Want to hire great employees and keep them happy? Make sure you have a good social media reputation.
That’s the surprising message of a new survey by staffing services firm Spherion, which looked at high-achieving “emergent” professionals, who are more willing to take control of their careers and are more difficult to retain. What’s more, their attitudes could spread to the rest of the workforce.
“The ’emergent’ attitudes toward the workplace are often indicators of new expectations among all of today’s workers when it comes to drivers of engagement, productivity and retention,” states Sandy Mazur, division president at Spherion. “Perhaps most compelling this year is workers’ desire for a clear corporate mission that is followed through on and the importance of a company’s social media practices and beliefs.”
Nearly half of employees surveyed – 47% – say that a company’s online reputation matters as much as the job offer. That could come as a surprise to a lot of companies, as only 27% of companies feel that social media influences how a job candidate views them.
Nearly three-quarters of employees who are highly satisfied with their employer’s online reputation are also happy at work, compared to only 20% of those who are not satisfied with their employer’s reputation. Perhaps this isn’t as odd as it sounds; if your company is viewed positively, you feel better about going to work every day.
Most companies appear to fall short in social media, the survey found. 45% of organizations have a social media strategy, up from 24% in 2009, but less than a third of those companies feel their social media strategy is successful.
Company culture is also important, according to the survey. Only about half the respondents say their company is effective at communicating its corporate mission – about the same number who say that their company follows through on its stated mission.
For a startup vying for top talent, a strong social media program and a good company culture could be easy ways to attract great employees.
Adapted from Companies Struggle to Leverage Social Media by Dennis McCafferty at Baseline Magazine.