Londoners work the longest days in the UK with a third (33 percent) working on average over nine hours a day, new research by OnePoll on behalf of NGA Human Resources has found.
Despite this Londoners are the most demanding when it comes to non-monetary benefits, company culture and responsibility at work.
40 percent of Londoners believe it is reasonable for their employers to ask them to work beyond their contracted hours, which is the highest level of acceptance in the UK. However, Londoners are the highest for rating non-monetary benefits as important when looking at a job role; 32 percent compared to the national average of 23 percent. Salary is the least motivation for them despite London being the 11th most expensive city in the world; 76 percent compared with the national average of 80 percent.
Londoners are more likely to be motivated by the cultural fit of the company (30 percent, national average 21 percent) and travel opportunities (19percent, national average 13 percent) than they are by work/life balance (59 percent, national average 67 percent).
Ian Dowd, marketing director, NGA Human Resources UK, says:
“Our research highlights the differences between employees in London and those elsewhere in the country. Imagine a company with offices in London and Glasgow; they simply cannot have a uniform HR policy across the two.”
Londoners are almost the most confident about other job opportunities, with 35 percent feeling ‘very confident’ about finding a new job if they chose to leave their current one.
Dowd continues:
“Employers can’t get complacent. If a Londoner is not happy, they may well simply move on. This is a crucial consideration for HR departments, as it demonstrates the importance of getting things right – from the office culture to the extra benefits. It’s simple: employers need to invest in their employees if they want to keep them. Additionally, regional differences should not be ignored when looking to implement HR strategy across a company.”
Amie Filcher is an editorial assistant at HRreview.
