Over half of UK employees believe that company culture is more important than the amount they get paid for job satisfaction.
According to recent research by Glassdoor, a job and recruitment website, 57 per cent of UK employees would regard company culture as a bigger contributor towards job satisfaction than their salary.
The survey suggests that employees are gravitating towards prioritising company culture and the company’s mission statement over other attributes a company holds..
This research continued by revealing that three quarters of UK employees (75 per cent) would consider a company’s culture before applying for a job. Furthermore, around two thirds (63 per cent) of UK workers say their company’s culture is one of the main reasons for staying in their job. Also 70 per cent would look for a job elsewhere if the culture of their company deteriorated.
However, there is evidently a generational divide towards the importance of company culture. Whilst only half (52 per cent) of employees over the age of 55 prioritise culture over salary, this rises to 66 per cent when looking at the responses of millennials.
Along with the rise of company culture, the mission of a company is becoming increasingly important to employees.
Almost 90 per cent (89 per cent) of UK workers believe it is important for an employer to have a clear mission and purpose with 77 percent considering a company’s mission before applying for a job.
Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor, said:
A common misconception among many employers today is that pay and work-life balance are among the top factors driving employee satisfaction. Instead, employers looking to boost recruiting and retention efforts should prioritise building strong company culture and value systems, amplifying the quality and visibility of their senior leadership teams and offering clear, exciting career opportunities to employees.
A market research firm, the Harris Poll, on behalf of Glassdoor, interviewed 1,041 employees in the UK in June 2019 in order to obtain these results.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
