A study conducted mainly among IFP members found there were multiple key motivations driving their career decisions - beyond their basic salary.
Researchers found that 77% of respondents considered good employer communications with staff and a strong management team as important factors for choosing their current role.

The researchers, who carried out the work for Sandringham Wood, compared the views of financial services staff and employers.

They said there were three particularly important motivations that staff valued that employers seemed to be underestimating.

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These were:

1. The employee benefits package (ranked as important by 62% of staff and 32% of employers)
2. Good employer communications with staff (staff 69%/employers 44%)
3. A well-defined training and development programme (staff 54%/employers 32%)

The survey looked at four key areas: pay and benefits; training and development; employer profile; and other - covering aspects such as commuting time and job title.

When asked which of these four was the most important overall, 'pay and benefits' was the highest-ranking answer for both staff (71%) and employers (56%). However, 43% of staff stated that an employer's profile was the second most important factor when making career decisions – but only 16% of employers thought the same.

The survey found employers were over-estimating the importance of job security and stability to today's candidates.

Some 80% of employers thought this was an important factor in keeping people in their current roles, as opposed to 54% of staff.

Good career prospects featured frequently throughout the results from both parties and 72% of employers thought this was a key reason that people move to a new company.

When looking at employees who had recently taken a new role, 71% specifically stated that an increase in salary was one of their main drivers in looking for a new role.

However, only 52% actually achieved this increase – and 33% had taken a new role with a decrease in salary.

The second highest motivator when looking for a new role was the desire for a new challenge (34% of candidates).