The landscape of career motivators for senior finance professionals has evolved significantly in recent years. While remuneration continues to be a primary factor for many individuals, the evolving professional environment demands a closer examination of other material elements shaping career decisions. This shift encourages employers to refine their Employee Value Proposition (EVP), and candidates to establish a balanced context for their strategic career considerations.

To gain a comprehensive understanding, we conducted a thorough analysis - gaining insights from our candidate network; leading a LinkedIn poll; and meticulously reviewing two of the most extensive and up-to-date market surveys.

SALARY PACKAGE

• This is one of the dominant influences for over 90% of candidates looking for another job.
• UK wage inflation rose by 7% in 2023 but possibly by as much as 10-12% for some management-level roles in finance. Combining this with the high demand for finance skills, it is not a surprise to see how candidates have been able to increase their income by moving to a new job.

HOME OR HYBRID WORKING PATTERNS

• 62% of respondents to our poll and email survey listed home or hybrid working patterns as one of the most important features of a job and a material influence in their career decisions.
• This figure will have increased significantly since 2019. We have no comparative data from that time but would expect that figure to have been less than 10%. Such a significant change impacts the balance of the full blend of motivators affecting many individuals.
• There are some variations between different sectors, but every employer should reflect that this issue is decisively important to their finance team. Improvements in a working pattern policy have the largest impact on attraction and retention after pay.

LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

• No surprise to see this in third place on the list. The opportunities to learn and progress within an organisation were a decisive influence in over 30% of respondents.
• We have seen some employers in our region attract candidates by raising their salaries (over £50k for NQ level) and by offering flexibility. We have also seen the retention rates of some of these employers drop, as less time is spent on supporting the longer-term development of their people. The danger lies in recruiting “for the job that needs to be done” and not “for the people who are going to build your future”.

SUPPORTIVE CULTURE

• This includes a number of headlines that include mindfulness, well-being, effective management, values, purpose, and “culture” overall.
• An industry survey of part-qualified accountants across the UK last year highlighted that this area was second (after pay) in the list of influences – affecting the career choices of 46% of the cohort. This supports the view that this is becoming an increasingly important aspect of an EVP to get right for the younger generations of workers.

EMPLOYER STABILITY

• 16% of our respondents listed employer stability as one of the dominant influences on them. Following a year that has seen more redundancies in our region, it is no surprise to see this number.
• Some of our team expect this number to grow slightly during 2024. The key message to employers is to not overlook the strength and security that you can offer. In the candidate brochure for one of our key clients in South Yorkshire, we display the line “We have thrived in positive and challenging economies. We have not made any redundancies or cutbacks – our way is to build for the future and support our people in good times and bad”.

There are so many other factors and marginal gains that are important to candidates and advisable for employers to consider – the fact that ESG, ED&I & technology-lead factors do not appear in the top priorities does not reduce their impact. They can each add to the attraction of an employer and are regularly influential in securing the right candidate. We have a list of over 50 factors that have influenced the career decisions of finance candidates over the last few years. Contact me if you would like a copy.