Employer branding definition - Assignment Example

Employer branding that had begun as an innovative advertising medium for organisations has now become an essential part of organisational strategy. Ambler and Barrow (1996) define employer branding as the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment and identified with the employing company (cited in Barrow & Moseley, 2005, p.xvi). Ambler and Barrow (1996) assert that employer branding helps in focusing on organisational priorities, increasing productivity, improving recr4uitment, retention and commitment.

This discourse explores different factors that necessitate employer branding and its benefits. A valued employer brand is preferred to money in current economy. Employers establish credibility through branding by adopting a myriad of practices and approaches, which includes a component of alignment of organisational values with HR strategies like employee satisfaction, employee motivation, trust, innovation, improved performance etc. Besides educating potential employees of the organisation’s policies and establishing a good image, employer branding also aims at employee retention by adopting practices that educate employees of organisational goals and commitment towards employees.

Employee retention is extremely important for organisations because of the time and costs invested in employees’ recruitment, training, and other facilities. It is also important to save employees from competitors that are constantly looking out to attract the best talent through money and/or other benefits. It is generally recognized that intellectual and human capital is the foundation of competitive advantage in the modern economy (Berthon Ewing & Hah, 2005, p.152). In this perspective, job sculpting has emerged as a path by which people are matched to the jobs thereby giving considerable significance to their deeply embedded life interests.

This way, organisations provide opportunities to their employees to pursue career goals of their interest, a great way to retain people (Findlay, 2008). Technological advances are driving employers to continuously seek innovation and higher expertise in order to tackle the global and local competition. Globalization has resulted in substantial decrease in available skills in the local markets; this has strengthened the need for employee retention, which organisations are achieving through employer branding.

A comprehensive program for employer branding is the total reward system in which HRM entails a wide competitive proposition as developed by Towers Perrin. This four-quadrant model comprises of transactional rewards and relational rewards. Transactional rewards are given to employees in relation to pay packages and benefits like pensions, holidays, healthcare etc (Armstrong & Brown, 2006). This is a comprehensive framework for implementing effective employer branding proposition that facilitates employee retention and also motivates employees through engagement, learning and development thereby enhancing employee commitment and organisational performance.

Moroco and Uncles (2008) conducted a qualitative research to assess characteristics of successful and unsuccessful employer brands; this study identified certain HR metrics, employment experience, and alignment between HR and marketing as the core indicators for successful employer branding. HR metrics graded against industry standards or average determine success of employer brand include percentage of job offers accepted; number of applicants per role; average length of tenure; average staff turnover; and level of staff engagement.

Considering employment as a product offered to employees, their experience with employment is dependent upon organisation’s culture, policies and processes. Further, marketing and HR functions play a significant role in providing the best employment experience through psychological contract between employees and the organisation. From HR perspective, employer branding aids in job satisfaction, employee motivation, employee