A study has revealed that employees in the UK consider their work colleagues to be their main source of motivation and job satisfaction.

A survey by training course comparison site FindCourses surveyed over 3000 employees in five countries. The results showed that 80% of UK employees listed their colleagues as their greatest source of motivation at work.

UK respondents voted for their colleagues in much higher levels than in other countries. Elsewhere in Europe, salary was seen as the most important source of motivation at work. 42 percent of employees in Sweden and 75 percent in Germany were most likely to list their salary as their most important source of motivation.

The figure is also a large increase compared to a similar survey carried out last year – in the previous survey, only 33% of voters chose their colleagues as their main source of motivation. The results suggest that British workers are increasingly relying on their colleagues for support as the recession reduces the likelihood of pay increases.

Karen Heslop, Senior Recruitment Consultant at DLC Recruitment, said “it’s great to see that people in the UK see their co-workers as a source of motivation at work, and as a key contributor to their job satisfaction. It’s true that the people we work with can have a huge impact on both work performance and job satisfaction, so it’s encouraging to see that in these difficult times people are finding support from their work colleagues.”