Beyond Perks and Paychecks: What Today’s Employees Really Stay For

Free lunches. Hybrid schedules. Wellness apps. For all the buzz around perks, one truth has become increasingly clear: people don’t stay because of benefits. They stay because of belonging.

In today’s world of work, what employees truly crave is not just better conditions – it’s better connections.

According to a recent McKinsey report (2023), one of the top reasons employees leave isn’t lack of pay or flexibility – it’s a lack of social and emotional support at work. People want to feel:

👀 Seen 
👂 Heard 
🤝 Supported by their teams and direct managers

And when they don’t? They disengage – and eventually, they leave.

✨ Engagement Isn’t a Survey – It’s a Daily Experience

Most organisations measure engagement once or twice a year. But for employees, engagement isn’t a number – it’s a feeling they carry into every meeting, every project, every interaction.

So, what really makes people feel engaged?

💬 Opportunities to learn and grow 
👥 A strong sense of team and shared purpose
💡 Leadership that listens and responds

These are cultural, relational factors – not transactional ones. And they require intentional design.

✨ Why Learning Culture Is Central to Retention

Culture isn’t built on slogans – it’s built through shared experiences. One of the most powerful ways to strengthen culture is to create meaningful moments where people come together to learn, reflect, and grow.

✨ Team learning experiences where everyone contributes 
✨ Conversations that bridge departments and break silos 
✨ Tools that encourage reflection, feedback, and behavioral change

When organisations invest in learning as a shared journey, employees begin to feel:

✅ That their voice matters 
✅ That they can grow without needing to leave
✅ That they’re part of something bigger

✨ The Real ROI of Engagement

Companies with high employee engagement outperform their peers by 23% in profitability (Gallup, 2023). But here’s the nuance: it’s not just about being happy at work. It’s about being invested, included, and inspired.

And this doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when learning is experiential, when teamwork is meaningful, and when people feel they’re growing with their peers – not in isolation.

At Miki Island, we believe engagement isn’t a product to sell – it’s a feeling to cultivate. Through meaningful, play-based team experiences, we help HR and L&D leaders create the kinds of learning moments that people actually remember – and behaviors that actually stick.

Because when people feel connected, they stay. And when teams grow together, organisations thrive.

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Ready to take the next step?

👉 Miki Island is a team development solution co-designed with a research partner and perfect for team building, team offsites, team coaching journeys, leadership programs or culture transformation! The Miki Island serious game creates a safe experience for leaders and teams to practice the key behaviours of high performance, all elevated with behavioural analytics and team assessment! 

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