Just Business, It’s Personal: How PAETEC Thrived When All the Big Telecoms Couldn’t.” Then a noticed a bunch of other books coming on the market with similar themes.

Taking steps to ensure that employees are happy so they in turn treat customers well and strive to meet their needs is an idea that continues to gain traction. Of course, doing that is not all that easy, especially considering that existing hierarchies in the work place can make employees feel their growth prospects are limited, different personalities don’t always mesh, and companies – even the cash-rich ones – remain very focused on controlling costs and getting all they can out of their workers.

But treating employees well certainly is a noble idea in and of itself, and from what I hear it is one that does seem to translate to a better experience.

Competitive pay and potential for bonuses for hitting benchmarks can obviously be a great way to show employees they are valued. But then companies like Microsoft already do this kind of thing. Sometimes, however, other measures that can improve employee satisfaction are overlooked – such as keeping workers informed on company strategy and key new initiatives, delivering on promises, and recognizing their successes.

This prompted me to revisit my column from the November 2012 issue of CUSTOMER magazine, in which I talked about both how to keep employees happy and how to hire employees that are most likely to be happy and excel with the right training and recognition.