Surveying 2,863 jobseekers, representatives of charity sector job board CharityJob asked respondents to select the five factors that matter most when deciding whether to apply for a role.
After respect and inclusion, the most frequently stated factor was a positive management style and a sense of autonomy, cited by 63%.
This was followed by job security (52%), open and transparent communication (48%) and positive social impact (41%).
When asked to rank five factors in order of importance, job security was most often ranked as the single most important factor, with 33% placing it first. A respectful and inclusive workplace was close behind, with 32%.
CharityJob’s report is a timely reminder that candidates are increasingly sophisticated about what they want and will scrutinise whether your stated culture matches reality, said Olive Turon, head of people at psychometric testing platform TestGorilla.
Turon told HR magazine: “My advice is simple: be honest. Show people what inclusivity genuinely looks like in your organisation, from the specific behaviours and the real structures you've put in place.
“When you represent your culture authentically, you allow people to self-select. That's how you build teams that are not only diverse but truly engaged.”
In a highly competitive market when candidates are spending longer out of work, their choice of which organisation to join carries even more jeopardy, said Evelin Zauchner, co-founder and director at consultancy Signature Recruitment.
Zauchner told HR magazine: “Finding themselves in the wrong environment and having to start their job search again from scratch is something candidates are becoming more and more wary of.”
Creating an inclusive and respectful environment “starts less with policy and more with how leaders behave day to day,” Zauchner said, adding: “People pay attention to whether their ideas are genuinely listened to, whether managers trust them with autonomy, and whether opportunities to progress are open and transparent.”
Turon agreed that the starting point for creating this environment is leadership alignment: “Senior teams need to agree on what inclusivity and respect actually mean within their specific context, then codify those definitions into company values and behaviours that everyone can be held accountable to.”
Zauchner pointed out that candidates often get an impression of an organisation’s culture during the hiring process itself, advising: “Something as simple as how an interview is structured, how quickly communication happens, or whether candidates feel their experience is being properly explored can send strong signals about how people are treated internally.”
Company culture needs to be seen as a “system rather than as isolated initiatives,” said Turon: “Too many organisations launch well-meaning programmes without a strategic foundation connecting them, moving from a workshop here to an awareness day there.
“Instead, companies should design processes that reinforce their values at every stage of the employee lifecycle, embedding rituals and touchpoints that keep cultural commitments alive day to day,” Turon concluded.
CharityJob surveyed 2,863 of its candidates in November 2025, for its Expectations and Values at Work: A Generational View 2026 report.
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