TITLE OF THE STUDY

A STUDY ON THE DIMENSIONS OF EMPLOYER BRANDING AMONG SELECT IT COMPANIES IN KERALA

Introduction Increasing competition in the global business environment expects the organisations to develop competitive advantage over other organisation not only to sell their products even to recruit new talents and to retain the best employees with them. Brands are among a firms 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 communicates the identity of an organisation to the public. It is the process of placing an image of being a great place to work in the minds of prospecting and existing employees. With the liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991 and the subsequent economic reforms, Indian companies are required to focus on employer branding even when they have a strong organization or customer brand. Backhaus & Tikoo (2004, p. 501) finds that Employer Branding represents a firms efforts to promote, both within and outside the firm, a clear view of what makes it different and desirable as an employer. This definition sees that these two different elements, internal and external branding, are under the top block of the pyramid, Employer Branding. Chhrabra and Mishra (2008, 57) have defined Employer Branding in the following way: Employer Branding is the process of creating an identity and managing the companys image in its role as an employer. An organization brand lives in the minds of its customers its employees. The customers may have positive or negative association with the brand. Problem Statement Aligning Marketing & HR functions is not an easy task as they are not integrated and in some cases both the departments do not talk, employee branding offers remedy to this problem by mixing best of marketing and HR practices. Employer branding helps companies to build a unique employer identity and to differentiate from competitors .The impact of employee branding on brand identification, brand commitment and brand performance has been researched in local context. The main purpose of the study is to find out how extensively employer branding is used among IT organizations in Kerala Objective To find out similarities and differences between the internal employer brand image and the external employer brand image. To determine how employer branding influences employee retention. To study the confident level of employees regarding employee value propositions with reference to insurance sector.

 To compare the view points of prospect employees and current employees to the dimensions of attractiveness in employer branding. Review of literature Today businesses operate in ultracompetitive and complex landscape. Companies need to meet continuing business challenges and change efforts in knowledge economy hence need for qualified and quality people is increasing (Randy Till, 2004). One of the factors that have contributed to workforce competition is the fluidity of the labor market. Changing view on the work life balance has caused people to frequently change their jobs; a phenomenon in surge more than ever before (Talent Talk, 2003). Like product value proposition, employees view job offer as Employment value proposition. The successful strategy to counterfeit this Talent drain is employee branding. Contrary to other management strategies employee branding is long term, proactive strategic solution to the businesses (Sulllivan, 1999). Employer Branding Employer branding is defined as a targeted, longterm strategy to manage the awareness and perceptions of current employees, potential employees, and related stakeholders with regards to a particular firm . It suggests the differentiation of a firms characteristics as an employer from those of its competitors . Minchington, B. & Estis, R. (2009) also define the employer brand as the image of your organization as a great place to work in the minds of current employees and key stakeholders in the external market .Employer branding, or employer brand management, involves internally and externally promoting a clear view of what makes a firm different and desirable as an employer . It is the image presented to an organizations customers and other stakeholders through its employees . 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 employer brand puts forthan image showing the organization as a good place to work . Moroko & Uncles examined the perceived characteristics of successful employer brands and conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 17senior executives. The results appear to be consistent with the branding literature. A successful employer brand should be known and noticeable, referring to brand awareness; relevant and resonant, referring to have a value proposition that is relevant to and resonant with their perspective and current employees; and finally be differentiated; referring to be unique. According to Backhaus, K. & Tikoo , employer branding is essentially a three-step process. First, a firm develops a concept of the particular value it offers to prospective and current employees. This value proposition provides the central message that is conveyed by the employer brand. It is of key importance that this value proposition derives from a thorough audit of the characteristics that make the firm a great place to work. The second step is to externally market this value proposition to attract the targeted applicant population. The third step involves carrying the brand promise made to recruits into the firm and incorporating it as part of the organizational culture . Employee branding is relatively new approach borrowed from marketing. It constitutes the soul of HR Marketing. This emerging area provides great opportunity for employee premise development and organizations positioning as employer brand. Employer brand is the packet of functional, financial, emotional and psychological benefits provided by the employing company (Ambler & Barrow, 2006).

There are a plethora of theories about marketing and branding, and a large number of literatures discussing corporate image and corporate reputation, however, there are only a few theories available concerning employer branding, especially the linkage between employer brand and consumer marketing communication methods. A brand was defined as a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or combination of them which is intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors (Gardner & Levy, 1995) . Clark (1987) on the other hand, offered another definition relating brands with values, i.e. brand is values that provide the important link between consumers and marketers, while Kapferer (1992) approaches brands under a holistic view. He claimed that a brand is not a mere product. It is a product's essence and often brands are examined through their component parts like brand name, logo, design or packaging etc. According to Keller (1993) brand equity elevated the importance of brand in marketing communication strategy and is often used to persuade customers to buy a product or service. However, in recent years, especially in todays competitive market, employer branding is used to recruit and retain good employees from a diverse work force. Most companies tend to promote factors that make their firm a good place to work and also offering a bright and cheerful office space, an ethos of collaboration and teamwork, flexible working hours, crche facilities, or even an excellent canteen. Levering (1996) has opined that a good workplace is believed to produce higher quality products, support more innovation, have the ability to attract more talented people, and experience less resistance to change and lower turnover costs, all of which translate directly into a better bottom line. According to Sutherland, Torricelli, & Karg (2002), in organizations skilled employees are hard to attract and difficult to retain and it has become critical to business success. The employer branding is used for corporate identity and reputation which communicates its image to current and potential employees. Luthans and Peterson (2002) have found employees who are engaged in their organization with satisfaction demonstrate good performance and achieve success. This helps the corporate managers to be more effective and successful, which in turn increases the managers self efficacy. Research has shown that self efficacy is positively linked to work performance, in that individuals with higher self efficacy are more likely to be proactive in initiating work, and show sustained effort and determination in their pursuit to achieve the task, even when problems occur. According to Robert & Dowling (2002), superior performing firms have a greater chance of sustaining superior performance over time if they also possess relatively good reputations. It is consistent with the growing body of strategy research that links high quality intangible assets with sustained superior performance. Collins and Stevens (2002) have also stated that early recruitment and advertising may have beneficial effects on increasing the quantity and quality of applicants. Fulmer, Gerhart and Scott (2003) have analyzed employer branding policies on top 100 US companies. They found that employer branding policies were associated with not only stable and highly positive workforce attitudes but also had effect on organizations performance. Turban and Cable (2003) have argued that firms higher in corporate social performance (CSP) have more positive reputations and are more attractive employers to employees than firms lower in CSP. Such results suggest that potential applicants are aware of firms CSP and that those with more positive ratings may have competitive advantages because they attract more potential applicants than firms. Levinson (2007) also suggests that employees who are happy in their work are more likely to stay in that organization, and found that work engagement is significantly related to organizational commitment.

Bhutani Manmohan(2010) proposed that employer brand is about capturing the essence of the organization in a way that engages current and prospective talent. It expresses an organizations value proposition- the entirely of its culture, system, attitudes and employees relationships, providing a new focal point for the company. Employee branding helps organizations position themselves as the employer of current workforce, potential employer in prospective recruits and as a partner to vendors and customers (Harding, 2003). It is a persona & an image of the organization as a company brand for being a great place to work, learn and grow. Employment branding utilizes all necessary tools of marketing, branding and marketing research to create a selling image of the organization hence applicants aspire to buy in the contract with the organization (Sullivan, 1999). Minchington (2010) argued that employer branding is the half art and half science that involves attracting, engaging and retaining efforts aimed at enhancing overall company image. Dr. Sullivan (1999) postulated the goals of successful employment branding. It spawns an owning sense in the employees and they feel pleasure and tell contacts what it is like to be the member of firm. It creates public persona of the firm, its culture, management style, working practices and opportunity for growth. It helps in aligning product& corporate brand with employment brand. It continuously reviews external environment and ensures healthy maintenance of employment brand. It attracts best pool of applicants for job in the company.(Dr. Sullivan 1999) Successful execution of employment branding fills the gap between marketing and Hr department as it carries hallo effect on experience and loyalty indices of both employees and customers. Valle (2001) proposed that HR should follow the footsteps of marketing department and must understand needs, concerns and consideration of prospective applicants. As marketer understands customer requirements & persuades him to buy similarly HR should buy in knowledgeable workforce; referred to as recruitment marketing. Achieving competitive competency is essential for the organization. Finding the right talent and multiplying it with companys culture, values, goals and attitude helps business reach strategic benefits. Research has explored that high level of engagement with employees is prerequisite to better performance and strong brand. Employer Attractiveness A closely related concept to employer branding is employer attractiveness. As Berthon; Ewing &Hah notes, this concept has been discussed in many areas like management, applied psychology, communication, and marketing . Employer attractiveness is defined as the total benefits that a potential employee sees in working for a specific organization . Employer attractiveness contributes to employer brand equity positively so the more attractive an organization is to employees, the stronger is its employer brand .Based on the findings of their recent study, Berthon; Ewing & Hah [9] suggest a way to both identify and operationalize the components of employer attractiveness from the perspective of potential employees. The five factors are: interest value, social value, economic value, development value, and application value. Interest value assesses the extent to which an individual is attracted to an employer that provides an exciting work environment, supports employees creativity and produces high quality, innovative products. The social value assesses the extent to which a person is attracted to an employer that provides a fun, happy team atmosphere. The third factor, economic value, measures the extent to which a person is attracted to economic

standards. Development value assesses the extent to which an individual is attracted to an employer that provides recognition, confidence and a career-enhancing experience. The last factor, application value, measures the extent of attractiveness to an employer that is customer oriented and provides opportunities to apply what is learned. Research Methodology

Nature and type of study

This research study can be classified as exploratory cum descriptive since purpose was to investigate and describe phenomenon of employer branding and its impact on prospect employees and current employees to the dimensions of attractiveness .Berthon; Ewing & Hah suggest that EmpAt can be applied with various context and situations. In order to test the different target audiences responses to the construct, this study aims to analyze the different perceptions of dimensions of employees between current and prospect employees. In order to test the research hypotheses below, the following research is designed. H1: Prospect and current employees perceive the dimensions of employer attractiveness differently. A. Population and Area of study: The study is planned to be conducted in the state of Kerala amongst insurance sector . B. Data Collection Tool: data for the study is to be collected through a structured questionnaire. The first section of questionnaire will be designed to gather demographic characteristics and second part employee attractiveness scale (EmtAt) by Berthon Ewing& Hah will be used . C. Analytical Tools: Appropriate Statistical and analytical tools are to be used for this purpose. D. Source of Data: The study is based on both primary and secondary data Primary Source: The primary data required for the study is collecting from the respondents through questionnaire and interview schedule Secondary Sources: The secondary data mainly consists of data gathered from records and websites. Secondary data were also compiled from journals, magazines and books RESEARCH GAP In recent years, academics and practitioners alike have extolled the potential benefits of having a well-managed corporate brand (Hulberg 2006; Balmer and Gray 2003;Knox and Maklan 1998). However they have also acknowledged that corporate branding brings new challenges that cannot be readily addressed within a traditional marketing framework, including a need to ensure that employee behaviour is consistently aligned with the companys brand promise (Hulberg 2006; Balmer and Gray 2003).Employer branding has been advocated as an effective strategy for achieving this objective (Uncles and Moroko 2005; Ambler and Barrow 1996), but previous research has tended to focus on issues related to recruitment. As a result, little is known about how employer branding can actually be used to support the corporate brand. More specifically, researchers have yet to explain what makes an organisations employer brand attractive to current employees. This represents a critical gap in the literature because an employer brand can only produce the desired behaviours if it is considered attractive by current employees. According to Corporate Leadership Council (1999), a firms employment brand is ultimately based on its actual employment offers and its ability to deliver on its promises. Like a product

brand, the employer brand has multiple components, each contribute to strength of the brand with current and potential employees. The employer brand and its components are shown below in figure 2 & 3.There are five components that make a good employer brand. The first component is product brand strength. A product has added values which meets certain psychological needs of the consumers. These added values are elicited that the brand is of higher quality or more desirable than similar products from competitors. This is also applicable on employer branding. The second component is the company culture and environment. This includes the values that the company stands for, work rituals and systems in place and examples set by the top leadership. The third component is work life balance. There is no point wasting time and money attracting people towards something the company cannot deliver. The fourth component is work environment. . If the people at the top do not show their commitment through the required actions and behaviors, the employer branding process will not be successful. The fifth is the compensations and beliefs, which is the job offer made to an employee. This is made up of the financial compensation, job role and responsibilities, designation, work environment and career development plan.

The role of Employer Branding The notion of Employer Branding, as described by Ambler and Barrow (1996), addresses both the challenges outlined above. It provides a strategic framework that incorporates both marketing and HR (Moroko and Uncles 2008; Ambler and Barrow 1996) so that an organisation can attract, retain, and motivate those employees who can add value to the company and are able to deliver on the companys brand promise (Uncles and Moroko 2005) .It also synthesizes theory from a range of academic disciplines (Uncles and Moroko 2005; Ambler and Barrow 1996), and has been described as a significant evolution in the quest for corporate brand integrity (Mosley 2007) However, it is not clear whether current practice is actually helping firms to achieve these objectives. Theorists agree that in order to achieve all the objectives described above, an employer brand should meet three criteria: it should be consistent with the realities of the organisation, different from those of competing employers, and attractive to members of the target audience. (Backhaus and Tikoo 2004; Ambler and Barrow 1996) Since the first two criteria are self-evident, researchers have focused their attention on understanding what makes an employer brand attractive. For example

there have been several academic studies of employer brand attractiveness (e.g.Berthon et al. 2005; Lievens and High house 2003) and Best Employer Studies are regularly published in the business press. Based on the results of these studies, many organisations are now striving to conform to an ideal blueprint of employment (Mosley 2007), benchmarking their own practices against those of firms that have already been recognised as Best Employers. In fact Martin et al. (2005) argue that benchmarking is now seen as acentral HR and business imperative. However this strategy is problematic for two reasons. First, an employer brand that conforms to an ideal blueprint cannot reflect the distinct the identity of a particular organisation. As a result, it provides no obvious basis for aligning the behaviour of employees with the values of the corporate brand. Second, the research on which this blueprint is based has focused almost exclusively on the attributes sought by potential employees. Since the objectives of corporate branding can only be realised through the behaviour of current employees, marketers also need to understand what makes an employer brand attractive to people in this group, but all too often this crucial question is overlooked. Employer Branding Framework Creating a strong employer brand is not an easy or onetime based task. It is a process, and an ongoing practice where all the tangible and intangible elements that constitute a companys image and reputation are organized and communicated effectively

Source: Kristin Backhaus and Surinder Tikoo, Conceptualizing and researching employer Branding ,Emerald Insight. 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 HRs search for credibility Employee engagement Prevailing labour market conditions.

Jenner and Taylor explain their importance in the following extracts from the Research Insight. 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 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.

A Strategic Model Developed on Employer Branding In developing product branding strategy, a lot of factors are involved. They are i) nature of business, ii) nature of market, iii) target reception, iv) budget flexibility, v) long term mission of the organization, and vi) organizational structure. Similarly in employer branding, the organisations are following to develop their brands. Every organisation has an external brand and an internal brand. The external brand is the image that an organization projects to the customers, suppliers, investors, and the public. The internal brand is the image of the employers to the employees. When properly planned and executed, an employer branding initiative can generate lively dialogue between an employer and its employees, build a rationale for a 'mutual working arrangement', and establish compelling reasons to commit to the arrangement (see Figure on next page).

Employer Branding Model

External Branding External branding refers to branding which is done by using external sources and which may (or may not) require some investment in monetary or other forms. Use of job sites As HR the first thing which comes to the mind is recruitment, so Job sites also offer good branding opportunities through different means like Pop ups, pop ins etc. Banners Banners are also a good mean for branding. Banners can be of both types means Online Banner and Street banners. By Online banner, the organization name will be flashed on different web pages as per your choice and price. Organizing seminar, presentation The organization can organize talks, presentations, seminars for attracting people towards your organization. Corporate social responsibility (CSR)Corporate social responsibility refers to corporate getting associated with society for some noble cause. The association can be in any mode either getting associated with a Charitable Trust or a NGO or some other public venture. Public events Public events are one of the major ways of creating a brand image. An organization can participate in any of the public event and assuring that it does not get disappeared in the crowd of many brands or big names. Newspapers -Branding can be done through newspapers as well. If you target the local public, you can go for advertisements considering the individual day circulation, target readers, rapport of newspaper, type of newspaper etc. If you target only to employ people for your workforce requirement, you can place job Ads which may seem expensive at the first glance but in terms of attracting the correct workforce, it can do magic. Email For mail ids related to job portals, the organization can create an auto reply which can contain brief description of the key aspects of candidates and public interest and at the same time introducing that company to the public. Internal Branding Internal Branding is concerned with the current and potential employees information about the employment experience and what is expected of them.

 Front office Always pay attention to your front office because first impression is last impression. It should be kept neat and clean with a pleasant receptionist who always maintains freshness and welcomes the guests with courtesy. Stays interview HR department can always conduct stay interviews in which they can interact with the employee and ask them regarding their career prospects, there alignment with the company, there feedback regarding their concerned departments, etc. These feedbacks could be analyzed and therefore an internal brand image of the country can be created. Exit interview An exit always carries a fair chance of initiating the chain reaction among the employees. By analyzing the exiting reasons, the organization can overcome the justified ones in the future. Employee satisfaction- Employee satisfaction is always very important for any organization to grow. A satisfied employee is a productive employee. The company must create a good and positive rapport for the company in the market outside. Policy information: -A policy should be designed in such a way that it holds good even after a long period of time. A frequent internal policy change sends a message to the outer world that the company is not consistent and reliable. Customer orientation: -Customers are always the most important factors in business activities. The workforce should always be motivated towards delivery of customers perceived requirements Employee participation: -Always try to ensure the maximum participation from the employee side, either in terms of internal events participation or external events. Trained employees:- The organization should impart proper training of employees before they are engaged in work. The training should be in all the aspects like policies, vision, mission and activities of the organization. This will project a good picture of organization on the new employee. Limitations of the Study : The study is limited to the period of three years. Hence the result obtained is based on the study of selected period. Limitations of tools to be used will also be applicable for the study. The study is restricted among IT sector employees and MBA/Btech students from various institutions in Kerala.