Honestly, I'm not too surprised by the results of the study. For me personally, my top 3 motivators to work for a specific company would be, in no particular order, working with great people, having exciting and challenging work, and be recognized/valued & respected. As adults, given that we don't have WFH, we're going to be near our coworkers for a vast majority of our day. It would be horrible to come into work and dislike the people around you. Working with people who don't help you become a better person or are friendly could impact your own performance, as for example, I wouldn't want to come into such a place. Having exciting and challenging work is also important for me because I personally need stimulation to have motivation. When you do the same thing over and over again with no changes, you face a burnout. Working in a place like that would definitely result in me probably looking for another opportunity elsewhere. Finally, I think that it is also important to be recognized, valued, and respected. I've had it happen before where I was complimented on how I handled things by other individuals involved in the project, but was heavily criticized by my manager because it was not the way that they would have done it. That interaction had further solidified to me that I do not want to work in an environment like that, one where the person who you report to does not uplift you or recognize the hard work you put in to pull things off the best that you can that were out of your area of expertise, while other more senior members of the team are saying the opposite and are thankful and impressed with your work.
I personally believed that compensation was a larger part of why people work. It was both comforting and motivating to see that people work to make a difference, to help others, and to feel fulfilled. This is the exact cause of the human mission. One must live for others, to give themselves for others. Whether that be in working to provide for another, or that by one's work, someone else is helped. In the modern age, work has taken on a veil of tiresome hours, stress, and many difficulties. But at the core of the issue, work is the area in which a human exerts effort to better themselves and others. It is the perfect demonstration of ethic, morals, and community.
I saw the top three as being fitting but I am surprised by a few of the results, especially doing meaningful work as the last of the bunch and having a great manager being higher than I expected. I am happy that most individuals want to work to do things they genuinely are excited by. I was honestly; surprised pay wasn't higher up. Personally, I agree that I pursued biomedical engineering because I find the research aspect of it exciting. I always wanted to be there making things happen, making the impossible possible, I want to be on the other side of the story, not just the girl watching and reading these wonderful advancements. Similarly I too want to grow my career and work my way up to higher positions, as a natural leader, one that loves guiding teams and supporting my peers, I want to work myself up to such a position in industry too. I have met such inspiring and passionate people at career fairs and employer events, I really see myself in such communities of likeminded individuals.
Like many others, I’m not really surprised by these results. I think most people value enjoying their work and the people around them more than we might initially expect. That said, I would’ve thought career growth and development would be the top factor, just not by a huge margin. At the end of the day, working with the people you surround yourself with will have the biggest impact on your life and your motivation at work. Even if growth opportunities are there, it’s a lot harder to stay engaged if the environment or team isn’t strong.
Do you think people would still prioritize growth if they were in a bad work environment, or would team and culture always come first?
I was at first surprised how low meaningful work was in the list then thought about it. If your job has poor pay with a bad work environment and boring work, even if the work helps others, you are likely to burn out and not want to continue on that career path. As engineers, I believe we all want work that is exciting and challenging, it is likely one of the main things we want out of a job.
As for myself, I am looking for a job where I find the work interesting, with amicable coworkers, and a salary that matches my effort.
After looking at the result from Dr. Simon's study, I find it very interesting that it challenges the common belief that pay is the main reason for staying at a job. While fair pay is a very important thing, it is ranked lower than other factors like exciting and challenging work, career growth and development, and working with great people. This suggest that employee look and are more motivated by intrinsic factors like engagement, personal growth and work place relationships rather than just a paycheck.
These result align closely to my expectation even though it may come as a surprise that money isn't a little bit higher. This just highlights that long term job satisfaction is more valuable and can lead to a better overall work experience. People want to feel challenged, supported, and connect to their role.
My personal motivations closely align with the top response of the study as I like to be challenged and working with great people to help inspire me to do my best work. I have worked in a toxic workplace and it is one of the worst feeling ever and make you want to quit or feel way less motivated. But having a great workplace helps to give you more a sense of fulfillment and motivation.
Overall the study help to reinforce the importance of creating a great work environment. Though fair compensation is very important, a great ork environment is just as important to ensure longevity within a company.
From looking at the results listed, they don't surprise me honestly. I think when someone thinks of their ideal or "dream" job, the reason is that it is both excited and challenging for them to do for most of their adult careers. Everything below the results sort of follows suite in that pursuit. Being able to be fulfilled at your place of work to then be able to experience life outside of it with a fair pay is what a lot of people strive for. That is what motivates me at least, to be able to be fulfilled at a job that I am proud of and then having money to experience life with my wife and family.