Finance Sector has some of the UK’s most Satisfied Employees 

New Qualtrics Pulse satisfaction index benchmarks UK employee engagement

Almost three-quarters (74%) of UK workers in the finance sector are currently happy in their jobs – significantly more than the UK average of 66 per cent. That’s according to the Qualtrics Pulse – a new 2017 benchmark of how engaged today’s employees feel within their work environments, from Qualtrics, the leader in experience management software.

The Qualtrics Pulse surveyed 2,300 UK workers using the Qualtrics Employee Experience^TM management platform, measuring levels of employee engagement and job satisfaction according to gender, age, location, income and industry sector.

Insights from the Qualtrics Pulse include:

Workers in finance and travel love their jobs:

• Satisfaction levels are highest in the finance sector (74%) and travel & leisure industry (76%)
• This compares to 68% in retail, 67% in manufacturing and 66% in the public sector

Recognition outweighs pay, flexible working and frills:

• Satisfaction for pay/remuneration in the finance sector is high (63%), yet key driver analysis shows this isn’t the biggest driver of overall job satisfaction
• The main aspects with the greatest positive impact on job satisfaction are in need of some attention: engagement with business leaders (60%), better recognition (53%) and career progression (55%)

Ages 25-34 are the “golden years” for workplace satisfaction – but not in finance

• Job satisfaction peaks for UK workers between 25-34 years old, with 69% of people in this age group saying they are satisfied
• In contrast, job satisfaction in the finance sector is highest for those 18 to 24 years (81%), which compares to just 61% for those aged 25-34 years

Commenting on the launch of Qualtrics Pulse, Ben Harris, Financial Services Industry Director for Qualtrics said:

“Our analysis shows that those who work in the financial sector have higher overall job satisfaction levels than any other sector. Motivation levels are also some of the highest, with 45% saying that most or all of the time they look forward to going to work. In media and advertising this falls to only a third of workers and in retail it’s 37%.

“It’s easy to think that the long hours many people work in the financial sector will lead to unhappy workers and many employers fall into this trap, focusing on pay and working hours to alleviate the perceived frustration.

“Yet through Qualtrics’ Driver iQ we actually find the most important drivers of satisfaction are the human factors, like your promotion prospects or relationship with your manager. These are the factors that are both highly rated by employees and the most important influences on satisfaction.

“Financial services is a tough sector with long hours, but if people can see their hard work is rewarded and recognised those hours become much less of a factor.”

For more findings from the Qualtrics Pulse, visit http://qualtrics.com/uk/employee-pulse.