Work environment staff priority

Office design news from Morgan Lovell

Published on 23-01-2012

Britons value a good working environment and decent pay over working for a big brand, research has found.

Not taken in by the attraction of working for a well-known name, people instead value an employers’ ethics, the working environment and career development opportunities, according to research by YouGov.

The survey, carried out on behalf of Croner, a UK expert in workplace information, found just 11% think a great brand makes a good company.

It seems it’s where you work, not who you work for, that matters. When asked what makes a good employer, good working environment headed the list of importance, at 82%. Good culture and company values were important to 41%.

Meanwhile, decent pay and benefits were a factor for 81% of respondents, and career development 65%. It seems workers also value learning, with training and development opportunities featuring on the wish-list for 69%.

Croner’s managing director, Andy Hague, says: "Our survey does reveal that over 40% of adults believe that a great working culture and strong values make a good business, and these have been shown to provide a great source of competitive advantage in business."

Being able to maintain a decent work-life balance was also important to 76% of the survey’s participants. This proportion remains fairly constant across all the age groups surveyed, from 18 to 24-year-olds (75%), to people over 55 (75%).

Copyright Press Association 2012