ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It gives me a great pleasure while submitting the project on the topic “EMPLOYER

BRANDING.”

I would like to thank Mrs. Manish Shukla for guiding me throughout this project work.

And also I thank her for motivating me in different ways. She has been the

tremendous helping hand in completing this task in easy and efficient way I would also

like to thank Mr. Abhishek Singh for sparing his precious time and be the guiding spirit

throughout the project

I am also thankful to all those seen and unseen hands, which have been of direct or

indirect help in completion of this project work.

Employer Branding

“Employer branding” is an emerging discipline with its roots in classical marketing and HR principles. Its aim is to develop an image of the organisation as an “employer of choice” in the minds of existing and potential employees, as well as other stakeholders including customers and recruiters. The objective is not only to offer these tangible benefits, but to also develop an emotional link with them. A strong employer brand should connect an organization’s values, people strategy and HR policies and be linked to the company brand.

Definitions:

Sartain and Schumann (2006) defined employer brand as: "how a business

builds and packages its identity, from its origins and values, what it promises to

deliver to emotionally connect employees so that they in turn deliver what a business

promises to customers."

Brett Minchington (2005) defines employer branding as “the image of your

organization as a ‘great place to work’ in the mind of current employees and key

stakeholders in the external market (active and passive candidates, clients, customers

and other key stakeholders).”

Sullivan (2004) defines employer branding as "a targeted, long-term strategy to

manage the awareness and perceptions of employees, potential employees, and related

stakeholders with regards to a particular firm."

Ambler and Barrow (1996) define employer brand in terms of the benefits it

conveys on employees.

Employer branding is the process of promoting a company, or an organization, as the employer of choice to a desired target group, one which a company needs and wants to recruit and retain. The process facilitates the company’s ability in attracting, recruiting and retaining ideal employees – referred to as Top Talent in recruitment – and helps secure the achievement of the company’s business plan.

What Employer Branding is ??

A comprehensive recruiting strategy that positions your company in an attractive way

and makes it top of mind for potential candidates.

A focused corporate message that speaks to current and potential employees that

conveys the company’s culture and identity in a truthful and compelling manner.

n A long-term vision that encompasses the values, systems, policies and behaviours

which define what employers expect of their employees and what employees expect

of their employers.

What it’s not:

An advertising campaign – The employer brand is not just about developing a

catchy tagline!

A wish list of how the company would like to be perceived, i.e. promoting work-life

balance as a key benefit to attract candidates is a good idea, but if your organization

doesn’t have programs in place, the message won’t be credible.

A quick fix – it may be tempting to create an employer brand campaign to quickly

generate a rush of new applicants, but if you are not delivering on your promises,

retention will then become another challenge! Your organizational culture must be

nurtured over time.

Factors to consider before making an Employer Brand.

1.The main challenge: Before the organization set up an employer brand it is important to keep in mind “What are the major challenges organization is facing like struggle to attract candidate with right skill set , high turnover rates.

The next step is a) Identification of what an organization wishes to accomplish and set a baseline

metrics to measure success against it.

2)Who do you want to attract : Organization need to know who are the target employees.

a) What are their values and expectations?b) What are the tools they are using to search for jobs and potential employeesc) What are employees looking for future employer?

3) What do candidate go through when trying to apply to your company? – Exploring the application process through a candidate’s eye is of utmost importance. The key questions that comes under the purview of this area are :

a) Is the website engaging?b) Does the resume go through a black hole ?

All these factors are taken into consideration while making the overall brand and candidate experience

4) Why this particular organization- This step includes the reasons why people

will love to work for your company through Focus group and workshops.Key

factors to be kept in mind while doing this are:

a) Be objective: The process is about discovering what organizations culture is

about , not about the what an organization wishes to be .

b) Draw a comparison matrix – Drawing a comparison matrix to analyse the

input of senior management with what employees want is a great add on .Internal

problems must be addressed before launching an employer brand.

c) Buy-in for top management - Company culture must be a clear set of values

that are communicated and believed in from the top-down.

It is important to follow through on promises made during the onset of an

employee’s working relationship with the company.

History - The term "employer branding" was first publicly introduced to a

management audience in 1990,[5] and defined by Simon Barrow, chairman

of People in Business, and Tim Ambler, Senior Fellow of London

Business School, in the Journal of Brand Management in December

1996.This academic paper was the first published attempt to "test the

application of brand management techniques to human resource

management".

The Employer Brand Experience

An employer brand is the full physical, intellectual, and emotional

experience of people who work there, and the anticipated experience of

candidates who might work there. It is both the vision and the reality of

what it means to be employed there. It is both the promise and the

fulfillment of that promise. The employer brand radiating out of our

organization’s name inspires loyalty, productivity, and a sense of pride.

In marketing terms, a brand’s image is grounded in three dimensions: 

Functional benefits. What the product does, for example: “this

Canon digital camera takes good pictures” and “this particular

model is great for portraits, video, and long-distance shots.”

Emotional benefits. How a product makes the customer feel, for

example: “I feel happy when I see this beautiful shot of my kids”

and “I feel loving and fun when I e-mail these pictures to their

grandparents.”

Reasons to believe. Validation of the product’s claims, for

example: “Canon means reliability and ease of use” and “reviewers

on CNET.com rate the Canon digital camera as excellent.”

A solid employer brand is grounded in the same dimensions:

Functional benefits. Tangible rewards of working at the employer:

salary, health care, a clean, safe workplace, and a convenient

location; for example: “XYZ Co. has great compensation and has a

beautiful office near my home.”

Emotional benefits. Intangible rewards: mission, pride, status, job

satisfaction, companionship/collegiality, belonging to a “winning

team,” and so on; for example: “I’m proud to work for XYZ Co.—

my pals and I make the best widgets in the world.”

Reasons to believe. Validation of the employer’s claims; for

example: “my friend says XYZ Co. is a great place to work” and

“the local news station calls XYZ Co. a hot company for talented

people.

The functional and emotional benefits are used for “positioning,”

which means defining the unique combination of attributes that define

the product (or employer). XYZ Co.’s positioning says that it has a

winning culture combined with strong tangible rewards, which in

combination with other attributes creates a unique identity. XYZ’s

competitors will have different cultures, locations, compensation

packages, and so on.

Branding includes deliberate messages about the company. For

example, PepsiCo, which employs 153,000 employees worldwide,

promotes the tag line “PepsiCo—Taste the Success!” to candidates to

convey the excitement of working at this global company. On its

corporate recruiting Web site, PepsiCo says its workplace experience

is a combination of “Powerful Brands, Passion for Growth, Culture of

Shared Principles, Commitment to Results, Ability to Make an Impact

and Quality People.” Employees absorbed those qualities in ones

behavior.

Candidates form powerful impressions of employers based on what

one sees and hear. “I work for PepsiCo” means something different

from “I work for Microsoft,” “I work for Fox News,” and “I work for

the city council.” The employer brands at these organizations are

crafted to attract certain kinds of talent, temperament, and values in

candidates. Their positioning is unique and distinctive.

Every organization big or small has an employer brand whether they

know it or not. It touches all moments of the candidate and employee

experience, from the first time a candidate hears the name until the

day he or she retires from the company. It’s the reputation outside and

inside the organization. It’s there for the organization to neglect or

manage. And it’s the cornerstone of finding, hiring, and holding

keepers up and down the organization. In other words, it’s

fundamental to the all stages of the Engagement Cycle.

The idea of an employer brand has gained currency in the last few

years among business leaders, but the average manager doesn’t have a

developed view of what it is and its importance to the organization.

The Economist magazine found that executives defined an employer

brand as the expression of a company’s distinctive employment

experience. More than 70 percent of respondents in the United States

and United Kingdom expected that developing a strong employer

brand leads to employees recommending organization to others as an

attractive place to work, and also to higher employee retention

The employer brand is an authentic description of an experience,

similar to a consumer brand. It includes pay, working conditions,

culture, job title, intangible rewards, and the emotional connection

employees have with the organization and manager. It tells candidates

who you are, what you want, and what you stand for. As a marketer

attracts customers with a compelling product brand, a company

attracts candidates with a compelling employer brand.

Think an employer brand is more than a one-way description of “what

it’s like to work there.” It’s a multidimensional conversation among

the company’s leadership, its employees, candidates in the

marketplace, alumni, and even outsiders such as the press, bloggers,

and anyone else who has an opinion. The employer brand includes:

The Company’s professional reputation

A description of company culture.

News reports about the company, both good and bad.

Word-of-mouth statements about the company.

A description of the company’s future.

How the employer’s brand compares to the competition.

Beyond conversation, it’s also a set of subjective candidate

experiences, such as

Applying for a job on your Web site or via e-mail.

Interviewing for a position.

Talking to employees and walking through the workplace sites.

Using products, services, or customer help.

The company’s impact in the candidate’s community.

What emerges in the candidate’s imagination is a fuller story than any

recruiting slogan can capture: it’s an experience. Candidates pay

attention to an organization’s reputation and compare it to other

reputations. Employees are asked what it’s like to work there. In the

quest for quality, employer branding is the foundation of attracting the

right people. This is where the thought is given to the new candidate

comes together with the urgent need to bring great talent into the

organization. The new candidate, as noted, is empowered to compare

the organization to others, and start with the employer brand

Literature Review

Employer Branding concept across Globe

American Express, Cisco Systems, Amgen, Starbucks, and Intel, all of

which have received recognition on The List of 100 Best Companies

to Work for in America are leaders in Employer Branding as well.

"They all share the common trait of treating employees better than

their peers in industries, and all invest heavily in employee training

and development," states Hornung. Companies who don't invest in

developing an effective Employer Brand will, in the long run, be less

financially successful than those who are. As stated by States

Woltzen, "They will not be able to recruit or retain the high-

performing "

2002 Gallup survey reported that less than a quarter of American

workers are fully "engaged" in their work, costing the US economy

$300bn (and £50bn in the UK) per year. Gallup surveys in Great

Britain, France and Singapore revealed similar findings in 2003.

The surveys revealed that more than 80% of British workers lack any

real commitment to their jobs, with a quarter of those being "actively

disengaged," or truly disaffected with their workplaces. Gallup

estimates that actively disengaged workers cost the British economy

between £37.2 billion ($64.8 billion U.S.) and £38.9 billion ($66.1

billion U.S.) per year due to low employee retention, high absentee

levels, and low productivity.

Gallup survey results in 2003 also showed that only 12% of French

workers are engaged in their work, with approximately 2.5 times as

many workers (31%) being actively disengaged, or disconnected from

their jobs. In Singapore's workforce, the percentage of actively

disengaged employees is on the rise. At 17%, this figure is up five

percentage points from 2002. Gallup estimates that the lower

productivity of actively disengaged workers penalizes Singapore's

economic performance, costing between $4.9 and $6.7 billion

annually.

Recruiters in IT/ITES sectors are increasingly advising companies to

hire expert help for employer branding. "If you are not a first-mover

like Infosys or Wipro, then where is your USP?" asks Mr Gautam

Sinha, CEO, TVA Infotech, one of the largest IT recruitment firms in

the country.

Mr. Harish Bijoor, CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, calls this a

cusp activity between HR and marketing. "Internal branding is all

about activation of solutions that can be seen, touched, felt and

literally smelt by the employee every single day. Branding from the

external perspective is all about top-down branding. Internal branding

is a very bottom-up process."

Brand matters for beginners

In an employee-driven job market where companies vie with one

another to offer the 'biggest and the best' to the prospective candidate,

employer branding has shot up in priority, sometimes even surpassing

critical factors such as compensation and job role.

Brand name is what makes companies employers of choice at

campuses, emphasizes Prof S. Murali, Chairperson, Placements, at the

ICFAI Business School. Companies now send students of previous

batches as brand ambassadors to talk about the work atmosphere,

growth opportunity, salary and other attractions that companies offer.

Rishi Das, CareerNet Consulting, a consulting firm that has been

connecting engineering colleges with corporate, has had a different

experience with entry-level employees. "We have seen that in the top

20 colleges, it's the salary and the job role that matters. Brand name

only comes third, but in colleges that are ranked below the top 20,

salary and brand name are top priorities. Thus employer branding

includes all such tangible and non-tangible factors that create

satisfaction.

Gautam Sinha, CEO, TVA Infotech, a Bangalore-based IT recruitment

firm, says the brand name is the most important factor at entry level.

On a scale of 1-10, he says, most students would place brand name on

top. An opinion that is also influenced by parental views, he says. "At

campus placements, parental consent plays a critical role. Most

candidates choose big brands because of this, unless of course they

have specialized in niche subjects like robotics which big brands may

not offer. Thus as per the organization requirements employer brand

or the Trust generating factors should be culminated in the system.

One reason all employees look for big brands is not only because of

their current status, but also for reasons of future employability. K.

Sudarshan, Managing Partner, EMA Partners, a global search firm for

top-level talent, says senior people do look for companies reputed for

processes and systems. "A brand is essential to candidates when they

attend the interview and in the pre-screening process." He says

compensation is important, but they may rationalize on this but not on

ob role if a brand is important. Companies also realize that the better

known it is, the lesser the premium it has to pay for talent.

The importance of brand never fades throughout one's career though it

may come down by a notch or two, says Nirupama V G, Director, Ad

Astra, a recruitment consultant. "It's always the companies that make a

song and dance that win talent," she sums up.

Why Employer Branding important for HR?

In Research Insight Employer branding: fad or the future of HR? Dr

Shirley Jenner and Stephen Taylor of Manchester Metropolitan

University Business School suggest there are four main reasons why the

concept of employer branding has become prominent in recent years.

They identify these as:

Brand power

HR’s search for credibility

Employee engagement

Prevailing labour market conditions.

Brand power

The past 20 years have seen the rise of the brand as a central concept in

organizational and social life. Branding underpins a growing, influential

and profitable reputation management, PR, consultancy and recruitment

advertising industry. The past decade has seen unprecedented growth in

Brand Power

HR search for

credibility

Employee engagement

Prevailing Labour Market

conditions.

the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for investors,

employees and other stakeholders.

HR search for credibility

 

HR professionals continue in the search for credibility and strategic

influence. Embracing the language and conceptual tools of brand power

seems an obvious choice. This direction reflects continuity with earlier

iterations of HR, for example with organizational development and

culture change.

Employee engagement

Recent years have seen an increased interest in promoting employee

engagement. This includes attempts to recruit, socialize and retain a

committed workforce. From a branding perspective, the recruitment

proposition forms the basis for workplace satisfaction and identification

with organizational goals and values.

Labour market conditions 

The final driver identified by Jenner and Taylor was prevailing labour

market conditions. At the time of writing (2007) they pointed out that for

an extended period of time unemployment remained low and skills

shortages continued. Tight labour market conditions were combined with

a tough trading environment. Employers were thus obliged to compete

more fiercely with one another to recruit and retain effective staff, while

also being severely constrained in the extent to which they could pay

higher salaries in order to do so. A strong employer brand was being

promoted as the key to winning this ‘war for talent’ by establishing

organizations’ unique selling point in employment terms.

Since the time of writing, there has been a change in labour market

conditions with the economic downturn and rising unemployment.

However, in uncertain economic times, employer brand appears still

appears to be a relevant concept as organisations seek to motivate and

engage existing employees and need to tempt candidates for key positions

away from roles they perceive as ‘safe’ in their current organisations.

Businesses making employees redundant will need to consider how they

minimize damage to their reputation as an employer and consider the

impact on ‘survivors’ still with the company.

How can organisations benefit from developing an employer brand?

An employer brand can be used to help organisations compete effectively

in the labour market and drive employee loyalty through effective

recruitment,engagement and retention practices .All organizations have

an employer brand, regardless of whether they have consciously sought to

develop one. Their brand will be based on the way they are perceived as a

‘place to work’, for example by would-be recruits, current employees and

the employees who are supposed to leave the organization .

To be effective, the brand should not only be evident to candidates at the

recruitment stage, but should inform the approach to people management

in the organisation. For example, the brand can inform how the business

tackles:

induction

performance management and reward

managing internal communications

promoting effective management behaviors

exits from the organisation.

To deliver benefits, it is important that the employer brand is not merely

rhetoric espousing the organisation’s values, but is reflective of the actual

experience of employees. ‘People who like the job they do and the place

they work become advocates for it’.

The potential that can be unlocked from this advocacy is evident from

finding on employee attitudes and engagement . The survey on which the

report was based reveals that half of respondents would encourage friends

and family to do business with their organisation and just over half would

recommend it as a place to work, with only 19% prepared to do so

without being asked.

An employer brand approach involves research with employees to

understand their attitudes and behaviour, for example, through a staff

attitude survey. This employee insight data can inform metrics on ‘people

performance’ in the organisation, providing an opportunity to

demonstrate links to organisation performance.

The Psychological Contract

The ability of the business to add value rests on its front-line employees,

or 'human capital'. Organizations that wish to succeed have to get the

most out of this resource. In order to do this, employers have to know

what employees expect from the work. The psychological contract offers

a framework for monitoring employee attitudes and priorities on those

dimensions that can be shown to influence performance. The employer

brand can be seen as an attempt by the employer to define the

psychological contract with employees so as to help in recruiting and

retaining talent.

What Is A Psychological Contract?

The term “psychological contract’ was first used in the early 1960s, but became more

popular in early 1990s. It has been defined as “The perceptions of both parties to the

employment relationship, organization and individual, of the reciprocal promises and

obligations implied in that relationship”.

In the above, the inferred deal is the psychological contract. The psychological

contract comes into action as soon as the employment contract or the employment

offer, which is a commonly used term, is signed. Where the obligations under the

employment contract are formal, precise and physically signed, the obligations under

the psychological contract are informal, imprecise and unsigned. These obligations

may be seen as 'promises' through the employment contract, such as employer’s

promise to pay commensurate with performance, On the other hand the employee’s

promise to deliver the work as stated in the JD.

The others as 'expectations' through the psychological contract, such as employer’s

expectation of above average performance, a reasonably longer tenure, reporting on

time, uphold companies reputation, be courteous to clients and colleagues, be

honest and show loyalty to the organization, etc. and employee’s expectation of

opportunities for training and development, opportunities for promotions, recognition

for innovation, feedback, interesting tasks, respectful treatment, reasonable job

security and a reasonably pleasant and safe environment.

The most important thing in above is that the expectations are believed by the

employee to be part of the relationship with the employer and vice-versa.

Psychological contract – Its relation to the Expectancy Theory

This can also be related to the Expectancy Theory by Victor Vroom on employee

motivation. The theory focuses on three relationships, namely, Effort performance

relationship, Performance-reward relationship and Rewards-personal goals

relationship.

As per the theory an employee will be motivated to exert a high level of effort when

the effort will lead to a good performance appraisal; that a good performance

appraisal will lead to organizational rewards such as bonus, salary increase, or a

promotion; and that the reward will satisfy the employee’s personal goals.

Based on above it can be said that a psychological contract looks at the reality of the

situation as perceived by the parties, and may be more influential than the formal

contract in affecting how employees behave from day to day. It is the psychological

contract (expectation) that effectively tells employees what they are required to do in

order to meet their side of the bargain, and what they can expect from their job. It

may not - indeed be generally applicable and is influenced by a view of the

underlying relationship between employer and employee.

What has persuaded people to take the psychological contract seriously?

Changes currently affecting the workplace which has persuaded people to take it

seriously. These include:

The nature of jobs: more employees are on part time and temporary

contracts, more jobs are being outsourced, tight job definitions are out, and

functional flexibility is in.

Organizations have downsized and delayered: 'leanness' means doing

more with less, so individual employees have to carry more weight.

Markets, technology and products are constantly changing: customers

are becoming ever more demanding, quality and service standards are

constantly going up.

Technology and finance are less important as sources of competitive

advantage: 'human capital' is becoming more critical to business

performance in the knowledge-based economy.

Traditional organizational structures are becoming more fluid: teams are

often the basic building block, new methods of managing are required

Some inferences that can be drawn from the model of psychological contract

are:

1. The model of the psychological contract suggests that by adopting 'bundles' of HR

practices, employers are likely to improve business performance. Many employees

have substantial discretion as to how to do jobs: it is more likely that they will use

their discretion positively if they feel that they are being fairly treated.

2. Simply adopting positive HR polices is not enough: policies need to be translated

into practice if the same are to influence employee’s behaviour. The way in which it is

implemented by line managers is critical to the way in which employees respond.

3. Employees in large organizations do not identify any single person as the

'employer'. The line manager is important in making decisions about day-to-day

working. Another important task with the line manager is to manage the growing

expectation of the employee.

4. In order to display commitment, employees have to feel the treatment of fairness

and respect.

The Causes of Violations and It’s Effects

Violations can take many forms: Violation of a psychological contract may put into 3

basic categories namely

i. Inadvertent violation - Inadvertent violation occurs when both parties are willing and

able to keep the part of the bargain, but conflicting interpretations lead one party to

act in a manner at odds with the understanding of the other. An example of such a

violation would be two people who misconstrue the time of a meeting and therefore

fail the commitment to attend.

ii. Circumstantial violation - Disruption to the contract occurs when circumstances

make it impossible for one or both parties to satisfy the part of the contract, despite

the fact that they are willing to do so. For example, unexpected heavy traffic could

prevent an employee from arriving at work on time.

iii. Willful Breach - Breach of contract occurs when one individual, who is capable of

implementing the contract, refuses to do so and thereby intentionally creates a

violation.

It is the interpretation of the cause or source of these types of violation which

influences how the violation is experienced and consequently how the victims behave

in response.

There are four main courses of action an individual may take in response to a

perceived violation which can be divided into two dimensions: active-constructive,

passive-constructive, active-destructive and passive - destructive.

Reactions to Violation

i. Active constructive course - Under this usually an employee will approach the line

manager or a manager will call upon an explanation to the employee and verbalize

so far the unwritten and unspoken expectation. It is an active, constructive effort to

change the objectionable features in a situation and compensate for the violation

while remaining in the relationship.

ii. Passive constructive course - Silence is a form of non-response and reflects a

willingness to endure or accept unfavorable circumstances in the hope that they may

improve. As a passive, constructive response it serves to perpetuate the existing

relationship.

iii. Active destructive course – This is most common when voice channels do not

exist or if there is a history of conflict. It can involve neglect of one's duties to the

detriment of the interests of the other party or involve more active examples of

counterproductive behaviours. Vandalism, theft and work slowdowns are all

examples of this type of response.

iv. Passive destructive course - Under this either party is not willing to verbalize the

unspoken expectation, probably they believe there is no point in it. For e.g.

employers can terminate employees whose performance does not meet standards,

and employees can quit an untrustworthy or unreliable employer.

Avoiding a Breach

Employment relationships may deteriorate despite management’s best efforts:

nevertheless it is managers’ job to take responsibility for maintaining them.

Preventing breach in the first place is better than trying to repair the damage

afterwards. But where breach cannot be avoided it may be better to spend time

negotiating or renegotiating the deal, rather than focusing too much on delivery.

The most important tool for avoiding a breach is communication. By experience the

immediate manager/s know what an employee expects of the organization. Its only by

communicating to the employee’s the manager/s can covert those unsaid, imprecise

expectation into verbal statement. Once it is converted into a verbal statement, the

role then manager/s has to play is of a negotiator. Managers need to manage

expectations, for example through systems of performance management which

provide for regular employee appraisals. HR practices also communicate important

messages about what the organization seeks to offer its employers. But employee

commitment and 'buy-in' come primarily not from telling but from listening.

HR also can play crucial role by initiating programs like “Hot Seat” as was being

done by GE’s BPO at Gurgaon. In this the immediate reporting of the employees is

thrown questions and encourages employees to speak their minds.

This can be an effective tool for exploring how employees think and feel on a range of

issues affecting the workplace. In times of rapid change, managers and employees

frequently hold contrasting opinions about what is going on. Two-way

communication, both formal and informal, is essential as a form of reality check and a

basis for building mutual trust.

The psychological contract thus provides a convincing rationale for 'soft HRM', or

behaving as a good employer. It offers a perspective based on insights from

psychology and organizational behaviour rather than economics. It emphasizes

that employment is a relationship in which the mutual obligations of employer and

employees may be imprecise but have nevertheless to be respected. The price of

EMPLOYER BRANDING PROCESS

Research : Employer Branding begins with research . Initially one need to do

a) Internal analysis b) External Analysis