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What Motivates Your Leaders:
Top Motivators by Country
Between 2006 and 2010, PDI Ninth House asked more than 22,000 leaders participating in our assessments to
identify their current work location and choose their top five work motivators. This information is valuable to
organizations as they identify strategies to engage their key leaders. Because many organizations are trying to
expand in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China), we chose to contrast leaders’ motivations there with
those in the G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States), a group of the world’s
largest, but slower-growth economies. The results provide insight into how to attract and retain leaders in these
countries.
What is most important by level? BRIC vs. G7
Average BRIC Average G7
Stimulating, challenging work
Responsibility for others and unit
Work-life balance
Influence on organization direction
Personal accomplishment
Monetary compensation
Autonomy
Friendly workplace
Belief in the mission
Advancement opportunities
Fair, consistent managers
Training or development opportunities
Performance-based culture
Opportunity to be creative
Visibility and recognition
Fast-paced with change
Variety in job duties
Expert status
Stable job, little change
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Percent choosing as one of the 5 most important
The rank ordering for the two groups was similar; both groups put stimulating, challenging work at the top.
Responsibility for others and the work unit, work-life balance, and personal accomplishment were in the top five.
Advancement opportunities, monetary compensation, visibility and recognition, and training and development opportunities
were significantly more important for people working in BRIC countries, while a fast-paced environment, variety in
job duties, belief in the mission of the organization, autonomy, and a friendly workplace were more important to people in
the G7 countries.
Copyright © 2011, Personnel Decisions International Corporation, d.b.a. PDI Ninth House. All Rights Reserved.

2. What Motivates Your Leaders: PDI NINTH HOUSE
Top Motivators by Country leadership research bulletin
However, there was variability within each group, due to large cultural differences.
What is most important in a job? BRIC Countries
Brazil (N=414) Russian Federation (N=177) India (N=184) China (N=476)
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Within the BRIC countries:
·· More than 60 percent of respondents in Brazil and India valued stimulating, challenging work, but only slightly
more than 30 percent of those in China put this in their top five.
·· Those in India chose influence on the organization direction as their second most frequent choice; this was much
less important in Brazil.
·· China had the most variability in what people chose as important. The most frequently chosen items, friendly
workplace and personal accomplishment, were endorsed by just over 40 percent of respondents. The other countries
had at least one item chosen by more than 50 percent of respondents. Different things were important to
different people in China, with fewer clear trends.
·· In Russia, the top choice was responsibility for others and the work unit, followed by stimulating, challenging work
and monetary compensation. They were more likely to value the opportunity to be creative.
·· In addition to stimulating, challenging work, Brazil’s top four included work-life balance, advancement opportunities,
and monetary compensation. They were the least interested of the four countries in performance-based culture
and the opportunity to be creative.
·· Stable job, little change, variety in job duties, and expert status were low for all four countries.
Copyright © 2011, Personnel Decisions International Corporation, d.b.a. PDI Ninth House. All Rights Reserved. 2

3. What Motivates Your Leaders: PDI NINTH HOUSE
Top Motivators by Country leadership research bulletin
What is most important about a job? G7 Countries
France (N=709) Germany (N=654) Italy (N=605) United Kingdom (N=1,113)
United States (N=10,265) Japan (N=1,464) Canada (N=965)
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There was also variability within the G7. The UK, U.S., and Canada bore the greatest resemblance to one another,
France and Germany showed similarities, while Japan was the most different from France and Germany.
·· Leaders in Japan placed the highest value on a friendly workplace, choosing this as a top five motivator twice as
often as leaders in France and Germany. Their next highest values were work-life balance and stimulating,
challenging work. They chose fast-paced with change much more often and performance-based culture and influence
on the organization’s direction much less often than did leaders in the other G7 countries.
·· Leaders in Germany and France placed high value on responsibility for others and the work unit and autonomy, and
the lowest emphasis of all of the countries on advancement opportunities and a friendly workplace.
·· Leaders in Italy put more value than those from other countries on monetary compensation and advancement
opportunities, and less on belief in the mission of the organization and work-life balance.
·· UK leaders’ top two choices were personal accomplishment and stimulating, challenging work. A full 70 percent of
leaders chose this as one of their top five motivators.
·· Leaders in Canada prioritized personal accomplishment and work-life balance.
·· The top two choices for U.S. leaders were influence on the organization’s direction and belief in the mission of the organization.
Implications
The results suggest that, while stimulating and challenging work is important to leaders in most countries, there
are differences between countries in what leaders are looking for from organizations. Understanding what engages
your leaders, both at the country level and the individual level, can help you align the needs of the organization
with meaningful, relevant work that addresses leader’s motivations and career goals.
To learn more how PDI Ninth House can help you identify your leaders’ motivations, please
contact your local PDI Ninth House office or visit www.pdinh.com.
Copyright © 2011, Personnel Decisions International Corporation, d.b.a. PDI Ninth House. All Rights Reserved. 3