Over 70% of people would prefer to be offered developmental opportunities than a pay rise, research by Cubiks has found.

Cubiks, the assessment and development consultancy, surveyed over 500 people from 33 countries, asking for opinions on development and talent management. Among those surveyed, only 50% considered themselves responsible for their own development.

The results illustrate that opportunities for employees to develop their skills play a crucial role in staff retention, as 93% of workers said that they would stay longer with an organisation that invests in their development. Over half would prefer developmental opportunities to extra holiday.

Overall, it was found that 97% of people feel that they are ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ satisfied with the development programmes provided to them. Similarly, 88% believe that talent management plays an essential role in securing an organisation’s future success.

CEO of Cubiks Barry Spence says: “Employers could benefit from scrutinising the systems they have in place, and exploring whether they are as objective as they could be.

“Steps can be taken to help change the perception that processes lack objectivity, for example, businesses could implement robust 360 feedback from various sources including clients or suppliers and use development centres to assess talents.”