Resistance from employers to embrace social media and new ways of working could be a major barrier hindering the future potential of UK businesses and their staff, a recruitment company warns.

Resistance from employers to embrace social media and new ways of working could be a major barrier hindering the future potential of UK businesses and their staff, a recruitment company warns.

Adecco Group urges employers to move away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach to employee engagement and to make their organisations more receptive and supportive of younger generations and the new skills and experiences they have to offer.

At a roundtable of business leaders, technology was identified as one of the key drivers that appears to be widening the gap between traditional employers and the new generations entering the workforce.

Dr Nakata, reader in Social Informatics at the Informatics Research Centre at the Henley Business School says, ‘I’m often hearing from our students, who are meeting companies for interviews, that they are surprised that much of the so-called ‘common technology’, such as Facebook or mobile apps, which they use in everyday life is actually not used widely in companies. As a result, they feel disillusioned by the prospect of working for the kind of company that doesn’t seem to value the skills and experience they already have.’

Justin Parks, head of Workspace Online at IT solutions provider Getronics adds, ‘Businesses today have a role to play in making their organisations more appealing and exciting to the younger generations. They need to think carefully about how they interact with these guys [the younger generation] who are already very comfortable with social media and other forms of technology.’

David Clubb, Managing Director of Office Angels observes that in many instances, the very technologies which can support employee engagement and internal communications, such as Twitter or the writing of blogs, are actually banned or restricted in the workplace. ‘The recent riots and the prolific use of channels such as Blackberry Messenger only reinforce how much social media is an integral part of young people’s lives and how they communicate – this is something employers cannot afford to ignore,’ he says.