Employee Engagement, Is Caring the Essence?

Earlier this month I asked, "Employee Engagement, Who Cares?" There were some thought provoking responses, just the kind I like! You can click on comments at the end of that post to read them.

In particular, Kenny Moore suggested that we make a distinction between our "personal" and "public" lives. He posits that caring may be more the domain of the personal sphere: family and friends. The "public" life is the domain of the workplace where one is paid for a service offered where caring is not essential. Filling unmet needs between client and vendor is a successful experience.

These comments caused me to reflect on my meaning of caring at the workplace. You can read my thoughts on how a manger may care for a person who reports to them here http://learningvoyager.blogspot.com/ on the January 24 post.
Below are my thoughts on how one may care for their manager.

How would you change this description? When you've had the responsibilities of managing people how did you feel cared for by your staff?
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The Essence of Employee Engagement - Caring

I am a whole person who comes to work.
I bring my hopes, desires, energy, worries, insecurities and the joys of family life as I work with colleagues.
I am human. I want to be appreciated, trusted - even loved!
My feelings drive my actions.They energize me or they take energy from me.

Having all these feelings, how might I feel cared for by my employees?
*speak openly and honestly with me
*listen to me
*work together with me by appreciating and building on each other's strengths
*be genuinely interested in who I am
*have a positive, proactive attitude
*be flexible, adaptable, accept change
*strive for excellence
*understand our business, how it works, how it makes money
*analyze problems, use common sense
*talk with your colleagues and resolve problems
*accept responsibility
*support my success

The very big difference in how we care for each other is that I, as your manager, must create a culture that supports this way of working!

Employee Engagement, Who Cares?

I ended my last post with this question, "Is it possible for employees and employers to care about each other and make commitments to each other now that the social contract [employees as primary stakeholders] is broken?"
I will address the commitment part of this question in my next post. Tonight I will share some thinking about caring.

Pages of research document the critical nature of the relationship between managers and their direct reports. I believe a caring relationship can and must be present to create successful organizations.

Consider research by Milton Mayeroff, philosopher. His book, "On Caring" has been reviewed as a philosophy of life that is practical, central and sensible for all human activities.

He explains that in order to care I must understand the other's needs and I must be able to respond properly to them. To care for another I must know who the other is, their powers and limitations, their needs and what is conducive to their growth. In order to do this I must know my own powers and limitations.

Even with the disturbance of the economy and the job market I believe managers can choose to create a caring relationship with their employees.
Please share your experiences of being in a caring relationship whether as manager or direct report. What made that a caring relationship?
As Kenny Moore would say, if you are tempted to write please give in to your temptation!