Group Of Mature College Students Collaborating On Project

Are you fostering  a meaningful  workplace?

Revealed: Women place more importance on meaningful work than men

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that different individuals are motivated by varying priorities when they look for a new role. While our earlier research found that many leaders’ priorities are disconnected to their workers’ values, Tiger Recruitment’s latest research of 1,000 employees across the UK has found that there’s a clear split between the priorities of female and male job seekers.

Female job seekers are less driven to achieve a higher salary and career progression

According to the research, only 56% of female job seekers look for a new role with a higher salary. In comparison, 62% of men looking for work actively seek out a pay rise. These differing priorities in men and women may impact the types of roles they enter into, as well as shed light on their differing salary negotiation approaches. In addition, 30% of female job seekers say they want to progress their career compared to 33% of men.

Women place greater importance on meaningful work

Despite women placing less importance on salary and career progression compared to men, the women surveyed place greater value on finding meaningful work – 33% vs 27% of men. In addition, female job seekers will choose to look for a more ethical company (11%, vs 9% of men). The data also suggests that women place higher priority on job satisfaction than men, with 48% likely to look for a new role if they’re unhappy in their current position. This is compared to just 38% of men who are willing to do the same.

Further breakdown by industry and age

The survey also found that both men and women working in the following industries were most likely to look for more meaningful work:

  • Real estate (59%)
  • Media/marketing (45%)
  • Legal (43%)

Millennials were also more likely to take a drop in salary (29%) compared to workers from other generations (25%), in order to pursue a more meaningful career change. This is reflective of the fact that, in comparison to other age groups, 37% of millennials are moving towards doing something more meaningful in comparison to the average UK worker (30%).

How to foster meaningful work in your workplace

This research proves that fostering a more meaningful workplace is necessary to engage with more members of the workforce.  By gauging your employees’ thoughts around their priorities at work and what they deem to be ‘meaningful’, you’ll stand in good stead to create a workplace that satisfies the desires of those who seek something more than a traditional career trajectory. This might be achieved through CSR involvement, volunteer days, further training opportunities, or by contributing to a mental health committee, to name a few.

If you’re looking for insights into engaging your workers, contact Tiger today.

ABOUT THE RESEARCH

Research was undertaken by YouGov between 18th – 24th July 2019. Total sample size was 1,000 adults. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of British business size.