Salaries and job security have overtaking effective leadership and "a good relationship with the boss" as motivational factors for British workers.
But Capital Incentives & Motivation’s fourth annual motivation survey, based on interviews with almost 2,000 people across the UK, found that "being treated fairly" and "having good relationships with colleagues" remained the top two workplace motivational factors.
Nevertheless, the report said that that the growing importance of salary as an important motivating factor was one of the most notable trends identified over the past year.
Remuneration rose from fifth place in the 2003 survey (very important to 47 per cent of participants) to third place this year (very important to 57 per cent).
Job security also emerges as a key motivator, cited by 52 per cent of participants, a rise of ten per cent on a year ago. Meanwhile good benefits rose 25 per cent to 47 per cent.
The proportion of companies offering reward schemes also increased significantly from 47 per cent to 68 per cent over the last year. But despite this, only a fifth of firms actually bother to ask their employees what types of benefits or rewards Would be most attractive to them.
Capital Incentives’s Managing Director, Graham Povey, said that the survey was a very revealing picture of rewards and motivation in business today.
"Pay and job security have jumped up in importance compared with recent years ahead of good leadership and the increase in companies offering incentives has risen dramatically," he said.
"With high levels of employment, it is becoming increasingly difficult to retain good employees. Clearly, many companies are realising that an effective motivation scheme is an excellent method of reducing staff turnover and retaining your best people."
