Innovation in Attracting Talent To Large Companies: Research Article
Innovation in Attracting Talent To Large Companies: Research Article
Research Article
Received date:14 October 2021; Accepted date:31 January 2022; Published date: 29 March 2022
Copyright © 2022. Denisa Ligia MATEI. Distributed under Creative Commons Attribution
4.0International CC-BY 4.0
Abstract
The field of human resources seems to be like an ocean in which you will always find new
species of life. Recruiters are trying to find new methods every day to attract candidates for
vacancies. In certain fields of activity, the application to an available job has changed
radically. Candidates are no longer crowded with CVs at company doors, now apply with a
profile in the virtual environment. Moreover, specialists are waiting to be contacted by
companies and not to apply for a job change. All these changes in the behavior of the
candidates force the companies to come up with the most attractive solutions. However,
companies often have profits above the market average, they offer growth opportunities,
attractive salaries, if all this is not communicated. Just as important is the "image" in a
candidate's resume, now just as important is the image with which the company presents
itself to candidates and the market. The marketing and human resources departments work
together to create a communication strategy and an employer brand that is as sustainable as
possible for the candidates. Thus, from the very clear understanding of the audience in front
of which the companies communicate, to the definition of the communication pillars and the
initiatives in which they are involved, the big players in the market must constantly adapt to
the labor market. They must anticipate change in the new socio-economic context and
innovate in everything they do.
need to understand and define certain companies have recently begun to use
theoretical concepts. branding principles and practices in the
field of human resource management. The
We will address both the perspectives of application of branding principles for
industry experts and personalities, human resource management has been
ambassadors of large corporations that called "employer branding" (Backhaus,
have implemented the process we are 2004)
referring to.
In the world of marketing, it is usually
We cannot say instead that one theory is advisable to keep your existing customers
stronger than another; or that in the rather than gaining new ones, at the risk of
following we will present an ideal recipe, neglecting the former. In the same
which, applied in any company, will attract theoretical context, employee management
you the most valuable people, the best theory states that it will have an economic
prepared, adaptable, the most, the most. impact if an organization retains its current
employees instead of replacing or hiring
It is important to look at successful models, new ones, because the employer will have
to understand the important role of a new to invest more in the hiring process that
department in an organization in which it includes writing job descriptions. , posting
is worth investing and the power of jobs, reviewing applications and then
knowing very clear and well-defined conducting interviews with them, not to
principles. mention hiring and then training new
employees. All this requires a large amount
Over time, this concept has been defined in of investment, effort and time. (Hadi &
various forms. Its essence, if we try to find Ahmed, 2018)
a common denominator, refers to certain
associations that can bring current and Due to the need of organizations to
future employees of a company, certain compete for their current and potential
affiliations of it. employees, there is an inherent significance
in the development of a remarkable
Of all those that will be cited and of all the employer brand. EB is therefore a specific
approaches we consider in this paper, most term created in the 1990s by Ambler &
will refer to Richard Mosley, author of the Barrow (1996: 185), defined as "the
book "Employer Brand Management - package of functional, economic and
Practical Lessons From The World's psychological benefits provided by
Leading Employer." From my point of view, employment and identified with the
we can even call him the father of company employed", with the main role of
Employer Branding, he contributing with " provide a coherent management
the most valuable information about what framework to simplify and focus priorities,
the concept means, how we can define and increase productivity and improve
apply it at the same time within an recruitment, retention and engagement ".
organization, being niche even as a new (Sousa Bianca, 2016)
branch of management, being the
intersection point between Human In developing countries, such as Pakistan,
Resources and the Marketing department, the term employer brand is not generally
but we will understand better in the understood and practiced in local
following. companies or by entrepreneurs. Shazia
Khalid states in her paper on the impact of
We live in a globalized world, and part of it, the subject that the term EB is very recent
that of business, is also influenced by the and was introduced in 1992 when an
effects of globalization. No wonder academic article was published to
companies are doing their best to win the emphasize its importance in facilitating the
war for talent. An important "ace up your recruitment and selection process. (Khalid
sleeve" in this war is the branding of the & Tariq, 2015)
employer. To attract better employees,
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A sample of companies were analyzed over if the competition offers them benefits that
three years. Those who adopted employer employees consider very important for
brand strategies were able to attract at happiness at work, you definitely want to
least 60% more easily candidates for open know and offer them.
positions. The concept of employer branding has
recently become a prominent topic in the
We'll start with Mosley's perspective. He field of Human Resource Management.
believes that employer branding is the Although there is research on this topic in
most tangible form of managing the many countries on different continents,
company's image as a potential employer, there are still some questions that many
being a consistent application of the brand groups are still looking for an answer to.
logo and other elements of visual design to Are the concepts of "employer branding" or
identify and differentiate the brand. A "employer attractiveness" different, having
definition that at first glance may seem a equal importance in different cultures? If
little uncertain. Thus, in other words, while not, what categories of differences are
employer branding can be described as a there? (Esra Alnıaçıka, 2014)
discrete activity, employer brand
management describes a higher level Brett Minchington defines this terminology
approach to coordinating people as anyone's perception of the organization.
management activities, with important as a "wonderful place to work." This is the
implications for how recruitment, sum of the thoughts and feelings that
boarding, talent management, performance people associate with an employer, both
management and leadership development positive and negative. Every company has
take place. (Mosley, 2014) an employer brand, even if it does not have
activities meant to influence it (branding
Mosley brings to the fore a series of words activities for employers). They have many
that can be appetizing for a recruiting factors that can influence them, most of
expert who wishes the most valuable them reflecting current and past employee
people on the team. experiences. (Minchington, 2017)
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On the other hand, Geoff Armstrong, the change were made on the same
president of the World Federation of hierarchical level. An increase in wages
Personnel Management Associations, from 1 to 10% would be sufficient for such
defines this concept as a great idea that a move.
helps build a much-needed bridge between
communities often divided by HR and The latest research in the field of EB
marketing. highlights a mix of marketing principles
and recruitment practices, highlighting the
The article “The role of employer branding similarity between potential customers
on attracting, developing and retaining who form preferences for one brand over
talent: the case of a leading Portuguese another and potential employees who
business group” mentions the detached evaluate the attributes of jobs and
gain that the concept has in the title of the competing employers as he said; Wallace
paper in front of practitioners in and his collaborators. Consequently, EB
companies, but also in front of research- refers to the strategy of attraction,
focused university staff. It is believed that involvement and retention developed to
the corporate brand can only be fully increase the employment offer of an
implemented if it reaches all stakeholders, organization, a perception offered by both
not just consumers. Minchington in 2015, Ambler and Barrow
in 1996. Moreover, EB was proposed as a
The same article mentions another tool for to be used by practitioners. They
perspective related to the major advantage could connect the human resources
mentioned in the literature for this strategy management strategy to the corporate
and is that it becomes able to shape brand, thus being able to stand out in
behavior so that they disseminate and gaining talents. As a result, EB has been
promote the image of the organization's commonly presented as a set of intangible
products and services through their traits and characteristics, presenting a
behavior and daily work. Employer workplace culture as unique, guaranteeing
Branding, abbreviated EB, is seen as a a certain type of work know-how and
booster for creating a great alignment attracting talent to flourish and achieve.
between the employee and the optimal performance.
organization, which allows the
development of a strong psychological and Thus, the notion of employer brand and the
emotional connection between the two subsequent branding process comes from a
parties. (Vaijayanthi P., 2011) mix of interdisciplinary research in
organizational behavior, HRM and
Thus, EB allows the development of the marketing literature, giving rise to a need
skills necessary for employees to become to investigate the marketing philosophy of
true ambassadors of organizations. human resources (Schweitzer and Lyons,
2008) as a basic philosophy for EB.
This prospect of ambassadors offers a wide (Maheshwari, 2017)
range of benefits, both for retaining current
employees within the company and for Synergies With Organizational Culture
attracting potential team members.
Another discussion can also refer to the In research conducted in companies the
added value in the relationship with the size of thousands of employees, in addition
company's stakeholders, in B2B (Business to differences in culture, offices in one
to Business) relations. country looked completely different from
offices in other countries, so not being
A study conducted in America in 2014 relevant expressed IBM organizational
shows that 69% of Americans will not take culture, for example, but IMB
into account or apply to a company with a organizational culture in country X or Y.
bad reputation. 84% of people would Also, in the same research conducted by
consider leaving their current job for a Professor Geert Hofstede, even if during
company with a better reputation, even if three years the staff of a department
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their own initiative in order to find a employee is the following: if you had the
job,but if they were contacted or saw an opportunity to name the first five
interesting opportunity, they would be employers you would like to work for, who
open to find out more about it and even would they be? Well, if your company name
apply to it). Passives: that did not search is on this list, you can call yourself a
actively and were not open to job winner; otherwise, you still have work to
opportunities (they did not look for do.
information about companies or jobs from
their own initiative, nor were they open to Moreover, "employer of choice" makes you
find out more about opportunities even if responsible "as a company for your effects
they had seen or were directly contacted by on customers, shareholders, employees."
employers or friends). Pasive candidates (Communication, 2006)
are not ready to apply and specific content
is the best way to engage them. For active When you want to achieve this status,
candidates & explores, the content offers virtually every employer begins to make
them a reason why your company should the greatest effort to attract, but also retain
be on their desire list. Conversion a competitive advantage. (Australia, 2002)
campaigns are great to attract actives &
explores and will create a correct image Mapping the candidate's journey to work is
about what type of careers you offer. While a process of creating a visual
a lot of companies post jobs, only 50% of representation (map) of the place from
the LinkedIn user visit the jobs section. By which the candidate identifies the potential
just posting jobs and using organic posts company, until the signing of the
you are underusing this touchpoint. After employment contract. (March, 2018)
company career pages and friends inside
the company, job boards are next on the list The purpose of mapping the candidate's
of the most used channels to research journey is to create a clear picture of the
employers. starting point (where candidates look for
opportunities, how, factors that stimulate
While Facebook has the widest reach, one their interest) to the obstacles and
can easily get lost among the 11.000.000 obstacles that may arise before the
visitors. recruitment is completed. A number of
Choosing the right format and targeting candidates give up after all the
options will make the difference. negotiations, and often the employer does
not know the real causes.
Beside optimum targeting there is another
factor that will greatly influence results Mapping the candidate's journey is a great
from a performance campaign – candidate way to improve the branding strategy of
experience. Moving candidates from one the company's employer, to know where
platform to another for conversion – we and when it should be present, especially
will lose over 85% of the candidates on the with what categories of messages. On the
way. This is especially tricky when we have other hand, it helps the employer to put
niche profiles. himself in the shoes of the candidates.
Great targeting options (we can target ads In this way, it will be possible to better
at candidates we know are looking for understand their needs, desires and fears
“automotive jobs” ”IT jobs” or “internship in different phases of the journey.
programs”) & a good cost/conversion
Google search allows us to reach the right Before drawing this image, you will know
target at the right moment proving to be the phases, but also the points of interest
one of the digital channels with a high (touchpoints).
conversion rate.
We'll start with the stages. These are
A small test that could validate if you find similar to the stages of the process of
yourself in the mind of a potential building an Employer Branding strategy,
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Related to the points of interest, we discuss An interesting nuance that must always be
online and offline approaches. taken into account is the link between
internal and external strategy and actions.
To perform the mapping we have to "The part on the surface, the visible one -
consider five steps. Defining a human the external brand - is based on the
typology could be the first. This typology invisible part, underwater - on the internal
can be drawn from characteristics, needs, brand. And when the internal brand goes
expectations, perspectives, abilities, to bad, the external one can't fool for too long.
attitudes towards feelings and situations. ”(Ionescu, 2008)
The second step is to correlate the phases When making the decision by a company's
with the points of interest. Relevant management to develop a brand promise
messages and actions should be identified and implement such a strategy, the
for each of them. Step three refers to company must be aware of its own
identifying candidates' expectations based reputation as an employer (and not only,
on the stage they are in on their own for product companies there is an influence
journey. In the fourth stage we should both positive and negative when it comes
make a list of channels that we use in each to recruitment). Among the elements that
stage for the candidate. In the last stage, should emerge from the internal analysis
but not the last one, the realization of we could mention the following:
attractive images is considered and in close information about the current
connection with the established objectives. organizational culture, what is the
differentiating element of the company or
Beyond how a candidate manages to get to say otherwise, what is the reason for
the job, we will be able to notice that it is of working at company x and not at company
interest to the market and potential y, how well the employees know the
candidates and about the route to the job. purpose, objectives and values of the
company, how the employees
The employer's brand strategy is usually a communicate, what are the needs and
gray area, which must be clearly defined expectations of the employees and to what
for everyone; stakeholders and potential extent the management responds to them;
employees agree and are incorporated into There are several ways to identify this
the organization's objectives. In order to reputation; we will detail below;
gain acceptance or to obtain both the
budget and the buy-in departments, HR In addition to internal documentation,
often has to lead the employer's branding organizations can also use the external
through internal services through function to collect a perception of the
education and awareness activities. The company. For this stage, one can use
employer brand is a long-term activity with personalized studies that can be expensive,
a talent management strategy. studies already existing in the market on
the representative industry, annual reports
Strategies are designed to attract, connect or specialized sites where impressions and
and retain talent, which clearly establishes opinions are collected. To define the brand
a strong case for teamwork between promise of the company requires a deep
human resources, marketing and knowledge of the business, but also of the
communications. (TARIQ, 2015) mission, vision and values.
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By collecting the information mentioned facts based and customized on the pool you
above, organizations can model their brand target.
so that it is authentic and convincing for
candidates and employees; we could It is no coincidence that the question will
transpose this idea, as a power of arise, why build a new promise if we have
storytelling; Bernard Hodes Global the brand one.
Network says people want to see the
"company's DNA" before they get hired. We could customize a few situations. If we
are talking about product / service
According to the theory given by companies (palpable for humans, not just
specialists, Human Resources Management B2B) then it is fair to accept such an
is responsible for human resources exception, but it is not mandatory.
planning, job analysis and design,
recruitment and selection, but also staff In other words, Marketing, according to the
development, as well as many others. definition given by Virgil Balaure, “refers to
(Viorel Lefter, 2017) a complex of economic activities; it is
subject to both goods and services; it aims
In one form or another, in addition to the to guide the flow of goods and services
classic responsibilities in the job from producers to demand carriers ”.
description, Human Resource Management (Virgil Balaure, 2003)
and Management in general end up being
in the 21st century, true intermediaries of Mihaela Ionescu refers in her book
art; the art of being able to transform the (Ionescu, 2008) to Kotler's attributions
personal interest of the individual into the given to the brand, more precisely a
interest of the company. cumulation of “ideas, perceptions.
expectations and beliefs, being a promise ”.
The easiest way to attract the attention of (Ph. Kotler, 2006)
our target is through relevant content. It How can you most easily outline the
will generate awareness for the employer employer's brand promise? One way is to
brand, will create leads for the recruitment consult with the senior and junior
process and will educate the target group. management team; their consultation on
It can take various forms: articles, eBooks the reasons why they work here can be
& whitepapers, byte size advice for social extremely valuable; identifying at least five
media, videos or infographics. ingredients that beautify the company's
image. In the last stage, after defining the
The purpose of this strategy is to move EVP, it is important to correlate it with the
candidates from awareness to goals of attracting the right audience.
consideration and then to desire and When talking about EVP, the so-called
application. communication pillars are immediately
There are countless translation attempts associated. In the stage of collecting the
made by specialists in recruitment or most representative ideas about the
human resources, but I consider that the company, about the brand, of some words
most relevant adaptation in Romanian can associated with the company, it should be
be translated as a promise of the noted that they do not remain
employer's brand or a promise as an unforgettable after formulating the
employer. promise; moreover, they constitute
foundations and keys in the future
The first step in an Employer Branding communication, as we can anticipate after
process (EB) is an internal and external the names of pillars, pillars, reference
analysis to understand the key elements.
differentiators your employees perceive
and the current status and perception of Text box If we imagine a house, we can
the brand on the market.The objective of associate the EVP (employer brand
the analysis is to identify potential gaps of promise) with the roof. It sits on the so-
perception and design a strategy that is called communication pillars, which can
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differ in number from one company to recruitment, the quality of recruitment, the
another, from one industry to another. evaluation of the employee after the first
Here is the heart and promise of the year of activity, the satisfaction of
company in front of employees, including candidates, the result of internal study, etc.
current or future ones. As we observe the
roof of the house from a distance, similarly So where is Employer Branding in an
the visual identity, graphics, design and organization and who is responsible for it?
texts must be easily identified. Let's "Barrow and Mosley's consulting
imagine that on a street full of black roofs experience has helped place the field above
appears a house with a red / orange roof or HR Marketing, incorporating them."
any other strong color. (Ionescu, 2008) What exactly does it mean?
For many specialists and managers who
At the foundation of the house are the were asked where they see this field
specific promises for each target group. placed, the answer came: as a new
Depending on the goal set or the need for department or at least as a new position
recruitment, the messages and arguments created in the company, depending on the
should differ, especially on the simplest size of the organization. In many
segmentation: junior vs. senior candidates. interviews, employer branding consultants
On the other hand, this area also offers state that it is not a criterion of the size of
multinational companies to customize the organization to make such a decision,
according to the region or country in which but the growth goal that you propose in the
their specificity is located. medium or long term. Hence a first
anticipation of the link between the EB
Over time I have noticed countless strategy and the increase of the
companies that have a complex gallery of organization's profits, implicitly attracting
materials and choose to communicate with the most valuable talents.
them when they need recruitment. But
these types of initiatives have only resulted Some will tend to capitalize heavily on the
in the long term, without consistency. So company's already created brand; only
we could say that the communication marketing does not work in vain. But, if you
strategy comes as an umbrella that see an advertisement with Coca-Cola, you
incorporates differentiating elements for like it, you buy the product, it does not
the company, messages to be transmitted mean that you have taken into account that
in the market, in other words, creates a you want to work for Coca-Cola.
bloodshed between internal and external Moreover, the concept of employer
analysis, puts the EVP and the pillars of branding should be treated as a puzzle, in
communication in creative concepts and addition to HR and Marketing, contributing
plans them over a period of time and on a various departments of an organization
series of channels. such as public relations, often
communication if it exists independently.
Evaluation and measurement help any
strategy to be improved in the next Conclusions
resumption cycle. The evaluation is
performed through "KPIs", performance The main object of the research was to
indicators. Among them we mention: the achieve a correlation between developing
level of awareness (percentage of people in an Employer Branding strategy and
the target group who know the attracting talent to the organization. All the
organization exists on the market), level of arguments that come to support this fact
consideration (percentage of people who are presented during the paper. I believe
consider the organization as a potential that this proposed goal has been achieved,
employer), position in the top most desired reflected in the interpretation of the results
companies in the report with competitors, based on research.
the number of fans on social networks and
the level of interaction, the number of
applicants for a job, the cost per
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