More than a third (34%) of employees said that their salary and overall financial package motivated them most at work, according to new research by United Culture.
For its Work Remastered 2025 study, the culture, employee engagement and behavioural change specialist surveyed 1,500 employed adults across the UK, US and Western Europe.
A quarter (26%) of respondents said the people they work with motivated them most at work, followed by the recognition and appreciation they receive (25%).
Half (50%) said that their primary driver at work was the prospect of pay increases. Despite this, only 23% wanted promotion to a more senior or managerial role and 20% wanted to become a leader of the future.
Two-fifths (41%), said that tangible rewards and perks were the type of recognition that meant the most to people when it comes to making their work meaningful.
The findings also revealed that respect is the most important thing to employees in the workplace, chosen by 36% of office workers and rising to 43% in the US and 45% of those aged 18-24. This was followed by job security (31%) and compensation (29%).
Victoria Lewis-Stephens, managing director at United Culture, said: “A real challenge with the results this year relates to the widening gap between what organisations need and what employees are looking for. Organisations need to look at long-term strategic goals, continuous improvement and innovation, and their people.
“If organisations want people to take innovation and continuous improvement into account, they need to incorporate meaningful time into employees’ work schedules to focus on these things. They need reframing so that people understand how these factors create long-term stability and enable opportunities for promotion and salary increases. People will always want higher salaries, but even the highest pay won’t keep them at a job that’s too stressful and disengaging or where the culture is toxic. Leaders will have to understand where to invest to make the greatest difference to their teams.”
