The relationship between early recruitment-related activities and the application decisions of new labor-market entrants: a brand equity approach to recruitment

Living the employer brand during a crisis? A qualitative study on internal employer branding in times of the COVID-19 pandemic

Employer branding has emerged as a strategic imperative in the quest for talent. However, existing research has predominantly explored stable periods, overlooking the possible transformative impact of crises and the crucial role that HR managers play in crafting internal employer branding strategies. As such, this research addresses this by scrutinizing internal employer branding during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conducting in-depth interviews with 37 Belgian HR managers, we delve into the perceived challenges and opportunities that the COVID-19 crisis presented with respect to internal employer branding and its touchpoints-internal communication and leadership. A subsequent member and employee check with six HR managers and six employees validated our findings. The results unveiled organizations' heightened concern for employer branding during crises, emphasizing the strategic reflection invested. Remarkably, despite facing organizational/operational constraints/risks imposed by the crisis, the attention and efforts remain steadfastly centered on the experienced internal employer brand in crisis situations. Additionally, a contextual analysis suggests that various employer brand types face similar challenges in crises, however, the employer brand serves as a defining factor that shapes how an organization responds to both external uncertainties and internal dynamics brought about by the crisis. This study contributes to a nuanced understanding of internal employer branding dynamics during crises, shedding light on the strategic considerations of HR managers.

Assessing Medical Students' Preferences for Rural Internships Using a Discrete Choice Experiment: A Case Study of Medical Students in a Public University in the Western Cape

As new graduates are crucial in providing healthcare services in rural areas, this study aimed to identify and describe the rural facility attributes that attract medical students to apply for rural internships. A literature review and focus groups informed a discrete choice experiment conducted amongst graduating medical students at one public university in South Africa. One main effect using a mixed logit model and another main effect plus interaction model was estimated. Females (130/66.33%) of urban origin (176/89.80%) with undergraduate exposure to rural facilities (110/56.12%) were the majority. The main effects only model showed advanced practical experience, hospital safety, correctly fitting personal protective equipment, and the availability of basic resources were the strongest predictors of rural internship uptake. Respondents were willing to forgo 66% of rural allowance (ZAR 2645.92, 95% CI: 1345.90; 3945.94) for a facility offering advanced practical experience. In contrast, increased rural allowance and housing provision were weak predictors of rural work uptake. Based on the interaction model, females and those not intending to specialise preferred hospital safety compared to advanced practical experience. To improve internship recruitment, rural facility managers should provide staff with supervision, safety, and protection from occupational exposure to contractible illnesses.

Occupation-specific recruitment: An empirical investigation on job seekers’ occupational (non-)fit, employer image, and employer attractiveness

Organizations may need to attract occupational groups they did not recruit so far to implement strategic changes (e.g., digital transformation). Against the backdrop of this practical problem, this study introduces and explores an occupation-based measure of person-organization fit: occupational fit. I investigate its relationship with employer attractiveness based on human capital theory and explore the role of employer image as a moderator in this relationship. I surveyed 153 software engineers and mechanical engineers to analyze whether their occupational fit with software engineering and mechanical engineering firms is related to employer attractiveness. I find that occupational fit is only related to a firm’s employer attractiveness among software engineers. Employer image does not moderate this relationship. A qualitative follow-up study proposes first explanations for the unexpected differences between the two occupations by indicating that occupations may differ in the logic they apply to determine fit and their degree of professionalization. The study contributes to research by highlighting the neglected role of occupation in recruitment research and exploring potential boundary conditions of recruitment for fit. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Organizational reputation: does it mediate the effect of employer brand attractiveness on intention to apply in Indonesia?

This study aims to examine the role of organizational reputation in mediating the influence of employer brand attractiveness on intention to apply. Organizational reputation has an essential role in attracting potential talent to apply for an organization, as organizational reputation is an intangible and valuable resource to gain the competitive advantage that shows the working atmosphere in the organization. The study investigated organizational reputation as a mediating variable on the relationship between employer brand attractiveness as an independent variable and intention to apply as a dependent variable. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed to 425 respondents. Respondents for this study were final-grade students from public universities in Indonesia. The path analysis technique was used to analyse the data. The result shows that employer attractiveness significantly influences the intention to apply. The result also reveals that employer brand attractiveness significantly affects the organizational reputation. Meanwhile, organizational reputation does not influence the intention to apply. Therefore, organizational reputation does not mediate the influence of employer brand attractiveness on the intention to apply. From this study, organizations can learn how to design programs that can improve employer brand attractiveness, particularly among gen millennials.

Artificial intelligence video interviewing for employment: perspectives from applicants, companies, developer and academicians

Purpose

In 2018, an artificial intelligence (AI) interview platform was introduced and adopted by companies in Korea. This study aims to explore the perspectives of applicants who have experienced an AI-based interview through this platform and examines the opinions of companies, a platform developer and academia.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a phenomenological approach. The participants, who had recent experience of AI video interviews, were recruited offline and online. Eighteen job applicants in their 20s, two companies that have adopted this interview platform, a software developer who created the platform and three professors participated in the study. To collect data, focus group interviews and in-depth interviews were conducted.

Findings

As a result, all of them believed that an AI-based interview was more efficient than a traditional one in terms of cost and time savings and is likely to be adopted by more companies in the future. They pointed to the possibility of data bias requiring an improvement in AI accountability. Applicants perceived an AI-based interview to be better than traditional evaluation procedures in procedural fairness, objectivity and consistency of algorithms. However, some applicants were dissatisfied about being assessed by AI. Digital divide and automated inequality were recurring themes in this study.

Originality/value

The study is important, as it addresses the real application of AI in detail, and a case study of smart hiring tools would be valuable in finding the practical and theoretical implications of such hiring in the fields of employment and AI.

What are job seekers attracted to? Examining the importance of organizational attributes across four types of job seekers in Poland and France

Purpose

The current study has two major aims: (1) investigate the factor structure and importance ratings of attributes in France vs Poland and (2) compare the importance ratings of the attribute signals sent by potential employers during the recruiting process across four different types of job seekers (i.e. new entrants, short-term unemployed, long-term unemployed and currently employed).

Design/methodology/approach

First, using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the authors compare the fit of several proposed models and identify the best fit using the combined job seeker sample. The authors then examine the fit of the selected model for the France and Poland samples separately. Finally, we compare the attribute importance rating factors across groups using a Country by Job Seeker multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).

Findings

The CFA results on the combined sample showed that a six factor-solution with two higher-order factors (organization- and job-attributes) provided the best fit and held for both France and Poland. MANOVA results showed a significant interaction between type of job seeker and country for organizational characteristics, and main effects of country and job seeker for work–life values and characteristics.

Originality/value

Most past research on the importance of job attribute factors focused on new entrants in the United States. This study provides the first examination of job attribute factors across different countries, France and Poland, and other types of job seekers.

The Mediating Role of Patients' Trust Between Web-Based Health Information Seeking and Patients' Uncertainty in China: Cross-sectional Web-Based Survey

BACKGROUND

In the physician-patient relationship, patients' uncertainty about diseases and the lack of trust in physicians not only hinder patients' rehabilitation but also disrupt the harmony in this relationship. With the development of the web-based health industry, patients can easily access web-based information about health care and physicians, thus reducing patients' uncertainty to some extent. However, it is not clear how patients' web-based health information-seeking behaviors reduce their uncertainty.

OBJECTIVE

On the basis of the principal-agent theory and the perspective of uncertainty reduction, this study aims to investigate the mechanism of how web-based disease-related information and web-based physician-related information reduce patients' uncertainty.

METHODS

A web-based survey involving 337 participants was conducted. In this study, we constructed a structural equation model and used SmartPLS (version 3.3.3; SmartPLS GmbH) software to test the reliability and validity of the measurement model. The path coefficients of the structural model were also calculated to test our hypotheses.

RESULTS

By classifying patients' uncertainties into those concerning diseases and those concerning physicians, this study identified the different roles of the two types of patients' uncertainty and revealed that web-based disease-related information quality and web-based physician-related information can act as uncertainty mitigators. The quality of disease-related information reduces patients' perceived information scarcity about the disease (β=-.588; P<.001), and the higher the information scarcity perceived by patients, the higher their uncertainty toward the disease (β=.111; P=.02). As for physician-related information, web-based word-of-mouth information about physicians reduces patients' perceived information scarcity about the physician (β=-.511; P<.001), mitigates patients' fears about physician opportunism (β=-.268; P<.001), and facilitates patients' trust (β=.318; P<.001). These factors further influence patients' uncertainty about the physician. In addition, from the test of mediating effect, patients' trust in the physician fully mediates the relationship between their perceived information scarcity about the physician's medical service and their uncertainty about the physician. Patients' trust also partially mediates the relationship between their fear of the physician's opportunism and their uncertainty about the physician. As for the two different types of uncertainty, patients' uncertainty about the physician also increases their uncertainty about the diseases (β=.587; P<.001).

CONCLUSIONS

This study affirms the role of disease-related web-based information quality and physician-related web-based word-of-mouth information in reducing patients' uncertainties. With regard to the traits of principal-agent relationships, this study describes the influence mechanism based on patients' perceived information scarcity, fears of physicians' opportunism, and patients' trust. Moreover, information about physicians is effective in reducing patients' uncertainties, but only if the information enhances patients' trust in their physicians. This research generates new insights into understanding the impact of web-based health information on patients' uncertainties.

Employer branding and psychological contract in family and non-family firmsEmployer branding e contrato psicológico em empresas familiares e não familiaresEmployer branding y contrato psicológico en empresas familiares y no familiares

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess differences between employees of family and non-family firms regarding their perceptions of employer branding and psychological contract levels. Moreover, focusing on family firms, the authors assess the relation between the employees’ perceptions of employer branding and the psychological contract levels.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical evidence is provided by a sample of 165 Portuguese employees, 76 employees of family firms and 89 non-family firms’ employees, who responded to a questionnaire that included employer branding and psychological contract measures. All respondents study in small and medium-sized private companies.

Findings

The results confirmed the research hypotheses, suggesting that employees of family companies show higher perceptions of employer branding and psychological contract levels than employees of non-family companies. Results also reveal that the perceptions of employer branding are positively related to the psychological contract levels of the family firm’s employees.

Originality/value

This paper aims to contribute to the literature by addressing two contemporary organizational aspects yet under-addressed in the comparison between family and non-family firms while pursuing to offer insights on the relationship between the perceptions of employer branding and levels of the psychological contract of employees working in family firms.

Measuring an employer brand: a study towards valid scale development (as a second-order factor of a structural model)

Purpose

The study aims to conceptualise, develop and validates a scale to measure an employer brand(ing) (EB) based on the opinion of existing and potential employees.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 431 student-respondents from B-Schools across India were surveyed in a cross-sectional study using a 70-item scale generated through literature review and expert interviews. Through exploratory factor analysis, six EB dimensions were derived. These were further validated using confirmatory factor analysis on data of 120 employees of the power sector.

Findings

A new 20-item EB scale- “EmBran” covers six dimensions of EB, namely, good human resource (HR) practices, business impression and work conditions, financial compensation, work-life balance, passive culture and standard HR policy. The paper posits EB as a second-order factor determined by six first-order factors.

Practical implications

The EB scale can be used by talent acquisition teams to derive meaningful insights into designing a policy for hiring and attracting young talent. It, thus, makes a significant contribution towards talent management. The scale also provides researchers with a fresh conceptualisation of the concept of the EB.

Originality/value

This study is unique as it considers the opinions of both existing and potential employees. Additionally, dimensions of passive culture and business impression and working conditions, emerged in the study.

Employer brand to leverage employees’ intention to stay through sequential mediation model: evidence from Indian power sector

Purpose

This study aims to explain the linkage between employer branding and employee retention; a sequential mediation is hypothesized, where it is proposed that the relationship between employer branding and employee retention is sequentially mediated by person–organization fit (P-O fit) and organizational identification.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample belongs to 224 executive-level employees of the Indian power sector organization. The sequential mediation model is tested by using SPSS macro command of Preacher and Hayes.

Findings

The findings established that the relationship between employer brand and employees’ intention to stay is sequentially mediated by P-O fit and organizational identification.

Practical implications

The findings emphasize the role of employer brand on constructs such as P-O fit, organizational identification and intention to stay. In addition, the established mechanism emphasizes the role of P-O fit to realize the benefits such as organizational identification and employee retention.

Originality/value

Internal branding efforts may have a major impact on workforce attitude and behavior including engagement, job performance and retention. “Yet studies of the positive impact of employer brand on employee attitudes and behaviors, or of the factors that shape employer brand, are rare” (Charbonnier-Voirin et al., 2017, p. 2). Along the line of such gap, this study has taken up to test the unexplored sequential mediation mechanism between employer brand and employees’ intention to stay through P-O fit and organizational identification.

High-involvement HRM and positive WOM intentions: a mediation model

Purpose

This study proposes and tests a conceptual model hypothesizing that perceived high-involvement human resource practices (HIHRPs) influence organizational members’ positive word-of-mouth (PWOM) intentions, via the mediating mechanisms of perceived organizational support (POS) and positive affect (PA).

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaire data were collected from 194 working individuals and were analyzed by using structural equation modeling and the SPSS PROCESS macro.

Findings

The findings of this study are as follows: perceived HIHRPs had a significant positive influence on organizational members’ POS and PA; POS and PA were each significantly and positively related to PWOM intentions; the relation between HIHRPs and PWOM intentions was significantly mediated by POS and significantly mediated by PA; when included in one model, POS and PA together fully mediated the relationship between HIHRPs and PWOM intentions.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first to develop and empirically test a model identifying the HR determinants of personnel’s PWOM intentions, an area overlooked within the human resource management and organizational behavior literature. The study is also the first to examine the mediating effects of POS and PA on the relationship between HIHRPs and PWOM intentions.

How can hospitals engage their current employees in the recruitment of qualified nurses? A referral bonus and self-determination perspective

AIMS

To investigate the impact of promising a referral bonus and an autonomous referral request on nurses' referral likelihood and the quality of their referrals.

DESIGN

We applied a 2 × 2 between-participants factorial design with referral bonus and autonomous referral request as experimental variables.

METHODS

In May 2019, 110 nurses working in Belgian hospitals were shown a fictitious e-mail with a request from their employer to look for potential new-hires and filled out an online survey measuring referral likelihood and quality.

RESULTS

Promising a referral bonus did not affect nurses' referral likelihood and quality. Instead supporting self-determination theory, nurses exposed to the autonomous request were more likely to refer and assure referral quality than those exposed to the controlling request.

CONCLUSION

Hospitals can increase nurses' referral likelihood and quality by framing their referral request in an autonomy-supportive way.

IMPACT

Recruiting nurses are more important than ever in the current Covid-19 crisis. Our findings offer practical insights on how hospitals can engage their employees in the recruitment of nurses (i.e. through framing referral requests in an autonomy-supportive way).

Choice Between Salary and Employer Brand: The Roles of Materialism and Inclination to Develop an Identity-Motives-Based Relationship With an Employer Brand

Despite recent interest in individual differences in psychological meanings of consumer brands, the concept of psychological employer brand as a factor independent of particular brands has not been examined. Drawing on an instrumental-symbolic framework, person-organization fit literature, and theory and research on salary and materialism, and combining consumer brand approaches with motivated identity construction theory, we examine the role of materialism and identity-motives-based inclination for the self-employer brand relationship in the situation of a dilemma between two job offers: one proposed by a strong employer brand with an unattractive salary and one from a subjectively weak brand with an attractive salary. A homogenous sample of 101 university students in academic fields related to financial careers participated in a quasi-experimental study. We found that participants preferred the offer from the weak employer brand with an attractive salary compared to the strong employer brand with an unattractive salary; however, supporting our hypothesis, those who preferred this offer anticipated lower job satisfaction. Following expectations, materialism negatively and inclination for self-employer brand relationship positively predicted preferences and evaluations of the unattractive salary offer proposed by the strong employer brand. However, materialism negatively predicted anticipated job satisfaction regarding this offer, as well as positively predicting evaluation of the weak brand with attractive salary job offer. Despite all the detailed hypotheses not being supported, the findings confirm the role of materialism in job offer preference and introduce the inclination to develop an identity-motives-based relationship with an employer brand as an important factor in reactions toward different employer branding recruitment strategies. We discuss the results in light of previous theories and research on person-organization fit, materialism, and brand effects, and consider potential short- and long-term outcomes of recruitment strategies.

Employer Branding Implementation and Human Resource Management in Greek Telecommunication Industry

Even though employer branding has its origins back to the 1990s, only after 2001 did it become a hot topic for human resource (HR) management. Ever since, a series of researchers and professionals have made an effort to understand how the image that job seekers have about employers is shaped and what benefits arise from this bilateral relationship. The Greek business environment delayed adoption of the most recently developed HR techniques, as a result of the economic crisis, and resulting decrease in working manpower, as well as budget reductions for HR. Only in the past few years have some of the leading companies in several business sectors started to implement employer branding as part of their corporate strategy. The current study aims to present how employer branding is actually under implementation in one of the most dynamic, national sectors—the telecommunication industry. Interviews in HR departments were conducted in order to collect (a) qualitative information regarding how employer branding is perceived and what results are expected from its implementation, as well as (b) quantitative data regarding its usefulness on attracting and choosing candidates, as well as evaluating existing employees. Results indicate that even though employer branding implementation is still an ongoing procedure, it has already started to transform HR departments’ operational logic.

The Effects of Regulatory Fit between Explanation Framing and Applicants' Regulatory Foci on Applicant Reaction

Drawing from regulatory fit theory and the literature on persuasion, the current study is the first to explore whether the fit between explanation framing and applicants' regulatory foci could enhance applicant reaction. We hypothesized that a positively framed explanation fits with applicants' promotion foci and that a negatively framed explanation fits with applicants' prevention foci. Three studies were conducted in which participants with different regulatory foci rated their perceived procedural fairness and organizational attractiveness after reading differently framed recruitment advertisements, rejection letters, and job offer letters. The results supported our hypothesis by showing significant interactions between explanation framing and participants' regulatory foci on procedural fairness and organizational attractiveness perception in the contexts of recruitment advertising and rejection letters. In these contexts, compared with receiving a negatively framed explanation, promotion-focused recipients reported higher levels of perceived fairness and organizational attractiveness after receiving a positively framed explanation, and promotion-focused recipients' fairness and attractiveness perceptions were higher than prevention-focused recipients', after receiving a positively framed explanation. Moreover, perceived procedural fairness mediated the relationship between regulatory fit and perceived organizational attractiveness. However, regulatory fit effects were not found in the context of job offer letters.

The Opportunity Presented by Technological Innovation to Attract Valuable Human Resources

Technological innovation fostered by the use of the Internet and social networks in the business context requires the modification of the human resources (HR) management process to use the opportunities to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage. This paper analyzes the opportunities provided by technological innovation, which allows for the development of a new e-recruitment and selection process to access and attract valuable HR regardless of their geographical location. Adapting the traditional selection process, companies can incorporate new 2.0 selection techniques that generate an extraordinary improvement opportunity in human resource management. Given the need for members of the human resources department to master new technologies in order to maximize the benefits of e-recruitment and selection, the aim of this work is to carry out a case study in a leading company in the mechanical engineering sector. To this end, we will start by reviewing the literature. Then, the work offers a model of HR management considering the influence of technological innovation on the attraction of valuable human resources, integrating the previous theoretical contributions of experts in the field. Based on the observation of the case study, the results show the main factors, human resource practices, and management results and behaviors undertaken by a multinational company. The case study allows researchers to learn from professionals and business leaders and presents a roadmap that can be used to manage e-recruitment and selection.

The influence of employer rankings, employment experience, and employee characteristics on employer branding as an employer of choice

Purpose

Drawing on the psychological contract theory and signaling theory, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine the effect of employer rankings and employment experience on employee recommendation of an employer as an employer of choice and second, to examine whether these effects vary by employee characteristics (i.e. full-time vs part-time, current vs former and newcomers vs established employees).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used multilevel logistic regression on a sample of 39,010 Glassdoor employee reviews, drawn from the companies for which three-year employer rankings (from 2015 to 2017) were available, to achieve our research objectives.

Findings

The results show that employment experience influenced employees’ recommendation of an employer as an employer of choice. The average standardized rankings for three years (i.e. 2015–2017) was also associated with employees’ recommendation of an employer as an employer of choice. Employee characteristics such as employment type (i.e. full-time vs part-time), employment status (i.e. current vs former) and tenure significantly interacted with employment experience in affecting recommendations of a company as an employer of choice.

Originality/value

In contrast to the bulk of the research on employer branding that relied on job seekers, the authors studied factors that influence employees’ recommendation of an employer as an employer of choice, arguably the most important indicator of employer internal brand strength. The results offer fresh theoretical and practical insights in an area where research lags far behind practice.

Impact of word-of-mouth, job attributes and relationship strength on employer attractiveness

Purpose

Job information through word-of-mouth (WOM) has a crucial impact on employer attractiveness. The phenomenal rise of social media offers alternate WOM platforms for sharing job information, which is quite different from traditional face-to-face WOM. The purpose of this paper is to examine the differential impact of traditional word-of-mouth (t-WOM) and social media word-of-mouth (s-WOM) on employer attractiveness along with the difference in the job attributes and relationship strength with the information source.

Design/methodology/approach

A 2 × 2 × 2 experiment was conducted to examine the impact of information source (t-WOM and s-WOM), job attributes (tangible and intangible) and relationship strength (strong and weak), on employer attractiveness. Source expertise and source trust were treated as the control variable.

Findings

The result shows the differential impact of t-WOM and s-WOM on employer attractiveness. Moreover, t-WOM from strong relation source found to have a high impact on employer attractiveness than s-WOM. No significant difference due to job attributes was found.

Research limitations/implications

Use of only positive WOM and not the negative one, student as the subjects, etc.

Practical implications

The present study suggests using t-WOM and s-WOM to attract talented job seekers.

Originality/value

This is the first study to analyze the differential impact of t-WOM and s-WOM on employer attractiveness.

The role of affective states in potential applicants’ evaluations of employer attractiveness

What role do emotions play as a job seeker eyes up a potential employer? Our contribution to research into employer attractiveness explores the role that affective states play in potential applicants’ subjective perceptions of companies’ employer attractiveness in the early phase of job seeking. We adopt a concurrent verbalization approach to inquire into qualified potential applicants’ processes of interpreting employer branding material. Based on these data, we provide insights into the neglected role of emotions in research on potential applicants’ assessments of the appeal of an organization. The findings from a multistep qualitative data analysis produce the following four propositions: (1) strong emotions influence the outcome of the opinion-making process; (2) negative emotions play a crucial role in potential applicants’ evaluations of employer attractiveness; (3) some contents of employer information elicit negative emotions, whereas their complementary counterparts do not elicit positive affective reactions; and (4) expectations towards an employer and comparisons among employers influence potential applicants’ sentiments about individual employers.

A study on the effectiveness of aesthetically appealing print recruitment advertisement

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the nature of intervention of job seeker’s perception of organizational attraction and attitude toward ad and organization in the application intention produced by aesthetics of print job ads.

Design/methodology/approach

An aesthetically appealing faculty-opening job advertisement was used as stimuli and around 250 responses to an administered questionnaire were collected from among job seekers in the academic domain. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypothesis.

Findings

According to the results of the study, aesthetic features of print recruitment ad, even though insignificant in directly inducing job seeker intention to apply, significantly enhanced their organizational attraction and attitudes, and thereby, their application intention. Therefore, job seeker’s perception of organizational attractiveness and attitude were found to full mediate this relationship, regardless of the job seekers’ degree of familiarity with the organization.

Practical implications

This study encourages recruiters in the academic job sectors to design and administer aesthetically appealing job advertisements to maximize the high talent pool of applicants from which to choose.

Originality/value

This study is the first of its kind in the Indian context in terms of print recruitment advertising. This study is also original in reporting organizational attraction and attitude towards ad and organization as mediators of application intention produced by ad aesthetics.

Importance-performance analysis as a tool to guide employer branding strategies in the IT-BPM industry

Purpose

Based on attribute research in marketing, importance-performance analysis (IPA) provides a useful analogy to examine employer branding concepts. The purpose of this paper is to use IPA to evaluate employees’ perceptions of important employer value proposition (EVP) attributes and their corresponding psychological contract fulfillment scores. IPA is applied to 40 EVP attributes and their corresponding EVP dimensions – “Economic Value”, “Development Value”, “Social Value”, “Work Value” and “Employer Reputation.” Further, the paper examines the difference between highly engaged and less engaged employees in their relationship to importance and fulfillment of the five EVP dimensions.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were drawn from information technology-business process management employees (n=520) in India through a questionnaire survey. The IPA matrix was used to plot the importance and fulfillment scores. Independent samples t-test was used to assess the difference between high and low engagement scores.

Findings

The results indicate that several EVP attributes fall within the “Concentrate Here” quadrant that requires more focus. With respect to EVP dimensions, social value needs focus; economic value received “Low Priority”; and work value and employer reputation are identified as “Potential Overkill.” The findings also suggest that, organizations should engage employees across all dimensions, by both prioritizing and fulfilling their obligations promptly.

Practical implications

The study highlights the need for HR practitioners and academicians to draw insights from attribute research in marketing to effectively devise the employer branding strategy of individual organizations.

Originality/value

This paper is the first of its kind to apply IPA to EVP attributes, which contributes to the growing literature on employer branding.

Employer brand and its unexplored impact on intent to join

Purpose

The purpose for this paper is to determine the various dimensions of employer brand in the IT sector of India and analyse their impact on the final intent of the candidates to join an organisation. A five-factor employer brand (EB) model and three-factor intent to join (ITJ) model have been tested for reliability and validity through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). A structural model is empirically tested with EB as independent variable and ITJ as dependent variable through structured equation modelling.

Design/methodology/approach

The items for the independent variable EB are generated with the help of literature and semi-structured interviews with final-year student placement coordinators of B.Tech and MCA, studying in central, state and deemed universities of India. For ITJ, the variables are adopted from the literature and confirmed through CFA in the Indian context. Structured equation modelling has been used to analyse the relationship between EB and ITJ.

Findings

Five dimensions of EB were explored as growth and development opportunity, company’s reputation, acceptance and belongingness, work–life balance and ethics and CSR. ITJ was found to be composed of intent to pursue, employer’s attractiveness and employer’s reputation. EB has been found to be an effective contributor to ITJ.

Research limitations/implications

The current study has been conducted in the IT sector, and other sectors have not been included. The universities considered for the study were limited to central, state and deemed universities of India. Apart from intention to join, there are other attitudinal and behavioural aspects that have not been included in the current study.

Originality/value

This study gives empirical evidence on EB to be an important antecedent of ITJ from the perspective of prospective employees of a developing nation.

To Be Yourself or to Be Your Ideal Self?

Abstract. Recruitment research on person–organization fit has typically focused on organizations’ fit with potential applicants’ actual self, not considering other possible self-images. Based on image congruity theory, we investigate how actual and ideal self-congruity relate to application intentions and intentions to spread word-of-mouth. In a first study, conducted in Belgium, actual and ideal self-congruity related positively to both outcomes. The relation with application intentions was equally positive for actual and ideal self-congruity. Ideal self-congruity showed a stronger positive relation with word-of-mouth intentions. A second study replicated these findings in the United States and tested for social adjustment concern (need to impress others) as a moderator. As social adjustment concern increased, relations of both outcomes with ideal (actual) self-congruity were stronger (weaker).

Dimensions of job advertisement as signals for achieving job seeker’s application intention

Purpose

Grounded in the concept of signaling theory and instrumental-symbolic framework, the purpose of this paper is to develop a model to examine the impact of print job advertisement (ad) dimensions (message contents) and organizational familiarity on job seeker’s perception of attitude, organizational attractiveness, and application intention.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a theoretical exploration based on existing literature.

Findings

The presence of instrumental and symbolic attributes in print job advertisement such as job and work characteristics, aesthetics, employee testimonial/picture, corporate image enhancing statements, organizational culture-enhancing statements, and human resource offerings are more likely to play influential roles in creating favorable attitude, organizational attractiveness, and application intention in a job seeker. Apart from this, organizational familiarity plays a moderating role on job seeker’s attitude formation and in gaining organizational attractiveness.

Practical implications

The study offers a clear guideline to recruiting organizations, HR managers, recruitment agencies, or consultants on how to design a recruitment advertisement to pool a large number of potential applicants. The study also throws light on testing the effectiveness of a recruitment advertisement, similar to commercial ads. Moreover, the outcome of testing would help the recruiters understand the pulse of the job seeker toward the ad, job, and organization.

Originality/value

This study theoretically clarifies the role of instrumental and symbolic attributes or dimensions of job ads and the role of organizational familiarity in inducing positive attitude formation and organizational attractiveness, in the process that cultivates application intention in a potential job seeker.

Organisational talent management and perceived employer branding

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential impact of organisational talent management practices on perceived employer branding. Talented employees are the lifeline of any organisation who contribute effectively to the organisation’s success. Talented workforce and their organisational attraction to remain productive act as a primary competitive enabler for the organizational performance. Employer branding now becomes a key factor to achieve success in business which engenders cognitive and emotional association along with positive involvement at workplace among organizational members. In the context of economic competitiveness and globalisation, employers are experiencing challenge in attracting and retaining talented workers.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses quantitative design; questionnaire survey method was used for assessing the organisational talent management and employer branding. Data have been collected through a sample of 232 executives’ class employees from various coal and iron mining industries located in Indian subcontinents. Finally, 197 responses were found to be acceptable for analysis. Hypotheses were tested using a comparison of means, correlations and multiple regression analysis.

Findings

Findings of the paper show that organisational talent management is strongly and positively with the perceived employer branding. Regression analysis showed that among the eight dimensions of organisational talent management, the predictors that are most effective in predicting the employer branding are, namely, rewards and remunerates fairly, manages work–life balance and attracts and recruits talent.

Research limitations/implications

This paper was limited by a small sample size and the use of a cross-sectional design is not done. On the ground of analysis, more specific approach is required to apply the findings to the general population.

Originality/value

Much of the work on employer branding is conceptual based on marketing principle and limited to deal with potential employees. This paper provides empirical evidence from the internal/current employees’ perspective, by investigating the relationship between organisational talent management practices and organisational attraction internally, that is, perceived employer branding. Present paper contributes significantly to the implication and understanding of social exchange theory, internal branding theory and social identity theory in organisational setting (Eisenberger et al., 1986; Liden et al., 1997; Masterson et al., 2000; Settoon et al., 1996; Wayne et al., 1997).

Cultural values matter

As the economic footprint of developing countries increases, talent management grows in importance for foreign multinational companies in emerging markets. Multinational companies, however, face fierce competition for local talent, and competitive recruiting calls for practical knowledge about the personal traits of job applicants. The present study applies a cross-cultural perspective to this issue, exploring how individually held cultural values influence the attractiveness of Japanese companies in Malaysia. Drawing on similarity-attraction theory and person–organization fit theory, the study quantitatively analyses data from a paper-based survey of 245 prospective jobseekers. The findings indicate that an individual cultural value fit with the foreign company’s country of origin is significant predictors of employer attractiveness. Specifically, the study finds that potential Malaysian jobseekers who are lower in power distance and higher in risk aversion and long-term orientation view Japanese companies as attractive future employers and have higher job-pursuit behavior. Based on this finding, the study discusses theoretical and practical contributions to corporate employment strategies.

Revealing the family

Purpose

Attracting and retaining a skilled labor force represents an important source for competitive advantage for organizations. In the European context, one of the greatest challenges that small- and medium-sized family firms face is attracting high quality non-family applicants. Researchers argue that one of the reasons for this difficulty is tied to the perception that non-family applicants have about family firms as a place to work. The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions that applicants have about family firms and their willingness to work in family firms in the German context.

Design/methodology/approach

Using principles from signaling theory, an experiment was conducted to explore the effects that information about family ownership and organizational age had on the perceptions about a firm (i.e. job security, advancement opportunities, prestige, task diversity, and compensation), and applicant’s attractiveness to it.

Findings

Based on the responses from 125 individuals in Germany, the authors found that explicitly communicating information about family ownership did not influence applicant perceptions about the firm or attractiveness to it. Although, information about organizational age affected perceptions of compensation, it did not affect attractiveness to the firm.

Originality/value

This study presents one of the first papers that focuses on the perceptions that non-family applicants have about family firms as a place to work in the European context. Thus, it provides a baseline for comparison to applicant perceptions in other European countries.

Signalling to young knowledge workers through architecture? A conjoint analysis

In this article, we examine corporate architecture as an effective signal to knowledge workers in the recruiting process. Two types of corporate architecture that are common in the knowledge economy are distinguished: traditional functionalist and new functionalist architecture. New functionalist architecture combines a flat, transparent facade with semi-open office layouts including areas for social interaction. Holistically these functional elements signal and symbolize a non-bureaucratic, non-hierarchical organization. A conjoint analysis provides a first attempt to quantify how much students care for new functionalist architecture. Students’ stated preferences imply that they would forgo on average 10% of their starting salary in order to work in the new functionalist rather than the traditional functionalist workplace. The magnitude of this effect supports the view that architecture matters for job choice. Limitations of our study and directions for future research are discussed.