Mersey Reporter & Southport Reporter

DRESSING up as a woman, pretending to be someone else to obtain information and looking after the boss's cat are among the strangest tasks that managers in the North West have persuaded their staff to do, while staff admire the motivational qualities of Paula Radcliffe and Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

These results from North West workers are among the findings from the Capital Incentives & Motivation annual Work Motivation Survey. This aims to find out what motivates people in the workplace, what rewards they receive and who would be their ideal person to work for. The survey is well established and its results have a significant impact on the way UK companies use motivation to retain staff.

When asked to select the qualities of their ideal female boss, UK workers want her to have the face of Catherine Zeta-Jones, the body of Halle Berry, the hair of Gwyneth Paltrow, the style of Kate Moss, the leadership and motivation qualities of Paula Radcliffe and the humour of Kathy Burke.

They want their ideal male boss to have the face of Brad Pitt, the body of Jonny Wilkinson, the hair of Ben Affleck, the style of David Beckham, leadership and motivation qualities of Stelios Haji-Ioannou and the humour of Peter Kay.

'Being fairly treated and valued' remains the most motivating factor for most people at work, with 84% of North West workers rating it highly, more than the national average of 78%. Other factors that were important include 'good relationship with colleagues' (71%) and 'good salary' (65%).

When asked which benefits they would choose for their ideal job package, employees in the North West chose flexible working hours (37%) and a car (37%) equally, followed by an extra week's leave (13%) and a pension plan (8%). Interestingly, cars are very important to employees in the North West with 37% choosing cars well above the national average of 24%.

The results of the survey also show that the proportion of workers whose companies offer incentive reward schemes increased significantly from 47% to 68%. However, only 22% of UK companies consult their employees about what type of reward they would like before finalising the scheme. When asked about the types of awards received, voucher schemes were most prevalent in the North West, followed by cash incentives.

When it comes to sticking to performance targets, employers in the North West are stricter than most with 62 % ensuring their employees stick to targets against the national average of 55%.

Graham Povey, Managing Director of Capital Incentives & Motivation observes, "With high levels of employment, it is becoming increasingly difficult to retain good employees. Clearly, many companies are realising that an effective motivation scheme is an excellent method of reducing staff turnover and retaining your best people.

2. What motivates you at work?
Based on % of respondents in the North West who voted each factor very important
1. Being treated fairly/valued 84%
2. Good relationships with colleagues 71%
3. Good current pay/salary 65%
4. Job security 63%
5. Good benefits 56%
6. Effective leadership 51%
7. Good location and environment 44%
8. Feeling important and involved 43%
9. Good relationship with boss 40%
10. Training 38%"

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