Work/life balance now more sought after

Nearly a third of Brits rate a good balance between work and home life as the single most important factor in leading a successful life, with only 10% placing a premium on salary, according to new research released today.

The results represent a significant evolution from 10 years ago, when one in four Brits listed salary as the key indicator of success.

According to the research, in 2014 only 1.8% of this demographic consider owning an expensive car to be a signal of success, compared to 20% of their peers in 1989.

One in three people go further, stating that they do not believe that any ‘status symbols’ denote success and an additional 27% reporting that they do not seek to evaluate their own success or that of others – a clear departure from the professionally ambitious, materially-focused 1980s.

In a further move away from 80’s culture, the notion of power dressing was also rejected by 65%, with eight in ten stating that the way someone dresses could never denote success – a clear victory for the dressed down generation of Mark Zuckerberg-style moguls.

The findings informed Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts’ coloured paper, ‘Evaluating success: placing a value on values’, released today and outlining what constitutes success for the Millennial, post-yuppie generation.

Sleep (72%), quality time with friends and family (42%) and regular exercise and healthy food (38%) instead form the top three factors which enable Brits to stay on top of their game.

Flexible working hours and remote working are also crucial to professional success for 69% of us, with seven in ten rejecting any correlation between working longer hours and getting ahead at work and 63% believing that they could complete their work in four days rather than five.