Conducted by gender complementarity platform Equilibre and supported by the economy ministry, almost all 382 respondents cited the two features as being key for workplace motivation.

The happiest employees, meanwhile, were those who had the best interactions with their co-workers and who didn’t have children.

“The study assumes that the fact that you need to satisfy two competing demands: parent and employee, is causing stress on people. This may be an explanation for the positive correlation of not having kids and happiness at work,” Equilibre wrote in its report summary.

These were the overall findings but what respondents said motivated them varied depending on their age. The 21-29-year-olds cited salary as the key carrot, for 30-39-year-olds it was respect between team members, 40-49-year-olds valued flexible working hours and over 50s were motivated by a company whose values were aligned with their own.

Chart: Equilibre

By gender, on the whole women were motivated when they had a career that intellectually challenged them. For men, the salary was the main motivator.

Equilibre concluded the study was an important “step to better understand motivating factors and help minimise misconceptions of what employees want at work,” though more in-depth studies need to be carried out.

“The question the study does not answer is how companies can help employees better communicate with each other and how one can teach respect. Is this something that can be done on the company level or is it a field that has been long engrained in all of us since our early school years and the values we learn at home?” Equilibre wrote.

In order to dig deeper, Equilibre will host a new creathon event on the topic of respect at work. It also proposed conducting a study into respect in schools to better understand when the craving for respect starts.