I've been thinking about a pattern I keep seeing in organisations. Managers move through their days with what looks like efficiency – check-ins happen, meetings conclude, appreciation gets expressed. Yet something fundamental is missing, and their teams feel it.
It shows up in the small moments. The check-in that feels transactional rather than genuine. The appreciation that sounds rehearsed. The conversation that gets rushed because there's always another meeting. These aren't just awkward interactions – they're signals that tell people whether or not they matter.
The research confirms what many of us suspect. Only 39% of employees feel that someone at work genuinely cares about them as a person. Thirty per cent report feeling completely invisible. And here's what catches my attention: managers account for 70% of the variance in employee engagement. Not company culture. Not perks. Not the programmes HR rolls out. You.
Most managers I know are drowning in work. They're time-poor, managing people and huge programs while also trying to manage their own careers (including fears and feelings) and keep their personal life on track. They lack communication support, and so their interactions become efficient. Technology replaces genuine connection. Team members hear what you need from them, not how much you value them.
The problem isn't intent. I don't know any manager who deliberately sets out to make their people feel insignificant. The problem is approach. Those who feel they can talk to their managers about anything are 52% more likely to be engaged, yet most management communication creates distance rather than dialogue.
There's interesting research around three practices that help people feel they matter: noticing, affirming, and needing. Noticing means people feel genuinely seen and understood. Affirming shows how their unique contributions create impact. Needing demonstrates they're indispensable to what you're trying to achieve together.
None of these require new initiatives or programmes. All happen through the interactions you're already having – if you shift how you approach them.
Consider what changes when you systematise genuine check-ins. Not performance reviews dressed up as conversations, but actual conversations where you ask how someone is and then wait for the answer. When someone seems disengaged, what shifts when you approach with curiosity rather than assumptions? When you improve interaction quality over quantity – five minutes of full attention versus thirty minutes of distracted presence?
I've noticed something else: most managers never ask people directly how they prefer recognition. Some want public praise. Others find it excruciating. Without asking, you're guessing, and guessing wrong damages rather than strengthens the connection.
There's a sequence that matters too. People need to feel noticed and affirmed before you emphasise how much you need them in front of others. Feeling valued precedes high performance, not the other way round.
Here's what strikes me as I work with managers on this challenge: most already know this. They understand that communication matters and they want their teams to feel valued.
The gap isn't knowledge. It's capacity. And it's support.
When I started My Comms Coach, it was because I kept seeing the same pattern. Managers with good intentions, stretched impossibly thin, without the communication support that could help them bridge the gap between how they want to show up and how they actually do. The organisations with dedicated communications teams have support for their executives – but the 200,000-plus managers across Australia largely don't.
This is why we're building something different. Not another course to add to your workload. Not generic templates that sound nothing like you. But AI-powered coaching that helps you understand your natural communication style, shows you how your team actually experiences your communication, and gives you specific, practical strategies that fit your reality.
Because the mattering crisis is real. So is the cost – both human and financial. Each employee who leaves because they don't feel valued costs upwards of $50,000 to replace, and that's just the direct costs. The real cost includes lost momentum, damaged morale, and the corrosion of trust that happens when good people keep walking out the door.
You don't need C-suite authority to create a culture where people matter. You need better communication tools and the willingness to use them consistently.
Every interaction either reinforces or erodes someone's sense of significance. Every email. Every meeting. Every casual hallway conversation. The aggregate effect of these moments shapes whether people feel they matter or feel invisible.
The mattering crisis is real, but so is your power to address it. Start with one person. One genuine check-in. One moment of truly noticing. Your team will feel the difference, and you'll see it in their engagement – not because you've launched a new programme, but because you've changed how you show up in the interactions that were already happening.
And if you need support in making that shift? That's exactly what we're here for, so join the waitlist now.