[zz865]

The other part is dont over praise them. Last year we had a guy leave and the boss spent 10 minutes talking about how he was the best dev he's ever seen and wondering how we'll cope without him. Geez, he wasn't that good, I'm sure we'll be OK but now I'm wondering why the boss doesn't like us.

[hparadiz]

You can praise someone without putting anyone down.

[krageon]

If someone is the best ever, that means you are worse. In that sense, this specific praise is putting everyone else down.

[JohnFen]

"We'll really miss his excellent work. He lived up to the team's high standards."

[daveslash]

Yeah, this. "We'll really miss your excellent work that lived up to our team's high standards" is a much different message than "Your work was the best that I've ever seen, and it's going to be hard for us who are left to step up and fill your shoes".

The latter doesn't explicitly put anyone down specifically, but it does heavily imply....

[_y5hn]

They don't have to say anything, the feeling is enough.