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Study on Employer Branding in IT Companies: The Indian Scenario

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 STUDY ON EMPLOYER BRANDING IN IT COMPANIES:
THE INDIAN SCENARIO
Avinash Pawar, PhD, Associate Professor
Rajiv Gandhi Business School
University of Pune, India
Abstract
The employer brand characterizes the core values of an organization.
162
Organizations are considered as good employers who have a strong identity and a
positive image in the marketplace. Employer branding is relatively a new terminology
for many companies in India, but it is becoming more important to today’s businesses
for ensuring the sustainability in the market. Employer Branding gives a competitive
advantage for employers for getting the right candidates with required knowledge,
education, competence and skills from the job market. To be successful, organizations
needs to attract the good prospective employees from the job market. Marketing tools
associated with brand management have been applied to the human resource
management in order to attract, engage and retain talented employees in the same way
as marketing applies such tools to attract and retain customers is called as employer
branding. It is a long-term and targeted strategy to manage the perceptions and
awareness of current employees, communicate to prospective employees and other
stakeholders associated with a specific organization. This paper puts the light on
understanding the concept of employer branding in IT companies in India. It also deals
with identification and analysis of the factors affecting Employer Branding from the
viewpoint of the employees. Further, the paper also determines the importance these
factors with employer means and results for creating Employer Brand for IT
Companies in India.
Keywords: employer branding, employer of choice, employer brand,
organizational attractiveness
JEL Codes: J40, M31, L86

Received: July 30, 2018 Pawar, A. (2018), “Study On Employer Branding In It

Revision: August 29, 2018 Companies: The Indian Scenario”, Journal of Applied
Accepted: September 3, 2018 Management and Investments, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 162-171.
Introduction
The term “Employer Brand” was first used in the early 1990s to represent an
organization’s reputation as an employer. Employer brand is understood as a brand
which differentiates it from other competitors in the hire market. The term also
includes long term strategy that establishes an organization’s identity as an employer in
the employment market (Barrow, 1990).
Ambler and Barrow (1996) define the employer brand as “The package of
functional, economic, and psychological benefits provided by employment, and
identified with the employing company”. Minchington (2010) defines employer brand
as “the image of organization as a great place to work in the mind of current employees
and key stakeholders in the external market (active and passive applicants, clients,
customers and other stakeholders). The art and science of employer branding is
concerned with the attraction, engagement and retention initiatives targeted at
enhancing company's employer brand. Employer branding has been described as a sum
of a company’s efforts to communicate to existing and prospective staff that it is a
desirable place to work. Employer branding is the process of articulating the company's
unique message, voice, and strategy and attracting the right candidates to the company.
It consists of promoting a company as the employer of choice to a desired target group,
one which a company needs and wants to recruit and retain (Alniacik and Alniacik,
2012).
In today’s competitive business environment, the skills and talent shortages
require new staffing and retention strategies while for better recognition and economic 163
advantage in the marketplace, organizations strive to develop a distinctive brand.
While the purpose of an employer brand is multidimensional, HR professionals
increasingly use the employer brand to attract, recruit and retain talent. Employer
branding is central to the concept in HR-Marketing as it defines the personality of a
company as a preferred employer. The activity of employer branding is defined as the
process of building an identifiable and unique employer identity. Employer Branding is
becoming more and more important to organizations as maintaining and building a
strong internal and external brand is important factor in employee’s loyalty, motivation
and performance (Oster and Jonze, 2013).

Objectives of Study
1) To study and understand the concept of Employer Branding.
2) To identify and analyze the factors affecting employer branding in IT
organizations.
3) To determine the major responsible factors for creating Employer Brand in IT
Companies.

Conceptual Background
Employer branding can be divided into five dimensions viz. Interest Value,
Economic Value, Development Value, Social Value and Application Value which are
recognized by Schlager et al. (2011) as follows.
 Interest Value: It is the extent to which an individual is attracted to an
employer that provides a stimulating work environment, has innovative work practices,
and makes use of its employee’s creativity.
 Economic Value: It comprises items such as a good salary, incentives, bonus,
number of holidays and sensible retirement benefits. Firms provide the benefits mostly
for attracting and retaining employees, and an increasing salary is directly related to
happiness at job.
 Development Value: It refers to variables such as good training, development
opportunities, empowerment, learning environment and good mentoring culture.
 Social Value: These are the extent to which an individual is attracted to an
employer that provides the opportunity to gain a good career plan, enriching
experience, promotion, growth opportunities, rewards, recognition, appreciation and
job security.
 Application Value: It the extent to which the employer provides an opportunity
for the employee to apply what they have learned and to develop others in a customer
orientated and humanitarian environment.
 Benefits of Employer Branding
HR department plays a great role in the process of building employer brand of
the organization. On the other hand, properly designed, developed and applied
employer branding programs bring following internal and external benefits to the
organizations (Figurska and Matuska, 2013).

A) External Benefits of EB
164  Better number of job applications
 Faster and Easier access to applicants
 Attracting better talents
 Lower recruitment/hiring costs
 More job fitment of the candidates

B) Internal Benefits of EB
 Growth in employee engagement
 Increased level of trust in the organization
 Lower rate of leaves/absence from job
 Higher loyalty of employees
 Good relations with existing and former employees
 Decrease in employee’s instability
 Increase in rate of talent attraction and retention

According to Wallace et al. (2014) there are three major benefits of employer
branding which are related to recruitment, retention and performance. The benefit to
recruitment is naturally to be able to attract the talents company is pursuing. A strong
employer brand would help to advertise and promote the job opportunities and convey
and share the good messages which reach to the best talents. As like consumer
marketing campaigns which aims to reach certain consumers, employer branding helps
the company to reach the most appropriate talents for them.
Collins (2007) discussed that, a good employer brand can really reduce the
recruitment expenses may reduce the overall costs of organization. A company with
strong employer brand has to advertise less and the advertisements which also leads to
reduce cost and increase savings. The retention of employees is also one of the most
vital benefits that employer branding brings to the organization. Naturally, if a
company has a strong employer brand and it is seen as attractive and desirable
employer, it makes it less appealing to look for another place to work at from an
existing employee point of view. Another benefit that may be gained from a strong
employer brand is enhanced performance and satisfaction of the employees.
As per the Burgess (2008) there are following three major features of the
employer brand.
 Holistic: It applies throughout the company and throughout the internal and
external customers.
 Companywide: All employees know the common brand’s message and how it
applies to them.
 Employment: Candidates will be familiar with the brand and apply to the
company based on the strength of the brand in the marketplace.
 Literature Review
Schlager et al. (2011) stressed that, the employer branding positively affects to
the job satisfaction of employees. Hence, employees having job satisfaction tend to be
more productive, creative and committed to their job and employer.
Bodderas et al. (2010) focused that, the achievement of differentiation of firm's
characteristics as an employer from those of its competitors is intended by employer
brand. Employer branding has become a significant toolkit for human resource
management. It aims for communicating an attractive employer image to current and 165
forthcoming employees by integrating marketing notions into human resource
accomplishments.
Gilliver (2009) discussed that employer brand identifies an organization in the
marketplace and makes it unique. It gives an exclusive identity to the organization, and
a clear picture of what to expect to everyone interested in joining the organization. It
instils the firm’s recruitment process and the interaction among people in the
organization. Brands are among a firm’s most valuable assets, 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 ensure that current employees are engaged in the culture and the strategy
of the firm.
Armstrong (2007) contends that, employer branding is the creation of a brand
image of the organization for future or prospective employees. It will be influenced by
the reputation of the organization as provider of product/services as well as its
reputation as a business and employer. He also emphasized that, the aim of employer
branding is to become an ‘employer of choice’ or a place where people prefer to work.
Minchington (2006) stressed that, Employer brand is defined as the
organization’s differentiated attractiveness in terms of functional, economic and
psychological benefits that are identified with the image of the employing company.
Backhaus and Tikoo (2004) discussed that, although firms commonly focus their
branding efforts towards developing product and market, branding can also be used in
the area of Human Resource Management (HRM), the use of application of branding
principles to human resource management has been termed as employer branding.

Research Methodology
The researcher has adopted the following research methodology for the study
which suffices the purpose of this study.
 Research Design: Descriptive Research
 Data Collection: Survey Method
 Tool: Structured Questionnaire is used to collect the data.
 Sampling: Non Probability Convenience Sampling is used for sample
selection.
 Element: Employees working in IT Companies in India
 Sample Size: Two Hundred and Seventy two (272) employees working in IT
companies in India.
 Data Analysis
The data analysis is done in terms of groups, factors and priorities for employer
branding in IT companies.

A) Factors of Employer Brand

The literature review helped the researcher to find the following factors which
creates the employer brand in the market (Davies, 2008; Ewing et al., 2002; Gaddam,
166 2008; Sokro, 2012).

Table 1. Groups and Factors of Employer Brand

EMPLOYER BRAND
Work Life Culture and Company and Salary and Job and
Balance Environment Value Benefits People
Business Travel Development Reputation Salary Managers Quality
Location Opportunities Appeal Incentives Teams Quality
Technology
Flexi time Product/Service Bonus Empowerment
Level
Childcare Company Size Profile Health Benefits Challenging Work
Retirement
Work Hours Company Fit Mobility
Benefits
Company
Vacation Facilities Role Clarity
Environment
Responsibility
The above 5 groups and 29 factors are responsible for creating the employer
brand of the organization.

B) Groups Analysis
The major important group creating the employer brand is Company and
Strength then, Culture and Environment then, Job and People then, Work Life Balance
then, Salary and Benefits.
Table 2. Groups of Employer Brand
G. No Group Value
1 Company and Value 3.46
2 Culture and Environment 3.36
3 Job and People 3.21
4 Work Life Balance 2.97
5 Salary and Benefits 2.81

Table 3. Brand Value Averages

Brand Value
No Value Average
1 Interest Value 4.01
2 Economic Value 3.95
3 Development Value 3.47
4 Application Value 2.93
5 Social Value 2.69
 The major brand value is as per the priority is Interest value then, Economic
value then, Development value then, Application value then Social value as per the
priority.

C) Factors Study
The top factors as per priority are Location from Work Life Balance, Company
Size from Culture and Environment, Company Fit from Culture and Environment,
Reputation from Company and Strength and Business Travel from Work Life Balance. 167

Table 4. Factors of Employer Brand

F. No Code Factor Value
1 W2 Location 3.67
2 E4 Company Size 3.67
3 E5 Company Fit 3.67
4 C1 Reputation 3.67
5 W1 Business Travel 3.50
6 E3 Technology Level 3.50
7 C3 Product/Service 3.50
8 C4 Profile 3.50
9 J6 Role Clarity 3.50
10 W3 Flexi time 3.33
11 E6 Company Environment 3.33
12 J3 Empowerment 3.33
13 J4 Challenging Work 3.33
14 J7 Responsibility 3.33
15 E1 Development 3.17
16 C2 Appeal 3.17
17 S1 Salary 3.17
18 S4 Health Benefits 3.17
19 J2 Teams Quality 3.17
20 S2 Incentives 3.00
21 J1 Managers Quality 3.00
22 W5 Work Hours 2.83
23 E2 Opportunities 2.83
24 S3 Bonus 2.83
25 S6 Facilities 2.83
26 J5 Mobility 2.83
27 W6 Vacation 2.67
28 W4 Childcare 1.83
29 S5 Retirement Benefits 1.83

D) Group-Factor Study
The major factors from each group as per the importance are Reputation and
Product/Service from Company and Strength, Company Size and Company Fit from
Culture and Environment, Role Clarity and Empowerment from Job and People,
Location and Business Travel from Work Life Balance.
 E) Relationship Test: Spearman's Correlation
A Spearman's correlation test is used to determine the relationship between
factors of employer branding and brand value.

Table 5. Group wise and Factor wise priorities

Code Factor Value
Company and Value
C1 Reputation 3.67
168 C3 Product/Service 3.50
C4 Profile 3.50
C2 Appeal 3.17
Culture and Environment
E4 Company Size 3.67
E5 Company Fit 3.67
E3 Technology Level 3.50
E6 Company Environment 3.33
E1 Development 3.17
E2 Opportunities 2.83
Job and People
J6 Role Clarity 3.50
J3 Empowerment 3.33
J4 Challenging Work 3.33
J7 Responsibility 3.33
J2 Teams Quality 3.17
J1 Managers Quality 3.00
J5 Mobility 2.83
Work Life Balance
W2 Location 3.67
W1 Business Travel 3.50
W3 Flexi time 3.33
W5 Work Hours 2.83
W6 Vacation 2.67
W4 Childcare 1.83
Salary and Benefits
S1 Salary 3.17
S4 Health Benefits 3.17
S2 Incentives 3.00
S3 Bonus 2.83
S6 Facilities 2.83
S5 Retirement Benefits 1.83

Table 6. Spearman Correlation Matrix

FS EB
Correlation Coefficient 1.000 .668*
FS Sig. (2-tailed) . .037
N 272 272
Spearman's rho
Correlation Coefficient .668* 1.000
EB Sig. (2-tailed) .037 .
N 272 272
Note: * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

As per the above analysis we can see that Spearman's correlation coefficient, r s is
0.668, and that this is statistically significant (p = .037). Hence, there is a positive
correlation between factors of employer branding and brand value and it is statistically
significant.

F) Employer Means
The structured and updated company website and highlighted the company’s
initiatives is found to be the most important for employer brand communication.
169
Table 7. Employer Brand Communication
Brand Communication from Employer to
No Value
Prospective Candidates
1 Structured and Updated website of the company 4.34
Highlighted the initiatives of company, as like public service, social projects
2 4.02
and activities in printed and digital form
3 Developed and followed the organizational punchline/tagline 4.00
4 Communicated the organizations brand which is understandable to everyone 3.86
5 Established and delivered the corporate core values to everyone 3.84
6 Followed the vision and mission statements of the company 3.68
Established and applied a communication policy (e.g., rewards, recognition,
7 3.52
newsletters, letters from the CEO, celebrations etc)

Table 8. Result of the Employer Branding

No Result of the Employer Branding Value
1 Employing the right individuals 4.16
2 Better number of qualified applicants 4.02
3 Status as an employer of choice 4.02
4 Higher number of employee referrals of competent candidates 3.86
5 Lesser turnover 3.70
6 More number of diverse aspirants 3.68
7 Amplified percentage of rate of candidate acceptance 3.66
8 Improved employee satisfaction 4.00
9 Positions filled more swiftly 3.66
10 Decreased attrition 4.02

Employing the right individuals, Better number of qualified applicants and Status
as an employer of choice are found to be the most important result of employer
branding in the organizations.

Findings and Suggestions

There are 29 factors are responsible for creating the employer brand of the
organization in 5 groups. (Ref: A)
 Company and Value are found to be the 1st most important group for employer
branding and hence they should focus on developing the associated factors which
includes Reputation, Product/Service, Profile and Appeal. The group of Culture and
Environment are found to be the 2nd most important group for employer branding,
hence companies need focus on Company Size and Company Fit of organization. (Ref:
B)
 Job and People are found to be the 3rd most important group for employer
 branding and hence companies should focus on providing Role Clarity, Empowerment
of employees and assigning a Challenging Work to employees. Work Life Balance is
found to be the 4th most important group for employer branding and hence companies
should focus on providing the right Location, optimizing the Business Travel and
giving Flexi time to employees. Salary and Benefits is found to be the 5th most
important group for employer branding and hence companies should focus on
providing good salary, Health Benefits and Incentives for employees. (Ref: B)
170  The major brand value is as per the priority is Interest value then, Economic
value then, Development value then. Application value then Social value as per the
priority. (Ref: B)
 Factors of Location, Company Size, Company Fit, Reputation and Business
Travel are found to be top factors important for employer branding in Indian IT
companies. (Ref: C)
 The major factors from each group as per the importance are Reputation and
Product/Service from Company and Strength, Company Size and Company Fit from
Culture and Environment, Role Clarity and Empowerment from Job and People,
Location and Business Travel from Work Life Balance. (Ref: D)
 There is a positive correlation between factors of employer branding and brand
value and it is statistically significant. Hence, companies should focus on developing
the brand value by delivering the employer brand factors in the organization. (Ref: E)
 The updated company website and highlighting the company’s initiatives are
found to be most important for employer brand communication. Hence, companies
should regularly update their website with right content, Highlighting initiatives and
user friendliness. Hiring the right people and Greater number of qualified candidates is
resulted from an employer branding. Hence, to get good talent companies should focus
on developing employer brand. (Ref: F)

Conclusion
Employer branding is the response of Marketing of Human Resources
Management in the job market. It is important to understand the factors associated with
employer branding and have a clearly defined employer brand strategy. The employer
brand can be understood by the importance of various factors from the associated
groups of Company and Strength, Culture and Environment, Job and People Work Life
Balance, Salary and Benefits. Communicating these facets to current and prospective
employees will help the organization to develop their employer brand effectively.
Employer branding will likely realize positive results in attracting, recruiting and
retaining talent hence, HR must take advantage of the employer brand and reap the
internal and external benefits. The companies in India are aware about the importance
of their employer brand and thus they are working to develop and sustain their
employer brand in the marketplace.

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