Why Do We Stay? Why Do We Go?

Below are the questions we asked regarding certain motivators and drivers for insurance professionals. Most of these responses are not surprising to us since we are talking to people every day about why they are motivated to explore other opportunities and what they desire in the way of professional satisfaction.

What is your primary driver of job satisfaction?
Opportunities for Growth—34%
Responsibility—23%
Culture—16%
Good Leader/Manager—12%
Pay—8%

What is your secondary driver of job satisfaction?
Pay—40%
Leadership/Management—16%

In our experience, the best people are motivated by opportunities to do more, know more, have more impact, or have more responsibility. It is also not surprising to us that pay is not the primary driver of job satisfaction. However, once a person’s primary driver of job satisfaction is covered, pay becomes very important.

The last time you changed employers, what motivated you to do so?
Better Opportunity—40%
Downsized—20%
Better Manager, Better Culture, and Better Money—each around 5%

This reinforces the responses from above. Far more people in their past have made job changes for opportunity rather than money.

What is the best retention tool of your current employer?
Salary & Benefits—34%
Culture/Atmosphere—20%
Opportunities for Growth—10%

Do you believe that changing employers is necessary to achieve your career goals?
Absolutely—25%
Probably—37%
Maybe Not—25%
No—13%

These last two questions are really revealing. The best retention tools are not very congruent with people’s primary motivators and most of those that responded to the survey feel that they will have to change companies to achieve their goals.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this information. Please take the opportunity to comment on this installment of our blog.