Perceptions Of Organizational Attractiveness Research Articles

Unveiling organizational appeal in Lithuania: A study on employee perceptions of organizational attractiveness as an employer

In recent times of uncertainty, new post-COVID-19 reality, and fierce competition for talented employees, organizational attractiveness as an appealing employer has emerged as one of the paramount facets, deeply integrated into strategic processes within organizations. However, there are many considerable challenges in understanding employee perceptions and meeting their expectations to become an employer of choice. The aim of the study is to examine Lithuanian employees’ attitudes toward different organizational attractiveness attributes, offering empirical insights for organizations to enhance their organizational attractiveness. To explore the manifestation of organizational attractiveness in Lithuanian organizations, 464 employed residents were surveyed using convenience sampling. Their attitudes were measured through the dimensions of social value, benefit value, development value, engagement value, economic value, management/leadership value, and work-life balance value. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the questionnaire data. The results indicated that employees emphasized social (M = 7.44), management/leadership (M = 7.05), engagement (M = 6.80), and work/life balance values (M = 6.79), while benefits (M = 6.60), development (M = 6.54), and economic (M = 6.20) values received comparatively lower evaluations. Practical recommendations include promoting social responsibility, providing work opportunities, investing in employee’s development, fostering autonomy, improving leadership skills, and implementing systems for work-life balance and economic incentives. Upholding promises to employees is crucial for organizational credibility. By implementing these recommendations, organizations can enhance their attractiveness to both current and prospective employees. This study underscores the need for further research on sector-specific organizational attractiveness.

Do international new ventures have attraction advantages? Insights from a recruitment perspective

This study applies a recruitment lens to examine how the proactive internationalization of new ventures might influence job seeker perceptions of organizational attractiveness. Using signaling theory and person-environment fit theory to develop our hypotheses, we employ a metric conjoint experiment with 209 job seekers (making 3344 decisions). Our multilevel regression results suggest that the international new venture (INV) strategy of proactive internationalization presents an ambivalent recruiting signal to job seekers. However, this effect is positively moderated by job seekers’ personal initiative and international experience. We offer implications for signaling theory in international entrepreneurship, and practical implications for staffing INVs.

Don't just tell me, show me: Impacting perceptions of organizational attraction and fit using activating LGBT diversity signals

AbstractTo appeal to traditionally hard‐to‐reach populations such as the LGBT community, many organizations have made diversity and inclusion a focal point of their recruitment messaging. However, extant research provides little evidence of the effectiveness of this messaging for its intended and non‐intended targets. Building upon a proposed signaling theory typology, we suggest that activating signals—signals that show how diversity and inclusion are actively embodied or “activated” through organizational practices—are more effective than pointing signals—signals that merely tell an individual that diversity and inclusion is valued. After validating a collection of individual diversity signals using this typology, we test our theory across multiple studies. In Study 1, we focus specifically on LGBT job seekers and conduct an experiment to examine the degree to which various LGBT diversity signals on a fictional company website influence initial assessments of organizational attraction and person‐organization fit. In Study 2, we replicate and extend Study 1 by demonstrating how the positive effects of LGBT diversity signals are similar in a sample of non‐LGBT job seekers. Finally, in Study 3, we extend the generalizability of our theorizing using a sample of recent job seekers and real organizational websites.

Preselection in the digital age: A comparison of perceptions of asynchronous video interviews with online tests and online application documents in a simulation context

AbstractAsynchronous video interviews (AVIs) are increasingly used to preselect applicants. Previous research found that interviewees are more skeptical of these interviews compared to other forms of interviews. However, comparing AVIs to other interviews is not completely appropriate because of their lack of interactivity and their use during earlier stages of the selection process. Therefore, we compared perceptions of AVIs with perceptions of other preselection tools (online cognitive ability tests and online application documents). Compared to other preselection instruments, potential applicants do not have more skeptical fairness perceptions of AVIs. However, we found differences for perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, privacy concerns, and perceptions of organizational attractiveness. Organizations can take this into account when choosing how to preselect their applicants.

Artificial Intelligence in Hiring and Applicant Attraction: The Role of Ethical Perceptions

The ethics of using artificial intelligence (AI) have been of concern for a generation, but interest in the topic has sharply increased in recent years. Yet, we do not fully understand how ethical perceptions about AI influence both applicants and the organizations that use it. In this paper, we build on the person-organization fit model (Kristof, 1996), social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), and applicant attraction research (Chapman et al., 2005) to investigate whether and how ethical perceptions of using AI in hiring are related to applicant attraction. We conducted two studies with both job seekers and employed individuals with hiring experience and found that ethical perceptions of using AI in hiring are positively related to perceptions of organizational attractiveness both directly and indirectly via perceptions of organizational innovativeness. We found no differences in these relationships between job seekers and employed individuals with hiring experience. Interestingly, the influence of ethical perceptions of using AI in hiring are not consistent across hiring methods. For instance, we found that individuals who consider it ethical for organizations to use AI in intrusive ways, such as analyzing social media information for traits and characteristics, viewed such organizations as more innovative and attractive.

How to deal with negative online employer reviews: An application of image repair theory

AbstractAlthough negative employer reviews pose a threat to employers by reducing organizational attractiveness, employers can respond to reviews to avert these threats. However, we lack a clear understanding of the response strategies and factors that determine response strategies' impact. To address this issue, we introduce image repair theory (IRT) as a promising theoretical foundation in the study of employer response. Using an experimental design, we tested the effects of IRT's general image repair strategies (i.e., Denial, Evasion of Responsibility, Reducing Offensiveness, Corrective Action, and Mortification) and the mechanisms underlying these effects according to IRT. Moreover, we explored the role of review content (i.e., the type of employer image information the review entails) as a contingency factor. We found differences between Denial, Corrective Action, and Mortification, which show that the choice of response strategies can matter and that the relationship between response strategy and potential applicants' perceptions of organizational attractiveness is mediated by attributions of responsibility rather than by perceived offensiveness. In addition, our results suggest that when negative reviews contain information about instrumental rather than symbolic employer image attributes, potential applicants can attribute more responsibility to the employer. Furthermore, only the effects of Reducing Offensiveness and Mortification were dependent on the review's content. We discuss theoretical implications and practical recommendations for employers that respond to negative employer reviews.

The impact of organizational culture and leadership climate on organizational attractiveness and innovative behavior: a study of Norwegian hospital employees

BackgroundIn the domain of health services, little research has focused on how organizational culture, specifically internal market-oriented cultures (IMOCs), are associated with organizational climate resources, support for autonomy (SA), and whether and how IMOCs and SA are either individually or in combination related to employee perceptions of the attractiveness of the organization and their level of innovative behavior. These knowledge gaps in previous research motivated this study.MethodsA conceptual model was tested on a sample (N = 1008) of hospital employees. Partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS–SEM) was employed to test the conceptual models, using the SmartPLS 3 software. To test the mediator effect, a bootstrapping test was used to determine whether the direct and indirect effects were statistically significant, and when combining two tests, to determine the type of mediator effect.ResultsThe results can be summarized as four key findings: i) organizational culture (referring to an IMOC) was positively and directly related to SA (β = 0.87) and organizational attractiveness (β = 0.45); ii) SA was positively and directly related to both organizational attractiveness (β = 0.22) and employee individual innovative behavior (β = 0.37); iii) The relationships between an IMOC, SA, and employee innovative behavior were all mediated through organizational attractiveness; and iv) SA mediated the relationship between the IMOC and organizational attractiveness as well as that between the IMOC and employee innovative behavior.ConclusionsOrganizational culture, IMOC, organizational climate resources, and SA were highly correlated and necessary drivers of employee perceptions of organizational attractiveness and their innovative behavior. Managers of hospitals should consider IMOC and SA as two organizational resources that are potentially manageable and controllable. Consequently, managers should actively invest in these resources. Such investments will lead to resource capitalization that will improve both employee perceptions of organizational attractiveness as well as their innovative behavior.

Losing and Regaining Organizational Attractiveness During the Recruitment Process: A Multiple-Segment Factorial Vignette Study

How applicants’ perceptions of organizational attractiveness (OA) change over the recruitment process and whether OA, once lost, can ever be regained, has hardly been investigated. Therefore, drawing on organizational justice and signaling theories, we examined the effects of treatment (fair vs. unfair), re-evaluation (positive vs. negative), and outcome (offer vs. rejection) on OA. Results from a multiple-segment factorial vignette study (N = 193 employees) showed a reduction in OA (67%) after applicants were treated unfairly. Up to 24% of this loss was regained in subsequent stages through positive re-evaluation and by being offered a job. The results also showed a reduction in OA (52%) for applicants who were treated fairly but re-evaluated their experience negatively and received a rejection. Thus, one good experience may not be enough to attract applicants, and understanding the combined effect of experiences is even more important than understanding the effect of a single experience.

How Much Does the Recruitment Channel Really Matter: Recruiters’ and Applicants’ Behaviors in the South Asian Context

In this paper, we discern recruiters’ and applicants’ tendencies towards recruitment channels. By drawing on the contextual perspective of human resource management (HRM), we argue that the national institutional environment of a country greatly influences recruiters’ choices of recruitment channels and applicants’ level of attractiveness towards jobs. Using an experimental study (n = 200 graduate students) and in-depth interviews of 10 human resource managers, we find that a) although recruitment channels positively affect applicants’ perceptions of organizational attractiveness, they have no significant impact on applicants’ intentions to apply for the job and b) even though online recruitment channels are widely believed to have a greater impact on organizational attractiveness, recruiters in the south Asian context continue to prefer the paper-based recruitment channels. The study provides interesting insights for recruitment literature, by explicating that socio-cultural and economic context enormously shapes recruiters’ and applicants’ preferences of recruitment channels.

What do they really want? Effects of the wording of job advertisements on narcissists’ perceptions of organizational attraction

Wording of job advertisements is assumed to impact job seekers’ perceptions of organizational attraction, yet little is known about the role narcissism plays in this context. To begin to fill this gap, we investigated how narcissists who self-enhance in communal domains (e.g., friendliness, helpfulness, and trustworthiness) respond to systematic wording differences in job advertisements. In an experimental study (N = 318), wording was manipulated using an agentically versus communally worded job advertisement. Results revealed that communal narcissism was positively related to company attractiveness and intentions to apply for a job and this relationship was stronger when agency (but not communion) was made salient. A practical implication is that organizations may influence the number of communal narcissists applying for particular jobs by modifying the wording of job advertisements.

“Just Look the Other Way”: Job Seekers’ Reactions to the Irresponsibility of Market-Dominant Employers

Past research on recruitment has shown that employer image predicts job seekers’ perceptions of organizational attractiveness. We contribute to this body of work by examining job seekers’ reactions to a market-dominant employer that has suffered from a case of corporate social irresponsibility (CSI). We show that job seekers’ reaction is buffered in the case of dominant employers’ wrongdoing. This effect is stronger for job seekers who are very interested in working in the dominant employers’ industry. Market dominance, however, reduces the negative impact of CSI only under certain circumstances. We find that market dominance provides a buffer against the negative effect of CSI only when (1) CSI is directly relevant to the domain of performance of the organization and (2) job seekers feel very certain about their attitudes toward the organization. In two experiments with participants actively looking for employment at the time of study, we tested a model of moderated mediation examining how market dominance and CSI influence perceived employer ethicality and perceived employer competence. These two variables, in turn, explain how job seekers form perceptions of organizational attractiveness. This is the first study to explore how job seekers react to potential employers that are dominant in a market but have suffered from a CSI incident. The study identifies the boundary conditions that explain why sometimes market-dominant employers can emerge relatively unscathed in the eyes of job seekers following CSI. The research opens important managerial implications concerning the recruitment efforts of organizations that have suffered from CSI.

Evaluation of Organizational Attitude Perceptions of Students Who Have Professional Application in University Hospital

Gelişen teknoloji, sektörlerin günden güne hızla çoğalması kişilerin çalışmayı düşündükleri kurumlardan beklentilerinin artmasına neden olmuştur. Bu nedenle kişiler daha çok çalışacakları iş yerini seçerken kendilerine çekici gelen örgütleri seçme eğilimindedirler. Bu araştırma da üniversite hastanesinde mesleki uygulama yapan öğrencilerin örgütsel çekicilik algıları ortaya konulmaya çalışılmıştır. Tanımlayıcı olan bu çalışmanın evreni 2017-2018 eğitim öğretim güz ve bahar döneminde Yozgat Bozok Üniversitesi Sağlık Hizmetleri Meslek Yüksek Okulu ve Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi’ndeki öğrencilerden, Üniversitenin Araştırma ve Uygulama Hastanesi’nde mesleki uygulamaya çıkan öğrenciler oluşturmuştur. Bu öğrenciler, Anestezi, Yaşlı Bakımı, Sağlık Kurumları İşletmeciliği, Tıbbi Dokümantasyon ve Sekreterlik ile Ebelik ve Hemşirelik bölümlerinde öğrenim görmektedir (n=349). Herhangi bir örneklem yöntemi seçilmeyip evrenin tamamına ulaşılmıştır. Araştırmada veriler 2003 yılında Highhouse ve arkadaşlarının geliştirdiği ve 2014 yılında Dural ve arkadaşları tarafından Türkçeye uyarlanmıştır. 15 ifadeden oluşan, yedili likert tipi “Örgütsel Çekicilik” ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Bu araştırmada öğrencilerin örgütsel çekicilik ifadelerinin ortalamalarının orta düzeyde olduğu saptanmıştır.   En yüksek ifadelerin “söz konusu kurum beni iş görüşmesine çağırsaydı giderdim” ve “kurumda çalışma teklifini kabul ederdim” olduğu görülmektedir. Örgütsel çekicilik toplam puan ortalaması ile okul, bölüm ve yaşanılan yer değişkenleri arasında önemli ilişki bulunmuştur.

Have you heard? Testing the warranting value of third-party employer reviews

The present work advances warranting scholarship by considering the effect of online reviews (in response to organizational self-claims) on organizational attributions offline. An experiment exposed undergraduates (N = 148) to a company’s social media profile, in which a third-party had provided either a positive or negative review of the organization as an employer. Analyses reveal review valence affected perceptions of organizational attractiveness, which subsequently predicted application intentions; and further that effects of positive reviews were moderated by the review’s warranting value. Findings are discussed with respect to warranting theory and practical implications.

Foreign and domestic company attractiveness to host national employees in Japan: A person–organization fit and image theory perspective

AbstractThis study contributes to research on organizational attractiveness and human resource management (HRM) by drawing on image theory to examine the effect of organizational characteristics (foreign vs. domestic company country‐of‐origin, HRM practices, organizational culture, and work environment) on organizational attractiveness perceptions by host country national (HCN) employees. Drawing on person–organization fit theory, we also examine the moderating effects of HCNs' demographic characters (age and gender), work‐related skills (English proficiency and international experience), and value orientations (individualism and risk aversion) between the relationship of these organizational characteristics and organizational attractiveness. A between‐subject scenario‐based experiment with 800 HCN employees in Japan suggest that not the company country‐of‐origin, but the local adaptation of organizational culture, HRM practices, and work environment influence HCNs' organizational attractiveness perceptions. HCNs' demographic characteristics, work‐related skills, and value orientations had moderating effects between these organizational characteristics and organizational attractiveness perceptions.

Attracting applicants through the organization's social media page: Signaling employer brand personality

The purpose of this study is to examine how potential applicants' exposure to an organization's social media page relates to their subsequent organizational attractiveness perceptions and word-of-mouth intentions. Based on signaling theory and the theory of symbolic attraction, we propose that potential applicants rely on perceived communication characteristics of the social media page (social presence and informativeness) as signals of the organization's employer brand personality (warmth and competence), which in turn relate to organizational attractiveness and word-of-mouth. Data were gathered in a simulated job search process in which final-year students looked for an actual job posting and later visited an actual organization's social media page. In line with our hypotheses, results show that the perceived social presence of a social media page was indirectly positively related to attractiveness and word-of-mouth through its positive association with perceived organizational warmth. Perceived informativeness was indirectly positively related to these outcomes through its positive association with perceived organizational competence. In addition, we found that social presence was also directly positively related to organizational attractiveness. These findings suggest that organizations can use social media pages to manage key recruitment outcomes by signaling their employer brand personality.

What Do Consistency and Personableness in the Interview Signal to Applicants? Investigating Indirect Effects on Organizational Attractiveness Through Symbolic Organizational Attributes

Personnel selection research has recognized the importance of providing applicants with both standardized (i.e., “consistent”) and individualized (i.e., “personable”) treatment during interviews. However, research has yet to examine the mechanisms underlying the effects of perceived consistency and personableness in the interview on applicants’ attraction to organizations. Drawing from signaling theory, we investigate how interview consistency and personableness impact organizational attractiveness. To this end, we developed a conceptual model that proposes that applicants interpret perceived interview consistency and personableness as signals about what the organization is like in terms of symbolic organizational attributes (organizational competence and benevolence, Lievens and Highhouse 2003), which in turn influence perceptions of organizational attractiveness. A longitudinal three-wave field study with 129 applicants showed that applicants’ perceptions of both consistency and personableness positively impacted organizational attractiveness. Additionally, these effects were mediated by organizational competence perceptions, but not by organizational benevolence perceptions. Furthermore, consistency and personableness perceptions differed in their relative influence on organizational competence, benevolence, and attractiveness, with personableness perceptions being a more influential predictor. This study contributes to a nuanced theoretical understanding of how applicants interpret interviews as signals about how organizations treat their members.

Interview support on perceptions of organizational attractiveness

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine how interview support materials provided on a company’s website would impact potential employees’ perceptions of organizational attractiveness (OA). This study examined the effects of interviewer, interview support and employee variables on employees’ perceptions of OA.Design/methodology/approachThis study obtained data from 276 working adults. The participants were asked to visualize that they were selected for an interview, then were given one of four manipulations (with interview support, without interview support; informed participant interview would be with a potential peer, or interview would be with a potential supervisor) and post-manipulation measures (OA perception, trait anxiety, demographics).FindingsThis study’s results indicated that interviewer characteristics (peer or supervisor) were not significant; however, women and individuals with a lower socio-economic (SES) status found organizations to be more attractive when provided with interview support. There was an opposite effect on men and those with a higher SES.Research limitations/implicationsThis study recognizes that the lack of demographic diversity and realism were limitations that must be considered; however, this study also recognizes that these findings have several practical implications (considering offering interview support, potential ideas to increase OA) and social implications (increasing demographic diversity in the workplace by also aiding historically disadvantaged groups).Practical implicationsKnowledge of who would be conducting the selection interview potential future peer versus a future supervisor did not affect organizational attraction OA ratings. Interview support offered on a company website had a positive impact on perceptions of OA for women and individuals with lower SES; however, the same support had a negative impact on perceptions of OA for men and individuals with higher SES.Originality/ValueIn addition to the social and practical implications this study holds, the authors of this study are not aware of any additional studies that examine gender and SES on organizational attraction.

Corporate social responsibility and organizational attractiveness: implications for talent management

PurposeTalent management is a twenty-first-century concern. Attracting talented individuals to organizations is an important source for firm competitive advantage. Building on signaling theory, this paper proposes that corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be an important tool for talent recruitment.Design/methodology/approachAcross two studies, this paper found support for this hypothesized relationship. In Study 1, a job advertisement was manipulated to include information about CSR and tested it in two groups of 120 master’s degree students who would be in the job market within the year. It was found that CSR was an important factor that increased organizational attractiveness. In Study 2, with 532 external talented stakeholders of 16 organizations, our findings were replicated and advanced by testing whether perceptions of CSR practices (internal and external) influenced perceptions of organizational attractiveness and if this relationship was mediated by organizational reputation.FindingsThis study found that perceptions of internal CSR practices were directly related to both organizational attractiveness and firm reputation. However, perceptions of external CSR practices were related only to organizational attractiveness through organizational reputation.Research limitations/implicationsThe article’s one of the main limitations has to do with generalizability of the results and the potential common method variance bias.Practical implicationsThe findings demonstrate that CSR can play an effective role in attracting potential employees, through enhancement of organizational reputation and organizational attractiveness. If organizations are willing to implement practices that protect and develop their employees, along with practices that improve the quality of the natural environment and the well-being of the society, they can become an employer-of-choice.Originality/valueThis study expands on previous studies by including an experimental design, including two types of CSR practices and a mediating variable in this field study.

Applicant Reactions to Selection Events: Four studies into the role of attributional style and fairness perceptions

In four studies, applicants’ (N = 478) organizational attractiveness perceptions and recommendation intentions following selection outcomes were measured. In three field studies, actual applicants’ perceptions were measured in authentic, high‐stakes application contexts, both preprocedure and postoutcome. A fourth, hypothetical, study was added to increase internal validity. Consistent positive relationships between procedural fairness and reactions were found. Further, attributional style moderated the distributive fairness–attractiveness relationship in the field studies, but not in the laboratory study. In general, optimistically attributing applicants reported higher organization attraction than less optimistic individuals when the outcome was perceived as fair, but lower attraction when the outcome was perceived as unfair. For recommendation intentions, results were less consistent. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Racioethnicity, community makeup, and potential employees' reactions to organizational diversity management approaches.

We draw on the values literature from social psychology and the acculturation literature from cross-cultural psychology to develop and test a theory of how signals about an organization's diversity management (DM) approach affect perceptions of organizational attractiveness among potential employees. We examine the mediating effects of individuals' merit-based attributions about hiring decisions at the organization, as well as the moderating effects of their racioethnicity and the racioethnic composition of their home communities. We test our theory using a within-subject policy-capturing experimental design that simulates organizational DM approaches, supplemented with census data for the participants' home communities. Results of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses suggest that the manipulated instrumental value for diversity leads to higher perceptions of organizational attractiveness, in part through heightened expectations of merit-based hiring decisions. Further, the manipulated assimilative and integrative DM approach signals are positively related to organizational attractiveness and the effect of integrative DM is strongest for racioethnic minorities from communities with especially high proportions of Whites and Whites from communities with especially low proportions of Whites. (PsycINFO Database Record