Four of five surveyed in the United States by BambooHR said they'd take a 3 percent raise without a promotion over a higher title minus the dough any day of the week. 

Meantime, U.K. recruiting firm Laudale checked in with 1,000 British workers, and found the same theme: 78 percent said money was their top consideration when weighing a new job.

To further support the cash focus, Wilkie also cited a Glassdoor study that said a third of workers would start job hunting if they didn't get a 3 percent to 5 percent raise in 2015.

Wilkie also reported that BambooHR had "spun" its results so that its press release focused on the 20 percent who said they'd take the new job title minus the salary increase.

When she pressed a Bamboo vice president to explain the spin, he admitted cash was "the primary reason most people work, after all," but insisted companies should be looking beyond dollars to retain and recruit top talent — especially if they don't have big wads of cash to throw around.

Related: Better pay, better engagment

"What is surprising," said Rusty Lindquist, vice president of human capital management strategy at BambooHR, "is just how much nonmonetary recognition actually means. What our survey showed was that a full 20 percent of employees would actually prefer a title promotion over a 3 percent raise. That means increasing the satisfaction of 20 percent of your company is within reach without ever touching your pocketbook. This is a beacon of hope for many organizations, who simply aren't in a position to give financial rewards or increased salaries."

But, as Wilkie's reporting demonstrated, if you have the dough to throw, you may as well give it a go.