Salary 'not as important' as job satisfaction

10:23am Monday 23rd June 2008

WORK-life balance and job satisfaction are more important than money, employees have said.

Research has found 57 per cent of workers have stayed in their current job because the firm has a "strong interest" in what they do.

About 56 per cent stay because they have a good relationship with colleagues and 48 said they appreciate their work/life balance.

Fewer than half of those who took part in the fifth annual City and Guilds Happiness Index said they remained in a job for the salary.

The index found the happiest worker profile was of a female beauty therapist, over 60, who lives in the north east of England. The unhappiest worker was a male builder aged between 40 and 49 from Northern Ireland.

The survey said bosses are "out of touch" with workers' needs, revealing that while 43 per cent of managers offer bonuses, only one in five offer flexible working and just one in ten allow staff to work from home.

"With a clear impact on the bottom line, improving workplace happiness is rising up the business agenda and employers cannot afford to ignore it," said Bob Coates, managing director of City and Guilds.

"Companies can no longer rely on those established reward and recognition policies that fail to resonate with employees and do little to combat stress levels in the workplace. By taking such a blinkered approach, they risk the rise of an unmotivated and unproductive workforce, and even potentially losing their staff to competitors."

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