Young Brits are not motivated by success in their career path but are more likely to career jump than the older generation, according to First Direct.
They asked 2,000 people what their definition of success is and discovered that we are indeed still a driven nation, and that, for the majority of us, it’s not all about money.
Only 14 per cent of young Brits aged 18-34 say that having a successful career is unimportant to them. Interestingly, this is still a prevalent statistic even in the older generations with 66 per cent of over 55’s admitting a successful career is still important to them.
According to the research, the height of our careers should be around our late 20’s/early 30’s with just 10 per cent of young Brits believing your 40’s is when we are the most successful within our careers.
Of those who are currently employed, just 34 per cent believe their current employer can provide them with what they need to ever be successful in their career. The reason for this? As you might have guessed, the most popular reason came down to money and unsatisfactory salaries and benefits (44 per cent).
However, 35 per cent of respondents revealed that a lack of clear development was the main reason their current employer could not aid their success and 31 per cent said their organisation doesn’t have good employee satisfaction.
So what do employers need to do to retain their staff and help them achieve their career goals? Although based on the above answers, you might think it is a pay increase, those employees who’ve said their current employee DOES offer what they need to be a success attribute this to their organisations good values (61 per cent) and job security/stability.
Job security is the highest measure of career success for Brits
Although the average Brit believes that a pay packet of around £44,000 is what they would expect at the height of their career, a hefty £18,000 over than national average (ONS Earnings and working hours), the majority of Brits actual define career success in much more humbling terms.
Half (52 per cent) of Brits believe having a stable and secure job is the most important measure of career success and 49 per cent define a successful career by simply having a career you love.
A third (36 per cent) believe success is working for an organisation with good values and 33 per cent employee satisfaction.
What does it take to have a successful career?
Worryingly, 14 per cent of brits believe you need to sacrifice relationships in order to have a successful career and 17 per cent believe it is your social life that takes the biggest hit. Nearly one in five (18 per cent) believe your hobbies and interests are those you sacrifice in order to have a successful career and nearly one in ten (9 per cent) believe your pride is often sacrificed to be a success in your career.
Further reading on young Brits
