Staff engagement – the fundamentals. Or in other words – Caring 101.

Before I share some thoughts on this I want to acknowledge the approach of Cy Wakeman who has reminded leaders and managers that engagement is a two-way relationship. Employee engagement is not the employer's responsibility, exclusively. It's nobody else's responsibility to 'engage you' – how you show up is up to you. They (employers) can certainly provide conditions for positive and constructive engagement but it's on the employee to meet them in the middle. Having said that, here's a few things employers need to consider.

There are a thousand examples of what’s worked for individuals. Rather than look at specific cases however, I reckon if we look at engagement from a fundamental human needs perspective, it’s not as complicated as it might seem.

The key to engaging staff is to acknowledge we’re people performing a role. 'Staff' are people with all things people come with – hopes, dreams, fears, desires, insecurities, ambition, talent, skills, strengths, flaws, secrets, biases, judgements, histories... and every single one of us is unique. But we're people first. Always, human and always will be, as far as I can predict.

So what do us 'people' need? Let’s start with three fundamentals.

We need acknowledgment. Get to know me. Ideally, care about me. And if you don't care, you're not fit to lead or manage people. Let me know what’s working and what’s not. Tell me when I’m doing a good job and tell me when I’m not. Then help me. Create healthy and respectful boundaries within which I work and reinforce these when they're compromised by others. Tell me what you want to see more of – shine a light instead of swinging the stick – positive reinforcement works. Reward the behaviours you want to see more of and call out those you don’t, we'll follow suit.

We need to belong. Give us something to connect with and share those stories with us. Be clear on what you stand for and we'll align our beliefs with this, or not. And it's OK if we don't - we'll find somewhere else to belong. What's important is that we're in this together with other people who share values and are aligned to what we're ultimately working towards. We're craving connection and belonging so provide a safe place for us to do our best work and you'll get the best of us.

We need connection to something bigger than us and the work we do. We need to be working for something greater than a paycheck - we're meaning makers, we're ambitious and we want to have a positive impact. Why are we in business, why does this company exist - what impact to you want us to have? Be clear about that, commit to it and we'll join you.

It really doesn't matter what you do as much as it matters how you do it. Genuine kindness and care, a sense of belonging and contributing to a greater good - that's a good place to start.