Employees at smaller firms 'feel more motivated'

Employees in tax jobs or banking operations jobs seeking greater camaraderie in the workplace may want to consider trading in a big name job for a smaller company.

Advisory body the Employment Research Institute (ERI) has claimed that for many, job satisfaction goes hand in hand with feeling part of a team effecting change within a company -which could make smaller businesses an attractive prospect.

Director of the ERI at Napier University Professor Ronald McQuaid states: "Employees may feel that they are making a real contribution to the success of the organisation and - while in large firms they are a small cog in a large machine - can relate their own efforts to results for the firm."

He added that newer companies promote a feeling of unity through their "us against the world" stance as a small fish in a big pond.

The number of small businesses in the UK has increased in the last few years, with Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform statistics showing a 2.9 per cent rise in the number of such firms between 2005 and 2007.