Being thanked for good work and having plenty of free food and
drink are the prerequisites of a happy IT department.
Royal & SunAlliance's employee benefits portal youatwork.co.uk
asked staff in various industries about what kept them happy in
their jobs, and found that almost two-thirds of IT workers wanted
to be given a good pat on the back to keep them motivated.
This compared with 20% who wanted flexible working, 13% who wanted
job training, and 3% who were keen on being taken out for a drink
by the boss.
Staff away days, along with meaningless new job titles, were
unanimously rejected by IT workers despite finding modest support
in other industries.
Gerry Callaghan, chief executive officer of youatwork, said:
"High-value benefits have their place but many organisations don't
explain their value. This leaves staff to underplay their
worth."
"Too many employers are missing the easy tricks," he added. "In the
race for talent and better results, a tremendous amount of time and
money is committed to motivating and encouraging the workforce
when, in practice, straightforward rewards are often the most
effective."
When it came to specific perks with the job, IT workers lived up to
their image of living at the desk with 57% wanting unlimited free
snacks and soft drinks. The survey average for unlimited food was
only 44%.
Free fruit was also an option, with a whopping 70% of IT workers
going for this compared with an industry average of only 42%. IT
workers were also among the keenest on free lunchtime massages,
with 40% wanting their well-fed flesh kneaded..
And, to make sure they could cope with all that work in between the
eating, almost 40% of IT workers said they wanted stress
counselling, compared with an industry average of just over
20%.
Research organisation Survey Shop interviewed 803 workers across
the UK in April.