What motivates your staff?

Study shows that UK employees are most motivated by their colleagues. There is however a large discrepancy from country-to-country concerning what contributes to motivation in the workplace in Europe.

Findcourses.co.uk is always interested in the opinions of our users, and this month we wanted to gain a better understanding of what factors contribute to motivation and job satisfaction. Throughout the month of May, the FindCourses Global Group asked users in the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Finland – ‘What is the largest contributor to job motivation and satisfaction?’ Interestingly, the results from the five countries are quite varied, showing that there is a large discrepancy from country-to-country concerning what contributes to motivation.

We had an outpouring of responses, with nearly 3000 votes spanning these five countries. In the UK, around 80% of respondents found colleagues to be the best source of work motivation. This is insightful to learn as only 33% percent of voters had a similar answer in the 2010 poll. The second most popular motivator for users was salary – gaining 15% of the votes. Other responses such as bosses/managers, recognition & reward, and personal growth/training gained an insignificant number of votes totalling a combined 5%.

What does this research mean for UK managers? 

This means that hiring and recruiting the right individuals is an important contributor to employee motivation and job satisfaction. Not surprisingly, the people around us affect us greatly, and even inspire us to push ourselves to reach new levels. As such, managers may find themselves having to spend more time analysing group dynamics prior to the recruitment and hiring process. “I believe it is important for managers to understand and appreciate that motivation comes in different forms, at different stages in people’s careers. Finding a balance for individuals, while taking into account the needs of the group is a difficult but important task for managers,” says Kate Butterworth, Site Manager at Findcourses.co.uk.

Other categories of respondents, such as individuals specifically seeking MBA programmes on the global MBA site (www.SearchMBA.com), found personal growth/training to be the most important work motivator; perhaps suggesting that life-long learning and professional development affects job satisfaction in future business managers. Both Swedish and German voters claimed salary to be the biggest motivated for their job satisfaction (42% in Sweden, 76% in Germany). Finnish respondents were divided evenly across the board with 31% voting for colleague relationships, 28% for salary, and 16% for training/personal development. Finally, the Danish respondents agreed with UK voters that co-workers largely contributed to overall job motivation and satisfaction.

We at Findcourses.co.uk find that increasing job satisfaction, regardless of where it originates, enables employees to achieve both personal and professional goals while motivating staff for continued success. Understanding workplace motivation is advantageous for both employee happiness/well being and strategic organisational goals.

22^nd June, 2011
Press Release issued by:
Leah Schothorst, Communication Assistant
 leah.schothorst@findcourses.co.uk
+44 (0)203 318 6283