Owing to the dynamic environment, among leading and competitive organizations, acquisition and retention of the best and qualified employees has become crucial for the survival of the organization and for gaining a competitive advantage over other competitive organizations. It is evident from observations that human resources are the crown resource of the organization. Within a growingly saturated labour market employment and retention of premium human resources has become the core objective of businesses and employers. This has started a talent acquisition war among organizations.
It is very important that firms take steps to ensure talent acquisition and its retention to become competitive. Enterprises are focused on integrating the branding principles with strategic human resource management strategies and practices. Branding is a concept derived from marketing, and employer branding is defined as the process of applying branding principles to Strategic HRM, which is used to distinguish firms from competing firms by inviting, inspiring and engaging both potentials, as well as existing employees. Employer branding is focused on a firm’s individuality and uniqueness. A number of studies have concluded the organization as a brand only relates to organizational characteristics that may include quality and innovativeness, etc. based on organizational values, culture, programs, and most importantly, its people. In current times, employer branding is being used as a new tactic to attract new, talented and qualified employees along with ensuring the loyalty of the existing ones. So, it is not only an employee seeking strategy but also a strategy to ensure a trustworthy and appealing reputation of the organization.
Today’s enterprises are investing a generous amount of resources and efforts to achieve the ‘Best Employer’ status due to the increased competition for recruiting and selecting new talented employees alongside competing for new customers and a higher market share. The only reason for this change in business trend is to be able to differentiate and gain a competitive advantage over rivals. Employer branding directs the firm’s operational practices by building a strong corporate image of the firm in the market and transforming it into an attractive workplace. Today’s organizations value their intellectual assets more than their hard assets and physical resources. Increasing levels of importance for the recognition of the workforce, employee skills, employee knowledge and employee experiences are the sources of value for the firm and its stakeholders. This is why recruitment and retention of employees have become a major concern for organizations.
Due to the shift in recruitment trends of the businesses, it is crucial to study individuality, uniqueness and attractiveness in conjunction. As the organizations characteristically prefer to entice talent by developing an eye-catching employer image. Also, at the same time, guaranteeing that their built image is unswerving with employee’s opinions of the identity of the organization.
Employer Branding and Employee Retention
Employer branding helps in improving the recruitment of an organization, which helps to reduce recruitment costs. It also plays a vital role in improving a company’s employee retention which results in reduced levels of employee turnover. It is essential that while developing a positive employer brand in organizations, managers should understand the importance of certain factors which play an important role in attracting possible employees to the firm.
Employer branding is a contemporary approach that is continuously expanding and it can keep up the firms’ reputation in attracting and retaining employees. Organizations are concerned with what their employees think about them as an employer. Employer branding not only results in employee loyalty and retention but also enhances the urge in people to work for that organization, therefore employees’ word of mouth matters, whether it is negative or positive.
Employer branding is an employer retention method because it is highly influential for the whole employment experience as it also encourages a good work environment while reducing voluntary turnover. An organization makes use of its employer branding strategy to attract employees in their business that can stay with the company and influence the choice of employees to stay or leave the organization. Employee loyalty and retention depends on the image of the organization that the employer has developed in the employee’s mind, which is also important for attracting a new workforce.
Organizations with a strong brand image can acquire employees at comparatively low cost, improve employee relations, increase employee retention and offer lower pay scales as compared to its rivals. Employer branding consists of three crucial benefits for the organization associated with recruiting, retaining and performance. The recruitment process is generally very expensive due to advertising, which only reaches a specific number of people. For a company with a strong employer brand, the recruitment process will generate a pool of talented employees without advertising costs. It is due to the strong positive reputation of the company as an employer that the majority of the capable and talented workers would look for job openings in that specific firm, which would lead to reduced cost of the recruitment process.
A strong employer brand will make the organization a desirable place for a talented workforce and will attract potential employees. A strong employer brand will help in employee retention because the organization would be a desirable place to work and none of the employees would want to leave because every other organization will become less appealing to them. Also, if the organization is a desirable place to work, employees will enjoy working there which will increase their work performance.
