There is a significant mismatch between employers' and employees’ perceptions of why people decide to work for a company, according to a European-wide study by leading global consulting firm Watson Wyatt.

The report found that employers think employees join their company because of career development opportunities (55%), employer reputation (51%) and base pay (43%).

However, employees actually chose employers because of the nature of work (49%), job security (34%) and base pay (30%).

The European study involved 175 companies across France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK.