Last Updated on March 21, 2026

Are you a worker who has struggled to be recognized? Or, are you in a situation where you never stop “looking elsewhere”? Understanding an organization’s leadership and employee engagement strategies is crucial to a worker’s overall job performance and wellness.

Bearing this in mind, if you want to find where you truly belong at work, you need to learn the relationship and dynamics between an employee and an employer.

are you a team member or just a number?

An inclusive and supportive work environment fosters a positive client/provider relationship and enhances employee/employer experience. In this exercise, please close your eyes and think about a company that you have worked at, and answer the following questions:

1. Have your managers or direct supervisors made you feel that you are more than just a number, or that you are irreplaceable?
2. How often have you attended team appreciation events?
3. Is or was your job sustainable?
4. What is your communication style? What about your management team?
5. Why did you leave your previous job, or what has made you stay in this job?

The Authoritarian Leadership style and examples

Generally, a top-down management style works well when the workplace is a fast-paced and highly structured, but ever-changing environment with almost no room for human error, such as a hospital or social service agency.

Another example is a unionized environment. Frankly, most non-unionized workplaces adopt the authoritarian leadership style. That is to say, workers are, in most cases, expected to comply and follow the rules with little room for negotiation. A unionized worker, on the other hand, is usually protected by established bureaucratic procedures and policies.

This is why it is imperative for a worker seeking the right work environment to understand a company’s business structure and its leadership style before entering a competition.

why employee engagement matters

Having said that, alarmingly, an HR professional, who claimed to have 30 years of talent sourcing and human resource management experience, asserted that a manager is someone who manages the office during an interview. In other words, if an individual enjoys supporting (working with) people, they aren’t manager material.

What they meant was a manager mainly organizes files and manages office administration and employees.

From a legal standpoint, shouldn’t the job post be “looking for an office worker” rather than “an office manager”?

Emory University indicated that a survey result from an HR consulting firm, DDI, showed that 57% of the survey respondents reported they had “left a job because of their manager”.

In light of this, the aforementioned HR professional disqualified an individual who is genuinely passionate about helping (working collaboratively with) people is telling.

Employee engagement is often encouraged when the leadership of an organization is genuinely passionate about the work being carried out. Furthermore, they are grateful and appreciate those who choose to join them and turn their visions into realities.

Taking this into account, employee engagement matters simply because it strengthens a business’s presence and supports its overall health.

can strong Leadership And Employee Engagement coexist?

Business exists only among people and for people.

James Autry

The higher employee engagement rate is, the better customer satisfaction rate is (Yohn, 2023).

Additionally, a 2022 Healthcare Dive report showed that an overload of bureaucratic tasks was the physicians’ top reason for burnout, affecting 60% of those polled. In other words, workers spend more time satisfying their managers than client/customer services when clients/customers are the reason why a business exists.

Can strong leadership and employee engagement coexist? Absolutely! A good and traditional leader leads, while a strong and modern leader adapts. In other words, if you want to be a part of a supportive team, you have to get down to the nitty-gritty of what differentiates a great leader from a good leader.

A good leader does their bare minimum, meaning they do what they are instructed to do, and mostly, they do not question further. However, a great leader goes above and beyond, and they challenge (reasonably and responsibly, of course) the upper management whenever necessary.

Not only strong leadership and employee engagement exist but can be spotted during an in-depth interview. A strong and modern leader shows up for their people, and doesn’t support tribalism as well as supremacism rooted in prejudice and unconscious bias. Instead, when dealing with a stressful or difficult situation, they look for “facts” rather than “someone to blame”.

To sum up, you need a job, and vice versa. You have the ability to choose a work culture that speaks to you. It doesn’t matter what propaganda wants you to believe; you are not just a number. Without your contribution, there will be no business. Always remember that your future is in your hands. Your voice matters, so don’t hold back and choose wisely!

References

Emory University. (n.d.) .Lack of manager training can lead to employee loss. https://ece.emory.edu/articles-news/lack-of-manager-training.php

Yohn, D.L. (2023, April 05). Engaged Employees Create Better Customer Experiences. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2023/04/engaged-employees-create-better-customer-experiences

Kelly, S. (2022, January 24). Emergency physicians’ level of burnout jumped last year. Healthcaredive. https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/burnout-emergency-physicians-rising/617554/