On retaining millennials

x All content on Research Live and in Impact magazine is editorially independent from sponsorship or other commercial arrangements.
Find out more about advertising and sponsorship.

Well-designed games intrinsically engage players because they satisfy four basic psychological needs: mastery, autonomy, relatedness and purpose – and we can learn a lot from gaming, when it comes to employee satisfaction and engagement.

There has been much debate on retaining millennials in the market research industry, but the crux of this discussion is not about improving the office ‘look’ or buying more beanbags – it’s about making the game better. Ergo, it’s about satisfying the four basic psychological needs to create an intrinsically engaged millennial workforce.

Ask yourself: when was the last time you offered any autonomy to your employees? Have you given them any time to work on a project the way they want to, so encouraging problem-solving skills, innovation and even failure (which they can learn from)?

When do your employees experience mastery – allowing them to grow in confidence and competency and, in turn, notch up the difficulty level on the challenges they face day to day at work? ...