When I was young, one of my favourite activities was going to the supermarket with my parents. They would always bring along a shopping list, and charge me with retrieving a few items – usually salt, cheese, cookies or something similarly mundane. Sometimes, I’d get a snack of my choice as well. There were many reasons I enjoyed grocery shopping so much – aforementioned snack aside, there was also the thrill of leaving the house (and not to go to school), but more importantly, a part of me also knew that what I threw into the shopping trolley would end up being a part of my (then very small) life in one way or another.
In a world where video game consumption is at an all time high, sometimes even at the expense of what we might deem important milestones for life, we should ask ourselves what keeps people coming back to games.
Life can feel like a bit of struggle sometimes – employee engagement in Singapore is under the global average, with a major pain point being employees not feeling like their feedback matters. This has also resulted in increased churn, where a company has to replace around a third of its workforce every two years, which is a significant cost to the business.
On the other hand, there are a variety of reasons why people continue to play video games, but it all comes down to one key feature – that their actions matter. They could be advancing the storyline to the next cutscene, levelling their character or going on side adventures, but regardless of what they do, their actions have influenced the narrative in one way or another.
Similarly, for employees to stay engaged, they need to feel like their actions serve some important purpose or influence their experience.
People like their voices to be heard, and if their ideas and suggestions are constantly walled off by managers unwilling to listen, they may reach a point where they stop caring about their jobs. No matter how ridiculous or unrealistic their ideas may be, just the act of listening can go a long way in maintaining a successful and healthy business culture.
