London South Bank IHRM People Resourcing

Critically examine the impact of

national legal frameworks, with

particular reference to resourcing, on the work of international human resource managers

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International Strategic Personnel & Development MHR-M-160        3

London South Bank University

Faculty of Business, Computing and information System

Term of Reference

The main focus of this report is to  explain the concept  of employer branding. How much value it adds to the organization. To examine employer branding from organizations view and to focus on the  idea of  employee living the brand  is it controlling or  unethical.

Introduction

In todays competitive markets, where companies want individuals with   the best  talent, employer brand is important  when compared to various  factors like Job profile  and the reward and benefit package.

A strong employer brand attracts better applicants (Collins and Stevens, 2002; Slaughter et al., 2004) and shapes their expectations about their employment (Lievens and Highhouse, 2003).

Employer brand is the image of an organization as a great place to work in the minds of its current employees and key stakeholder.

An employer brand represents the core values of an organization. Companies that are considered good employers have a strong identity and an image in the marketplace.

Brands are among a firm’s most valuable assets and as a result brand management is a key activity in many firms. Although firms commonly focus their branding efforts toward developing product and corporate brands, branding can also be used in the area of human resource management.

The application of branding principles to human resource management has been termed “employer branding.” Increasingly, firms are using employer branding to attract recruits and assure that current employees are engaged in the culture and the strategy of the firm.

Employer branding is defined as “a targeted, long-term strategy to manage the awareness and perceptions of employees, potential employees, and related stakeholder with regards to a particular firm”  (Sullivan, 2004 cited in Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004). The employer brand puts forth an image showing the organization as a good place to work (Sullivan, 2004).

What is Employer Branding

First of all brand on its own as defined by  American Marketing Association, a brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them form those of the competitors. (Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004 )

A brand is more than just a sum of its component part. It embodies for the purchase or user additional attributes which whilst they might be considers by some to be intangible are still very real.( Chernatony and Malcolm McDonald, 2003).  Branding is a process, an ongoing practice where all the tangible and intangible elements that constitute a company’s image and reputation are organized and communicated. (Susan Hunt ).

 A brand may have many other meanings depending on the role it plays, the value it has and more importantly, to whom it is related. To brand owners, a brand is mainly a differentiation device: the living memory and the future of its products (Kapferer, 1997). To brand users, a brand may create an emotional bond with them which turns the brand into an icon. (Fan, 2005).

Branding  can be divided into two; external branding and internal branding.

External or consumer branding  works to influence customers’ propensity to purchase, repurchase and recommend company’s products and services. The goal of the company  is to become a product or provider of choice by manifesting key characteristics that the customer values. Customers are important to most firms, that is why the brand has to communicated well  to the customers.

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Employer or internal branding is the other part of branding  aspect focusing on the employer and how effective the brand is communicated internally. Employer or internal branding works to influence employees’ propensity to be attracted to, remain with and be motivated to sustain company business objectives.

Internal branding contributes to employee retention (Ambler and Barrow, 1996) by using the brand to reinforce the concept of quality employment and thereby contributing to employee willingness to stay with the organization.

Internal branding helps create a workforce that is hard for other firms to imitate. By systematically exposing workers to ...

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