Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

CompensationEmployee engagementLatest NewsPay & benefitsIncentives

HR professionals feel most valued at work

by Rob Moss 11 Mar 2019
by Rob Moss 11 Mar 2019

People working in human resources, education and finance feel the most valued by their employers, according to research.

The poll of 1,002 employees working in UK organisations with more than 500 staff revealed that 12.0% felt very valued and 50.5% valued, while 28.7% believed they were unvalued and 8.8% very unvalued

Three-quarters (75.0%) of HR professionals said they feel valued or very valued, compared to 73.2% of staff in education, and 68.4% in finance.

Employee motivation

Employee recognition: good practice maunal 

Workforce happiness weakened by overwork and lack of development

Regionally, those working in London (42.6%) and the Northwest (41.1%) felt most unvalued, whereas those working in the home counties (72.7%) and the Midlands feel the most valued (67%).

The survey, conducted by Censuswide on behalf of benefits provider Xexec, also found that 35.5% would be unlikely to recommend their current employer to friends and that 46.3% of employees believe that employers aren’t interested in their physical and mental wellbeing.

More people believed their employer took an “active interest” in the mental wellbeing (46.9%) than their physical wellbeing (36.0%).

Jamie King, head of global reward at Xexec, said: “Engaging and motivating staff should be a priority for any business but particularly so for larger employers for whom employee retention is a major concern.

“What’s clear from these results is that big businesses need to do more to make their employees feel valued and recognised. While there’s a lot of interest in topics such as employee recognition and wellbeing, over a third of employers are falling short in this respect.”

Asked if their employer had a reward and recognition scheme, 58.9% said they did, 36.0% said they did not, and the remainder (5.1%) did not know.

Respondents were also asked the three most important things they look for in a new job. Unsurprisingly salary scored highest (74.1%), followed by work-life balance (43.7%) and location (41.8%).

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

King added: “While annual bonuses and financial rewards are, unsurprisingly, very popular among employees, what’s clear is that employers need to go above and beyond these to really instil loyalty and genuine engagement among their staff.

“Factors such as work-life balance, flexible working, employee benefits and making employees feel recognised are hugely cost effective when compared with financial rewards and, as we can see, are highly valued by employees.”

Rob Moss

Rob Moss is a business journalist with more than 25 years' experience. He has been editor of Personnel Today since 2010. He joined the publication in 2006 as online editor of the award-winning website. Rob specialises in labour market economics, gender diversity and family-friendly working. He has hosted hundreds of webinar and podcasts. Before writing about HR and employment he ran news and feature desks on publications serving the global optical and eyewear market, the UK electrical industry, and energy markets in Asia and the Middle East.

previous post
UK must act to boost skills or face ‘perfect storm’ of decline
next post
Public sector contracts more likely to go to employers that ‘improve society’

You may also like

Six ways to kickstart conversations about team stress...

23 May 2025

Fire and rehire: the relocation question

22 May 2025

Public sector workers gain pay rises of up...

22 May 2025

UK net migration slashed by half in one...

22 May 2025

How neuroscience can unlock employee recognition

22 May 2025

UK universities fret over fall in international students

22 May 2025

HSBC employees warned of office attendance link to...

22 May 2025

The Law Society: Navigating the new world of...

22 May 2025

Workplace stress: Why it’s time to rebrand resilience

22 May 2025

Restaurant tips should be included in holiday pay

21 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+