Share:


Employer branding: exploring attractiveness dimensions in a multicultural context

    Ludvík Eger Affiliation
    ; Michal Mičík Affiliation
    ; Mikuláš Gangur Affiliation
    ; Petr Řehoř Affiliation

Abstract

Attracting and retaining talented employees and gaining competitive advantage are important for organizations around the world. This study identifies and operationalizes the components of employer attractiveness from the perspective of potential employees. The study tests the employer attractiveness scale (EmpAt) by identifying the attractiveness dimensions of an employer brand among business students in the Czech Republic through exploratory factor analysis. We also search for similarities and differences among employer attractiveness dimensions through a cross-cultural comparison based on the results of previous studies. Businesses in today’s globalised world need to attract potential employees globally and determine whether it would be better to use one corporate strategy or to customize their employer brand according to the cultural differences between countries. National, cultural, and gender differences are also investigated. The findings show factors that business students give the highest importance to when searching for an employer and that the factor’s importance is influenced by gender. The findings of this study can be used to track the perceptions of current job applicants about the company and to appeal to “suitable target audiences” – potential employees. The results can be used by HR experts and practitioners in formulating and executing their communication and recruitment strategies.


First published online 10 April 2019

Keyword : employer branding, organizational attractiveness, human resources, cultural difference, gender difference, recruitment strategy

How to Cite
Eger, L., Mičík, M., Gangur, M., & Řehoř, P. (2019). Employer branding: exploring attractiveness dimensions in a multicultural context. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 25(3), 519-541. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2019.9387
Published in Issue
Apr 10, 2019
Abstract Views
7595
PDF Downloads
7718
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Ahmad, A. D., & Daud, S. (2016). Engaging people with employer branding. Procedia – Economics and Finance, 35, 690-698. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(16)00086-1

Albinger, H. S., & Freeman, S. J. (2000). Corporate social performance and attractiveness as an employer to different job seeking populations. Journal of Business Ethics, 28(3), 243-253. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006289817941

Alniacik, E., Alniacik, Ü., Erat, S., & Akcin, K. (2014). Attracting talented employees to the company: do we need different employer branding strategies in different cultures? Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 150, 336-334. https://doi:/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.09.074

Ambler, T., & Barrow, S. (1996). The employer brand. Journal of Brand Management, 4(3), 185-206. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.1996.42

Arachchige, B., & Robertson, A. (2011). Business students perceptions of a preferred employer: a study identifying determinats of employer branding. The UIP Journal of Brand Management, 3, 25-46.

Backhaus, K., Stone, B., & Heiner, K. (2002). Exploring the relationship between corporate social performance and employer attractiveness. Business and Society, 41(3), 292-319. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650302041003003

Backhaus, K., & Tikoo, S. (2004). Conceptualizing and researching employer branding. Career Development International, 9(5), 501-517. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430410550754

Bakanauskiene, I., Bendaravičienė, R., & Barkauskė, L. (2017). Organizational attractiveness: An empirical study on employees attitudes in Lithuanian business sector. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 15(2), 4-18. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.15(2).2017.01

Barrow, S., & Mosley, R. (2011). The employer brand: Bringing the best of brand management to people at work. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.

Berthon, P., Ewing, M., & Hah, L. L. (2005). Captivating company: dimensions of attractiveness in employer branding. International Journal of Advertising, 24(2), 151-172. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2005.11072912

Biswas, M., & Suar, D. (2013). Which employees’ values matter most in the creation of employer branding? Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 7(1), 93-102.

Botha, A., Bussin, M., & De Swardt, L. (2011). An employer brand predictive model for talent attraction and retention. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 9(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v9i1.388

Brymer, R. A., Molloy, J. C., & Gilbert, B. A. (2014). Human capital pipelines competitive implications of repeated interorganizational hiring. Journal of Management, 40(2), 483-508. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206313516797

Cable, D. M., & Turban, D. B. (2003). The value of organizational reputation in the recruitment context: a brand-equity perspective. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33(11), 2244-2266. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2003.tb01883.x

Carpentier, M., Van Hoye, G., Stockman, S., Schollaert, E., Van Theemsche, B., & Jacobs, G. (2017). Recruiting nurses through social media: Effects on employer brand and attractiveness. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 73(11), 2696-2708. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13336

Collings, D. G., & Mellahi, K. (2010). Strategic talent management: A review and research agenda. Human Resource Management Review, 18(4), 304-313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.04.001

Creswell, W. J. (2014). Research design. In Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.

Dabirin, A., Kietzmann, J., & Diba, H. (2017). A great place to work? Understanding crowdsourced employer branding. Business Horizons, 60(2), 197-205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2016.11.005

Edwards, M. R. (2010). An integrative review of employer branding and OB theory. Personnel Review, 39(1), 5-23. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483481011012809

Eger, L., Mičík, M., & Řehoř, P. (2018). Emloyer branding on social media and recruitment websites: Symbolic traits of an ideal employer. E+M. Ekonomie a Management, 21(1), 224-237. https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2018-1-015

Egerová, D., Lančarič, D., Eger, L., & Savov, R. (2015). Perspectives of talent management: Evidence from Czech and Slovak business organisations. E+M. Ekonomie a Management, 18(4), 108-120. https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2015-4-008

Elegbe, J. A. (2018). Determinants of success of employer branding in a start-up firm in Nigeria. Thunderbird International Business Review, 60(3), 265-277. https://doi.org/10.1002/tie.21897

Elving, W. J. L., Westhoff, J. J. C., Meeusen, K., & Schoonderbeek, J. W. (2013). The war for talent the relevance of employer branding in job advertisements for becoming an employer of choice. Journal of Brand Management, 20, 355-373. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2012.21

Ehrhart, K. H., & Ziegert, J. C. (2005). Why are individuals attracted to organizations? Journal of Management, 31(6), 901-919. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206305279759

International Organization for Standardization. (2016, September). Human resource management − guidelines on recruitment (ISO 30405:2016). Retrieved from https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:30405:ed-1:v1:en

Gittell, J. H., Seidner, R., & Wimbush, J. (2010). A relational model of how high-performance work systems work. Organization Science, 21(2), 490-506. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1090.0446

Grigore, G. F., & Stancu, A. (2011). The role of corporate social responsibility in building employer’s brand. Transformations in Business & Economics, 10(2), 741-753.

Hair, J., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2011). PLS-SEM: indeed a silver bullet. Journal of Marketing theory and Practise, 19(2), 139-152. https://doi.org/10.2753/MTP1069-6679190202

Jiang, T., & Iles, P. (2011). Employer-brand equity, organizational attractiveness and talent management in the Zhejiang private sector, China. Journal of Technology Management in China, 6(1), 97-110. https://doi.org/10.1108/17468771111105686

Joo, B. K., & McLean, G. N. (2006). Best employer studies: a conceptual model from a literature review and a case study? Human Resource Development Review, 5(2), 228-257. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484306287515

Kaiser, H. (1974). An index of factor simplicity. Psychometrika, 39, 31-36. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02291575

Kaur, P., Sharma, S., Kaur, J., & Sharma, S. K. (2015). Using social media for employer branding and talent management: an experiential study. The IUP Journal of Brand Management, 12(2), 7-20.

Kietzmann, J. H., & Canhoto, A. (2013). Understanding and managing electronic word of mouth. Journal of Public Affairs, 13(2), 146-159. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1470

Knox, S., & Freeman, C. (2006). Measuring and managing employer brand image in the service industry. Journal of Marketing Management, 22, 695-716. https://doi.org/10.1362/026725706778612103

Kotler, P. (2003). Marketing management. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Kruskal, H. W., & Wallis, W. A. (1952). Use of ranks in one-criterion variance analysis. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 47(260), 583-621. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1952.10483441

Lievens, F. (2007). Employer branding in the Belgian army: The importance of instrumental and symbolic beliefs for potential applicants, actual applicants, and military employees. Human Resource Management, 46, 51-69. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.20145

Lievens, F., & Highhouse, S. (2003). The relation of instrumental and symbolic attributes to a company’s attractiveness as an employer. Personnel Psychology, 56(1), 75-102. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2003.tb00144.x

Lievens, F., & Slaughter, J. E. (2016). Employer image and employer branding: What we know and what we need to know. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 3, 407-440. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-041015-062501

Mann, H. B., & Whitney, D. R. (1947). On a test of whether one of two random variables is stochastically larger than the other. Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 18(1), 50-60. https://doi:10.1214/aoms/1177730491

Martin, G., Gollan, P. J., & Grigg, K. (2011). Is there a bigger and better future for employer branding? Facing up to innovation, corporate reputations and wicked problems in SHRM. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(17), 3618-3637. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2011.560880

Mayers, J. L., Well, A. D., & Lorch, Jr. R. F. (2010). Research design and statistical analysis. New York: Routledge.

McDonald, R. P. (1985). Factor analysis and related methods. East Sussex: Psychology Press.

McFarland, L. A., & Ployhart, R. E. (2015). Social media: A contextual framework to guide research and practice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(6), 1653-1677. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039244

Mičík, M., & Mičudová, K. (2018). Employer brand building: using social media and career websites to attract generation Y. Economics & Sociology, 11(3), 171-189. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-789X.2018/11-3/11

Miles, S. J., & Mangold, W. G. (2005). Positioning southwest airlines through employee branding. Business Horizons, 48, 535-545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2005.04.010

Mölk, A., & Aurer, M. (2018). Designing brands and managing organizational politics: A qualitative case study of employer brand creation. European Management Journal, 36(4), 485-496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2017.07.005

Nikolaou, I. (2014). Social networking web sites in job search and employee recruitment. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 22(2), 179-189. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12067

Perkins, L. A., Thomas, K. M., & Taylor, G. A. (2000). Advertising and recruitment: Marketing to minorities. Psychology & Marketing, 17(3), 235-255.

Reis, G. G., & Braga, M. B. (2016). Employer attractiveness from a generational perspective: Implications for employer branding. Revista de Administração, 51, 103-116. https://doi.org/10.5700/rausp1226

Ritson, M. (2002). Marketing and HE collaborate to harness employer brand power. Marketing, 24.

Roth, P. L., Bobko, P., Van Iddekinge, C. H., & Thatcher, J. B. (2016). Social media in employee-selection-related decisions: A research agenda for uncharted territory. Journal of Management, 42(1), 269-298. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206313503018

Roy, K. S. (2008). Identifying the dimensions of attractiveness of an employer brand in the Indian context. South Asian Journal of Management, 15(4), 110-130.

Saini, G. K., Rai, P., & Chaudhary, M. K. (2014). What do best employer surveys reveal about employer branding and intention to apply? Journal of Brand Management, 21, 95-111. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2013.10

Sears, D. (2003). Successful talent strategies: Achieving superior business results through market-focused staffing. New York: Amacom.

Sivertzen, A. M., Nilsen, E., & Olafsen, H. A. (2013). Employer branding: Employer attractiveness and the use of social media. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 22(7), 473-483. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-09-2013-0393

Schuler, R. S., Jackson, S. E., & Tarique, I. (2011). Global talent management and global talent challenges: Strategic opportunities for IHRM. Journal of World Business, 46(4), 506-516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2010.10.011

Slaughter, J. E., Cable, D. M., & Turban, D. B. (2014). Changing job seekers’ image perceptions during recruitment visits: The moderating role of belief confidence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(6), 1146-1158. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037482

Srivastava, P., & Bhatnagar, J. (2010). Employer brand for talent acquisition: An exploration towards its measurement. Journal of Business Perspective, 14(1/2), 25-34. https://doi.org/10.1177/097226291001400103

Urbancova, H., Richter, P., Kucirkova, L., & Jarkovska, M. (2017). Employer branding in the agricultural sector: Making a company attractive for the potential employees. Agricultural Economics, 63(5), 217-227. https://doi.org/10.17221/338/2015-AGRICECON

Verčič, T. A., & Ćorić, S. D. (2018). The relationship between reputation, employer branding and corporate social responsibility. Public Relations Review, 44, 444-452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2018.06.005

Weigelt, K., & Camerer, C. (1988). Reputation and corporate strategy: a review of recent theory and applications. Strategic Management Journal, 9(5), 443-454. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250090505