‘Interesting’ day-to-day work is the most important factor to achieving job satisfaction for marketers, according to a new study by Robert Walters.
Seventy per cent of marketing professionals say an ‘interesting’ workload is ‘very important’ to job satisfaction, well ahead of pay and benefits (52 per cent) or status and responsibility (38 per cent). The vast majority (93 per cent) feel their input has a direct effect on the success of the business, the highest of any profession.
However, marketers tend to move jobs on a more regular basis than any other profession, with 65 per cent looking for a new role within three years of starting a job. This is considerably more than professionals working in IT (52 per cent), HR (42 per cent) or financial services (36 per cent).
The research also revealed that on average, marketers enjoy a better work-life balance than other professionals. While more than nine in 10 clock up at least 40 working hours per week, only a fifth put in over 50 hours a week – a relatively low figure compared to financial services (46 per cent), sales (45 per cent) and the legal sector (42 per cent).
Furthermore, only a minority in the profession regularly work overtime (17 per cent) or at weekends (19 per cent). By contrast, more than 40 per cent of those in sales, projects, HR and procurement and supply chain routinely work overtime over most days of the week.
Tim Gilbert, director at Robert Walters, said: “A strong marketing function is crucial to the wider success of the business, yet current market conditions mean that employers are competing more fiercely to recruit talented marketing professionals in the right numbers.
“While moving jobs to achieve career progression is viewed as commonplace in the industry, there are still steps that employers can take to attract and retain talented marketers. The survey tells us that exposure to interesting or challenging work, for instance, is vital to giving staff the chance to fulfil their ambitions.”
