83% Of Workers Say There’s One Thing More Motivating Than A Paycheck, Says Survey
While a good paycheck is nice, people are looking more and more for things that can't be quantified.
Prostock-studio | Shutterstock While some people find true meaning in the work they do, work is, at its core, a transactional experience. You give your time and skills and receive a paycheck and other benefits in return. For a long time, this was enough. Now, however, people are looking for more than just money from their jobs.
A recent study conducted by Netherlands-based recruiting company Randstad found that while collecting a fair paycheck that is commensurate with your skills and experience is important for most employees, there’s one thing that workers consider even more essential, and it’s becoming increasingly in-demand in the workplace.
Employees said a solid work-life balance was even more motivating than a paycheck.
Randstad conducted its annual Workmonitor survey in partnership with research and analysis firm Evalueserve. The Workmonitor survey has been a fixture at the company for the past 22 years, but this was the first time the workers surveyed shared that work-life balance was more motivating for them than their actual paycheck.
Of the 26,000 global employees who participated in the survey, 82% felt like pay was the most important factor when it came to a job, while 83% felt work-life balance mattered even more. While the margin is razor-thin, Randstad found this intriguing as it's the first time that something other than a paycheck has been the most motivating thing about work for survey participants.
The survey also found that employees were not afraid to ask for what they needed and wanted to be able to succeed at work. 45% worked to get better working conditions. Another 44% admitted to quitting a job because their workplace felt toxic to them. Randstad described this as being “motivated by personalization.”
Work-life balance has been considered elusive, but it has untold benefits.
For many, work-life balance is a difficult thing to come by. When you’re working full-time and trying to take care of your family and household, it can feel like there is no sense of balance between your job and everything else. Instead, it just all seems to run together.
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According to Mental Health America, over 25% of Americans say they are “super stressed,” which is “not balanced — or healthy.” Stress has a major impact on productivity. While you might think that it makes someone more efficient because it pushes them to work harder, the opposite is actually true. Additionally, stress suppresses the immune system and makes you more likely to suffer from chronic conditions or even to have a heart attack.
“While we all need a certain amount of stress to spur us on and help us perform at our best, the key to managing stress lies in that one magic word: balance,” Mental Health America said. “Not only is achieving a healthy work-life balance an attainable goal, but workers and businesses alike see the rewards. When workers are balanced and happy, they are more productive, take fewer sick days, and are more likely to stay in their jobs.”
Work-life balance is unique to each person.
There is no right or wrong way to find work-life balance. Abbey Sangmeister, MSEd, LPC, ACS, explained that everyone has their own version that works for them. “Many times people think balance is a 50/50 split, but that is not always the case,” she said. “For each person, the balance may look different and will shift during different seasons of their life. The important part of having balance is that the person does not feel that one area of life is draining and depleting the other.”
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This is encouraging because it’s not easy to find a healthy work-life balance, especially in today’s fast-paced world. So much of our lives is focused on work that it can be easy to lose sight of anything else. But people are well aware of the benefits of work-life balance, and they’re demanding it in increasing numbers.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
