ACHIEVING a better work-life balance is more important when changing jobs than salary and promotion, according to new research.

Recruitment specialist Robert Half UK found that nearly 30 per cent of HR directors identified it as the primary driver for people to switch jobs.

The findings prove a significant shift in employee behaviour compared to just four years ago.

In 2011, HR directors deemed salary as the biggest push, with 38 per cent in London and 28 per cent across the south of England.

Phil Sheridan, UK managing director of Robert Half, said: “As businesses look to grow, retaining top performers should be on the forefront of the agenda. Employers should regularly benchmark the remuneration and benefits offered to existing staff to ensure they are competitive alongside firms in similar industries and regions. For the majority of employees a strong work life balance is an important aspect of their overall remuneration package, however, employers should make an effort to check in with key players to seek out their individual motivations.”

The second most common reason for jobs changes this year was career advancement at 29 per cent, while salary, bonus and benefits was the third most common at 27 per cent.

Eleven per cent seek a better location in their job while six per cent want a better corporate culture.

Melissa Carr, senior lecturer of leadership development at Bournemouth University, specialises in occupational psychology.

"If you look at the generational difference, Generation Y have very different expectations from their job than my generation, Generation X," she said. "The work-life balance is a lot more important. We worked longer hours but this generation doesn't see the world in that type of way. They do tend to be more team-orientated and I admire that. There is a lot of research which supports that. The last six to seven years have looked at generational differences and work-life balance comes out on top.

"A lot of it is probably to do with the economy," she added. "Four years ago the focus was on the recession. People were a lot more salary-conscious. now we're coming out of that people are looking for more stability in jobs. The drive around salary and pay isn't at the forefront.

"It's the hours that people are expected to work; it's not unusual to start work at 8am and be there at 7pm. People are under an incredible amount of stress and pressure.

"If you tell people 'we're in a recession' then people will think I'm going to lose my job and going to be hard-up' but if you start thinking it's getting better, people feel more confident and feel more secure and move away from those intrinsic motivations, such as salary, and move toward extrinsic motivations, such as location and having a life outside of working hours."

Lucy Fowler-Tutt, mechanical engineering consultant at Electus Recruitment Solutions, based in Richmond Hill, said: "Progression opportunities and salary increases are the main driver for our candidates. Engineering candidates particularly move for bonuses.

"One thing we have found change over the last year is that people are quite happy to travel further these days. It used to be that they'd only be willing to travel so many miles from their home but now they will be willing to drive sometimes up to an hour and a half. People are willing to go where the work is whereas they were less inclined to do that before."

"Most people think they should move to get better opportunities but it doesn't always work out like that.

"Bournemouth is surprisingly expensive but because people want to be paid more, they find it quite difficult to move here to work because rents etc are quite expensive."