The cost-of-living crisis and the rise of inflation in the UK have pressured employers to think about increasing wages, but a new survey by HR software company Ciphr found that a work-life balance is more important to over 1,000 employees surveyed. Job security and job satisfaction followed closely behind a total rewards package. Now discover the other top 20 most important aspects of a job ranked by popularity.

The Top 20 Most Important Aspects of a Job Ranked By Popularity

1. Work-life balance (67%)
2. Pay and benefits – total rewards package (59%)
3. Job security (57%)
4. Job satisfaction (53%)
5. Healthy work environment (42%)
6. Recognition: feeling valued and appreciated (37%)
7. Feeling safe at work (36%)
8. Feeling included / belonging at work (33%)
9. Right to disconnect from work outside of usual working hours (26%)
10. Promotion opportunities / career progression (25%)
11. Job autonomy – trusted to do a job without being micromanaged (24%)
12. Clear goals and targets (23%)
13. Correct tools for the job (20%)
14. Job purpose and variety (20%)
15. Learning and development initiatives (18%)
16. Social connection (18%)
17. Team-oriented culture (17%)
18. Transparent leadership (15%)
19. Fewer meetings (9%)
20. Regular coaching and feedback (9%)

Differences in Gender

Women (70%) prioritise the importance of work-life balance more than men (65%), perhaps unsurprisingly as they tend to have the greater share of caring for family members.

The social aspects of work are also more important to female employees than male, especially the youngest demographic. For example, ‘feeling included/belonging at work’ 37% compared to 29%, and social connection 20% compared to 14%.

In contrast, 24% of male workers value the ‘correct tools for the job’ as the most important aspect of a job compared to 18% of female workers.

The other two notable aspects men value more are: fewer meetings (12% compared to 7%) and regular coaching and feedback (11% compared to 7%).

Differences according to age groups

Work-life balance is most important to 25-34 year olds (73%) and the least important to 18-24 year olds (51%). This is perhaps reflecting whether the age group has responsibility for care of young children or not. Pay & benefits and job security also follow this trend.

Job satisfaction and job purpose & variety are most important to the 55+ age group, and unsurprisingly they are least likely to rank job progression and learning & development as important.

Female employees aged 55+ are most likely to rank ‘feeling included/belonging at work’ as important, perhaps showing this demographic as feeling increasingly marginalised and pushed out of the workplace.

Unsurprisingly, ‘feeling safe at work’ is most important to young female workers aged 18-24.

The 18-24 year age group are most likely to rank a ‘team-orientated culture’ and ‘fewer meetings’ as important.

If you wish to view the full data including a breakdown by industry organisational role and remote employees vs workplace-based employees, click here.

Conclusion

Rarely is there one reason why employees value their job, it’s often a combination of factors. Whether you want to attract or retain staff, these factors need to be taken into consideration. Could you survey your staff to find out what’s most important to them?

Now you have discovered the top 10 most important aspects of a job, would you attract new hires in a different way? Perhaps when recruiting for staff, you could highlight your organisation’s ability to offer work-life balance, whether that’s hybrid working, remote working or flexible working.