Employee Engagement: Getting (and Giving) the best from Employees

The word ‘agreement’ by its very nature suggests that both parties agree – there must be some benefit to each party for an agreement to adequately serve the needs of each party, and, therefore, each party feels motivated to abide by its terms.

This principle is best embodied in employment contracts. The business has a need for skills, services, and the value-add that each employee can bring, and the employee has a need for compensation – but for true engagement, employees’ needs don’t end at the total compensation package. No – ‘total compensation’ encompasses so much more!

Individuals have five core needs:

• Autonomy;
• Affiliation;
• Appreciation;
• Status; and
• Role

Autonomy is the ability to make decisions for oneself, within the scope of the role. The employee has some ability to decide for themselves how they manage their various tasks and workload and do not feel ‘micromanaged’. 

Affiliation is a feeling of belonging – that they feel a valued member of the team and understand how they fit in and complement the team.

Appreciation starts with the compensation package, but it doesn’t end there. Every person needs to feel that the value they provide is acknowledged and respected. 

Status relates to congruity between one’s position and the way that one is treated. Whatever a person’s status is, there’s a need to treat that individual appropriately related to their status. As an example, if a CEO appears to value the input of his/her personal assistant more highly than that of a member of the senior management team, that will create negative emotions and the senior member of the team will feel that their status isn’t being acknowledged or valued.

Role relates to the fact that we all want to be doing interesting work that meets the level of our skills and expertise and offers us the chance to be challenged, grow and learn.

If each of these five core needs is met, employees feel fully engaged and valued and will give the best that they have for the business. This is when an employee fully goes ‘above and beyond’. 

As leaders we have an opportunity to stop and look at which of these needs is being met for each employee, and which is lacking. By ensuring that each of these core needs is being met we gain full employee engagement and increasing success for our businesses and our employees.