Customer experience, organisational culture and the employer brand

Abstract

It has been little more than a decade since this journal published the fi rst recorded paper on the employer brand concept, fi rst originated by Simon Barrow and fi rst researched in partnership with Tim Ambler of the London Business School. In light of the subsequent evolution in employer brand management practice, the aim of this paper is to present a re-appraisal of the concept in terms of its potential contribution to brand-led culture change and customer experience management. The ultimate aim of brand management has always been to deliver a consistent and distinctive customer experience, but this task has been particularly diffi cult for service brands due to the greater complexity involved in managing service brand experience. Despite the evidence that personal interactions are generally more important in driving customer service satisfaction, there has been a tendency for service companies to focus more of their attention on the functional / operational factors involved in service delivery. Successful service companies stress the role of organisational culture in promoting on-brand customer service behaviours, but the mechanisms for shaping an on-brand culture (such as internal marketing and internal branding) have typically relied too heavily on communications-led approaches to sustain a lasting effect. The discipline of employer brand management takes a more holistic approach to shaping the culture of the organisation, by seeking to ensure that every people management touch-point is aligned with the brand ethos of the organisation. In providing a robust mechanism for aligning employees ’ brand experience with the desired customer brand experience, and a common platform for marketing and HR, employer brand management represents a signifi cant evolution in the quest for corporate brand integrity.