You might be thinking of other factors too, such as your work-life balance, opportunities for progression, and if you can work flexibly. But another issue that’s increasingly driving people’s choices is whether or not a business shares their morals and views. 

In fact, a new study by LinkedIn reveals that nearly three-fifths (58 per cent) of people in the UK wouldn’t work for a company that doesn’t share their values, and more than half wouldn’t do so even if they were offered a higher salary. Significantly, this view is particularly common among younger adults, as nine in ten Gen-Z and millennial workers said they would leave a job to work somewhere that’s a better fit with their values. Meanwhile, nearly three-fifths said compatibility with their values is a dealbreaker when choosing a role. 

This backs up the findings of a separate study by Amba, which showed that 58 per cent of employees are thinking of quitting their jobs over the next year because their employer has different values to them. Almost half of those polled said they believe their current employer doesn’t share their values, while nearly two-thirds are currently looking to work for a business that reflects their beliefs. 

So for business owners and employers who wants to both attract and retain top talent, what does this mean? 

Well, it means that they have to not only create a company culture and ethos that is attractive to potential candidates, but also actively promote it as part of the recruitment process. According to the LinkedIn study, job adverts that highlight values such as workplace culture, employee wellbeing and flexible working attract almost twice as many applications as they did two years ago. This suggests that talking up this element of the role they're hiring for could help to spread the net more widely and consider a much broader range of candidates.At the same time, actively seeking candidates who would be a good cultural fit for the business could increase the chances of holding on to them for longer. 

That can, in turn, help to spend far less on recruitment and training in the future, and potentially create future leaders for the business. Furthermore, creating, embracing and promoting company culture could help to boost the reputation as an employer, firmly establishing it as a great place to work and develop your career. 

Seismic events in recent years such as the pandemic have led to many of us, especially young people, asking searching questions about what we want from life. So while salary is still undeniably important to jobseekers, it is by no means the only key issue that they are looking at – and if you want to attract the best people, you have to respond accordingly. As Ngaire Moyes of LinkedIn says: “In today’s tight labour market, companies competing for talent need to not only be vocal about the values of their organisation, but truly live by them too.” 

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