Outside of the paycheck, what is the number 1 thing you look for in a company?

PO3 Jacob Jenkins I chose culture in your survey. I chose it because a toxic work environment can make even a great compensation package seem not worth it. On the flip side a great work environment can make a competitive compensation package seem great. When a person feels that they are an integral and valuable part of a team it can provide a sense of belonging. Since we humans are pack animals, having that sense of belonging and bringing value is important.
Although, culture is kind of a cop out choice as well. All of the other choices fall into the culture of the company. When a company has a good environment, it will recognize the value of each member, recognition leads to promotions. Promotions lead to more responsibility within the company, redefining the sense of purpose the individual feels (usually also leads to an increase in salary). On the flip side, a company that treats employees as nothing but a number leads to employees who treat the company as nothing but a paycheck generator. No sense of loyalty to the company. It leads to a high turnover rate because employees who feel that they are nothing but a number to the company have no reason to stay when a new company offers a better salary.

I do consulting work so I always look for family life flexibility and the culture of the company.

I look for recognition of team self and sense of purpose and teamwork just being apart of the team especially a good one is an honor to me.

My presence and contributions are valued. I have an opportunity for real advancement. I have the opportunity for promotion.

Definitely a sense of purpose, but also leaders who want to progress and move forward, and take risks/challenges along side their employees, and not just sit back and let the employees take the risk.

Work worth doing

Fancy words and vague concepts out there when it's pretty simple. Great companies care (give a S..t) about their product, people, and clients. Lot of so called consultants, "experts", etc. want to get paid a Grand and hour dreaming up foo-foo stuff that when you sort through all their baloney, goes back to the simple concept.

Just a comment about culture--in many cases, it's very difficult to actually determine ahead of taking a job what the real culture of a company is and what the people you are working with are like. Generally you are interviewed in a conference room, and if maybe, if you are considered a likely hire, you may get a quick tour of the place and meet some coworkers. But that's just a quick handshake and it's unlikely anyone will say to you "save yourself! It's too late for us!!" Then you get the offer. You'll be lucky if you know someone on the inside who can tell you the situation, and when you ask about culture in the interview, the leaders will always think they have a great culture.

So while it ultimately does become an important factor in whether people stay at a job, in my experience it's pretty hard to really know what the culture will be until you are in it.

Paycheck would be by number 1, but outside of that, I'd probably say convenience. What good is a decent paycheck if you have a ridiculous commute. I make a decent amount, but a have more than an hour commute one way. That means 2-3 hours of my free time is spent either driving to and from work. That's less time with family. Less time to unwind. So if another job came around with similar pay and it was a shorter commute, of course I would jump on the opportunity.

After that, I'd say Sense of Purpose/Culture would be tied. No one wants to work without a purpose and no one wants to work in a place with a toxic culture. You might stay there for a little while, but eventually you will break and seek employment elsewhere even if it meant a paycut.

Lastly, I would put promotions. Promotions are nice and all and I don't know many who would complain about being given more money. But sometimes promotions typically come with a new position or new responsibilities. Some people don't want that thrust onto them. Some people could be happy doing the exact same job until they retire.

The culture of your workplace can be a make or break for the deal, you can have the worst crap job but if you have good people and decent leadership then it can be taken in stride. But after that, I've found that I do the best when my job has some sense of meaning to it, I don't care how but I just like knowing that at the end of the day some small part of the world or some persons life is in a better way for my efforts