Industry Expert’s 4 Non-Negotiables for Engaging Your People

1. The Power of “Togetherness”

At Docebo, “togetherness” isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a guiding principle. This means actively creating opportunities for connection and collaboration that transcend team boundaries.

2. Cultivating Informal Connections and Dialogue

Innovation thrives on communication, and communication flourishes when people feel comfortable interacting. We actively create occasions for colleagues from different teams to meet and connect.

3. Recognising and Celebrating Contributions (Beyond the Monetary)

We strive to create a culture where impact, both big and small, is recognised and celebrated in meaningful ways. This can take various forms, from formal peer-to-peer recognition – to highlighting team successes in our Slack channels and individual efforts.

4. Fostering Intrinsic Motivation

Ultimately, we aim to cultivate an environment where our team members are intrinsically motivated. By empowering our colleagues, providing meaningful and exciting work, and supporting their professional journeys, we tap into that intrinsic drive that fuels innovation and commitment.

Marco Vadori
Global Employee Experience & Culture Manager

Lauren Tropeano
Chief People Officer

1. Trust and Transparency (We’re open)

We commit to clear, honest, and timely communication and the delivery of feedback. Pace-Setters always know where they stand, how they’re contributing and the impact they’re making.

2. Meaningful Growth (We think differently)

We invest in personal and professional growth through challenging work, Development Manager coaching, and Continued Professional Development. Everyone at Pace has the opportunity (and expectation) to stretch, learn, and innovate.

3. Ownership and Impact (We own it)

We back our people to lead and deliver value, and we recognise them when they do. There’s always a lot to do and we encourage our team to get involved with internal initiatives as well as customer-focussed ones.

4. Belonging and Celebration (We have fun)

We commit to at least four company-wide events every year, including an annual retreat to celebrate our birthday! We create space for Pace-Setters to be themselves, connect openly and celebrate together.

Gail Atkins
Director of People

1 . Time Off!

Recruitment is a pressurised and often stressful environment, so most reward incentives are linked to the ability to earn more time out to do things we love doing, such as spending more time with family.

2. Getting people together

In today’s hybrid world, it’s important to bring our people together for face-to-face events to enhance our culture, share important news and celebrate our group or individual achievements as a collective.

3. Inclusive, fair and equitable

This is probably my number 1 area. ALL reward and engagement incentives MUST be equally available to all employees and fairness to everyone is fundamental.

4. Rewarding the right behaviours

Alignment with our culture and values. So often, I’ve seen engagement or reward strategies that don’t align with what the company is trying to achieve and what we have agreed our values are. These things must be taken into account when putting any strategies together and woven through all that we do.

1. Creating psychological safety

Creating an environment where our people feel safe to speak up, take risks, and be themselves without the fear of judgement or punishment.

2. Growth & Development

Having clear opportunities to learn, grow and advance both personally and professionally. Giving people personalised learning that is meaningful to them for upskilling in the areas they need the most.

3. Purpose and Connection

Making sure everyone knows the company mission and the plan of how we will achieve it together. Having connected goals that really move the dial and showcase their contribution to the bigger picture.

4. Trust and transparency

This is SO important! We must have open communication channels, be honest at every level, and be consistent in our communication and actions.

1. Personalisation

Not one size fits all models. Personal connection matters, and we all have different learning styles, backgrounds, passions etc.

2. Know your audience

Don’t just jump in with what you think is best, understand what’ll engage them.

3. Consistency

Don’t hit it all at once and then go quiet. Build the foundation to make culture a habit.

4. Clarity

Keep the vision and the ‘why’ clear. Messaging doesn’t need to be complex, and generally, people want to know the why or ‘what’s in it for me’.

1. Be human

As a leader, if you can show your people your human side, you will allow them to show you theirs, which leads to a culture of trust and authentic relationships.

2. Support well-being

From first hand experience I know that if your job makes you mentally unwell you will quit. I never want my people to experience what I went through in my twenties, so I Strive to support their holistic well-being in every way I can as a leader.

3. Radical Candour

My 3rd tip is about giving and receiving feedback, in the words of Kim Scott, we must ‘care personally and challenge directly’. I have pretty high standards of execution and want my people to have the same. Giving effective feedback is so important to achieving the standards we want, but doing it poorly can completely disengage team members, so I try my best to follow the radical candour approach.

4. Have fun!

Ultimately, life is too short not to be having fun and finding joy when we’re at work. I want to create a culture where even in the most stressful crisis management situations, we can still have a smile on our faces and find ways of laughing as a team. After all, work is just work!

1. Compensation and benefits

Fair and competitive pay, along with meaningful benefits, are foundational to attracting and retaining engaged employees.

2. Environment, manager, tools and resources

A supportive workplace, effective leadership, and access to the right tools empower employees to perform at their best.

3. Opportunities for growth and learning

Continuous learning and clear career development paths drive motivation and long-term commitment.

4. Value, purpose and meaning

Employees thrive when they feel their work matters and aligns with a greater mission or personal values.

1. Clarity

Provide teams with a clear direction and framework for success. Then allow them the autonomy to deliver on their roles successfully!

2. Communicate

Foster a culture of feedback, experimentation and 1% improvements.

3. Empathy

Kindness is key and treat others how you would like to be treated/managed yourself.

4. Transparency

Default to transparency (the good & the bad)!

1. Relatable gifts

I always love a mini succulent or plant if there is a link

2. Values

Inspiring heart-centred messaging from leaders on the “why”

3. Personal Touch

Targeted messaging for segmented employee populations

4. Inclusivity

Targeted messaging for segmented employee populations