WOULD you dump your employer and switch jobs if someone else offered you an extra 91p per day after tax?

Growing numbers of people are doing precisely that, say recruiters. It only takes £500 to persuade a Dorset or New Forest worker to jump ship these days.

But then an extra £500 is the equivalent of a fortnight's wages for someone on the current minimum wage of £4.85 (rising to £5.05 in October).

So firms are having to become increasingly canny when dealing with workers all too aware of their own value in today's climate of skills shortages and employment rights.

But simply paying more money is not enough. Money alone is not always a motivator - although uncompetitive wages are definitely a demotivator.

Employers are having to become ever-more innovative when it comes to offering benefits - especially ones that pay homage to the 21st-century mantra of work/life balance.

Benefits capture the imagination of the employees, make them feel valued and can be tailored to their needs.

They can also be cheaper than hard cash because the employer pays for them wholesale but the worker perceives their value in higher priced retail terms.

Call centres often use benefits and gimmicks to make their workers feel loved and wanted.

Over-50s insurer RIAS at Wessex Fields offers bonus alcohol for hitting targets and has a pool table and Scalextric to help staff let off steam during screenbreaks.

John Lewis staff can stay at Brownsea Castle to enjoy sailing or access to a private beach. Ambleside Park, with its views of Lake Windermere, is another hit with them. Occupancy rates for all the John Lewis staff holiday centres stand as high as 98 per cent.

In TV's Jobswap, Hampshire PR guru Lee Peck of Leepeckgreen-field made a point of serving the staff tea and biscuits when he arrived for his stint at Wimborne bagmaker Decomatic.

He listened to the staff and empowered them. By the time he left at the end of the Jobswap experiment, one woman was openly weeping on camera at his departure.

In short, it's not all about the money.

"Money and success are inextricably bound up in people's minds and you have to separate them.

"Money could be preventing you from doing what you love," said Poole-based trainer Chris Croft of the Croft Management Centre.

"Robbie Williams has made a lot of money but he is seriously tormented. You only have to look at people who have won the lottery. Their lives stop and they can't handle it."

A quick glance at psychologist Abraham Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs points up the fact that money is not the ultimate priority. In reverse order:

Physiological needs - the lowest level, very basic needs such as air, water, food, sleep, sex.

Safety needs - next tier up, the security of a home and family, safe neighbourhood, building up a nest egg.

Love needs - middle tier, the desire to belong (clubs, work groups, religious groups, family, gangs), the need to be accepted and appreciated by others.

Esteem needs - penultimate tier, self-esteem which results from competence or mastery of a task plus attention and recognition that comes from others. Wanting admiration at this level has to do with the need for power. People who have all of their lower needs satisfied, often drive very expensive cars because doing so raises their level of esteem.

Self-actualisation - "to become everything that one is capable of becoming." The quest for knowledge, peace, aesthetic experiences, self-fulfilment, oneness with God.

And that goes some way to explaining why some companies are the ones we love to work for - and why many are not.

First published: April 6