Employer Brand Management Research Articles

Employer Branding Management As A Strategic and Organizational Control Tool

Employer Branding Management As A Strategic and Organizational Control Tool

Applying employer brand management to employee engagement

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the degree to which employer brand management is being deployed to support internal employee engagement, in addition to its more common application in external image building and talent acquisition.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents findings from an international benchmark survey conducted among 104 companies actively involved in employer brand development, alongside a more detailed examination of the development process and measures of success applied by one of the benchmark participants, Coca‐Cola Hellenic.FindingsThis paper demonstrates a trend towards organizations taking a more integrated internal/external approach to employer brand development and management, with practical case study material detailing how a major European soft drinks company, Coca‐Cola Hellenic, created an employee value proposition that could provide a central reference point for both its employee engagement strategy and recruitment communication.Practical implicationsEmployer brand theory and practice have evolved significantly over the last ten years. From a discipline largely limited to the resourcing outskirts of human resources (HR), it has increasingly become a more strategic focus of attention for general HR management, with a particular focus on its potential ability to help align people management process and practice and drive employee engagement. This paper provides evidence that taking a more integrated approach to employer brand management may represent a significant opportunity to enhance overall levels of internal engagement, in addition to promoting an employer's external reputation.Originality/valueAccording to new research, organizations are increasingly using their employer brand to shape their overall people management strategy and not simply for external recruitment purposes. Drawing on a benchmark survey of recent and emerging employer brand practice, and a more detailed examination of the integrated approach to employer brand development taken by Coca‐Cola Hellenic, the paper presents the case for extending the application of employer brand practice beyond the confines of external recruitment.

Customer experience, organisational culture and the employer brand

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.

Conceptualizing and researching employer branding

Employer branding represents a firm's efforts to promote, both within and outside the firm, a clear view of what makes it different and desirable as an employer. In recent years employer branding has gained popularity among practicing managers. Given this managerial interest, this article presents a framework to initiate the scholarly study of employer branding. Combining a resource‐based view with brand equity theory, a framework is used to develop testable propositions. The article discusses the relationship between employer branding and organizational career management. Finally, it outlines research issues that need to be addressed to develop employer branding as a useful organizing framework for strategic human resource management.