The Money or the Honey?

I’m a big believer in creating roles and a working environment that ticks all the boxes for our staff at Consult – not just dropping the money into their bank accounts once a month. Other employers are on board with this too… non-cash benefits and a focus on wellness make it a lot easier to balance life with work. 

But here’s the news: all of that – quality coffee, flexible working, free electric scooter charging – all of it takes a back seat to money.

In our latest edition of our accounting and finance salary guide, ‘What the Buck!’, we asked employees what factors they considered the most important when considering a new role. We then compared those to what measures companies are taking to attract and retain staff.

While the top three factors were the same for both employees and companies, the order of importance to employees and companies was reversed. 86% of companies’ main focus to attract and retain staff was flexible working, followed by creating a positive team environment (58%) and a good salary (55%).

However, on the flip side, 87% of employees felt a good salary was the most important reason to consider a new role, closely followed by a positive team environment (83%), with 70% considering flexible working.

So my advice: keep developing health and wellness non-cash benefits that create workplaces people love, but don’t underestimate the importance of pay for employees as well. 

And how much more money do people need to stay or move I hear you ask? Well it’s not as much as you might think…

• 18% of employees surveyed said they would move for less than $5,000
• 23% said between $5,000 and $10,000 
• 24% said between $10,000 and $15,000

The competition for attracting but more importantly retaining top performers is fierce! It starts with understanding your employees – their drivers, their motivations, their career aspirations and embedding a culture and environment for them to thrive within. Everyone prefers to work in good environments that are fun. However, good pay is still crucial for the attraction and long-term retention of staff. 

**These juicy morsels of market intelligence are some of the many treats awaiting you in ‘What The Buck!’ – the (unofficial and slightly cheeky) most informative, fun and interesting salary guide for the best hiring managers in the accounting and finance industry.