Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. — Jan. 30

A growing number of workers are adopting an emergent mentality, with unique mindsets about their career, workplace needs and expectations, according to a new study of U.S. employers and workers released by Spherion Staffing Services.

The study of 225 human resource managers and 2,035 employed adults, conducted from May 10 to July 6 of last year through online and phone surveys by Harris Interactive, found that many organizations have been slow to adapt to changing workplace dynamics, resulting in significant disconnects between employers and employees.

One of the greatest disconnects unveiled in the study centers around the role of social media in the workplace, the importance of a company's online reputation and the clarity of its mission.

According to the Emerging Workforce Study, 47 percent of workers agree that when they consider new employment, a company's online reputation will be equally as important as the offer they are given. However, only 27 percent of companies believe social media outlets are influential on how a candidate views their organization.

Further, employees who feel their company's mission is clear and followed-through upon are three times more satisfied than those who feel their company has no clear mission at all. Yet 23 percent of employees say their company does not have a clear corporate mission.

Among other findings:

Employees who are highly satisfied with their employer's online reputation are nearly four times as likely to have high job satisfaction (76 percent) than those workers who are not satisfied with their employer's online reputation (20 percent).

Forty-five percent of all workers believe a company's social media outlet is influential when choosing a new employer.

Only 44 percent of companies strongly agree that "having a great online reputation is important to our organization."

Employers also lack belief and effort in building corporate mission, according to the study.

The Emerging Workforce Study found that 54 percent of employers strongly agreed with the statement, "our organization works hard to promote our culture and mission as a company in both online venues and in our day-to-day operations."

Also, only 46 percent of employees say their company is extremely/very effective at communicating their corporate mission.

And only 51 percent of employees say their company follows-through on their mission extremely/very well.

Source: Spherion