1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Today Human Resources are considered as the most valuable and important asset of a company. Human Resource is considered as the driving force which helps the company to grow and keep a competitive edge in the market. The ability to recruit the best talent is indeed crucial for the success of an organization and this emphasis on how important is the Human Resources professionals’ contribution to a particular company. On the other hand there is a Sevier competition within the companies to attract the potential talent. This is where ‘Employer Branding ‘plays a vital role. Employer branding explains the differentiation of the brand to that of the competitors. The unique aspects of the company’s offerings or culture are demonstrated through the Employer Brand. According to Ambler and Barrow (1996) employer brand is defined as ‘the package of functional, economical and psychological benefits provided by the employer’.
A corporate brand is an explicit promise between an organization and its key stakeholder groups (Ambler & Barrow 1996). As per Ambler & Barrow it is important to hold on to the promise for a considerable time period where the company image should be maintained in accordance with the defined branding prepositions which differentiates the company’s brand among the key stakeholders.
In the current context in business Employer Branding is a management priority in leading companies. According to Arachchige & Robertson, 2013 Employer Branding becomes a priority due to five major reasons viz,
Even though an economic downturn did exist in 2008-2011 and unemployment levels increased in many countries the need for top talent still exists due to competitiveness of business today. So there is a shortage of skilled labour hence employer branding is essential for today’s business.
Due to the economic crisis there is an urgent need for the companies to cut costs and increase productivity where the possible solution would be to recruit best talent hence employer branding becomes more critical.
Hiring the best talent ensures the companies to maintain a competitive edge over the rival firms.
Talented employees who have the potential to perform always seek for job opportunities in reputed organizations hence employer branding facilitates popularity of the firm.
Maintaining a strong brand helps the organization to retain the best talent for a foreseeable time period where employer branding becomes vital even after recruitment.
Motivating an individual to select their organization where he or she will be willingly working efficiently to reach maximum productivity level has been an issue employers have faced for centuries. The Human condition is constantly changing. Therefore individuals’ wants and needs are also never the same. Many theorists have attempted to explain what factors affect the preferences of Individuals when choosing an employer, using various models and theories. As employers have started concerning about the preference of talented individuals, it is interesting to see what factors does affect the preference of an individual.
It is important to explore what factors motivate individuals to select an employer as many argue saying that monetary benefits are not the only factor that has an impact to the preference of an individual in the modern society.
XY Company is specialized as a financial service provider. The company caters to four service lines namely, Advisory, Tax, Assurance and Transactions. The Advisory function consist of Analytics and Big Data, Actuarial Services, Cyber Security, Customer, Finance, Financial Services Risk Management, Internal Audit, People Advisory Services, Program Management, Risk Assurance, Risk Transformation, Supply Chain Operations. The Tax function constitute to Country Tax Services, Cross border Tax Advisory, Global Trade, Global Compliance and Reporting, Private Client Services, Tax Accounting, Tax Performance Advisory, Tax Policy & Controversy, Transaction Tax, Transfer Pricing. The Assurance function cater to Accounting compliance & Reporting, Sustainability Reporting, Financial Accounting Advisory Services, Financial Statement Audit, Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services, IFRS Services and the Transaction service line caters to Corporate Development, Divestiture Advisory Services, Lead Advisory, Operational Transaction Services, Restructuring, Strategy Services, Transaction Support, Transaction Tax Advisory Valuation and Business Modeling. Apart from the four major service lines XY caters to a wide range of specialty services such as Emerging Markets, Foreign Direct Investments, French Business Network, and Global Business Network.
XY Company being a global leader in the financial sector, which is one of the big four global corporates, the talent pool required at XY Company is much high of standards. Therefore to attract the best talent to XY Company is one crucial thing that the business is concerned about.
1.2 Research Problem
Various scholars have conducted different researches related to Employer Branding; Conceptualizing and researching employer branding (Backhuaus & Tikoo, 2004), The employer brand (Ambler & Barrow, 1996), Captivating company: dimensions of attractiveness in employer branding (Berthen et al,2005), Exploring the relationship between corporate, internal and employer branding (Foster et al, 2010). All these studies related to employer branding have been done in several parts of the world. However when considering the Sri Lankan context, Employer branding concept is relatively new and stays unexamined, opening up a knowledge gap.
Therefore the problem could be stated as below;
What are the factors that influence employer attractiveness in the financial sector in Sri Lanka?
1.3 Research Questions
1. Does a relationship exist between Employer Attractiveness and Employer Brand?
2. Does a relationship exist between Employer Attractiveness and Brand Associations?
3. Does a relationship exist between Employer Attractiveness and Brand Loyalty?
1.4 Objectives
1.4.1 Main Objective
To identify the factors that influences Employer Attractiveness in the Financial Sector in Sri Lanka.
1.4.2 Sub Objectives
1. To identify the relationship between employer attractiveness and employer brand.
2. To identify the relationship between employer attractiveness and brand associations.
3. To identify the relationship between employer attractiveness and brand loyalty.
1.5 Significance of the Study
Basically Employer Branding is considered as a vital element in attracting potential talent. Companies today consider themselves as a commodity itself and market it in order to attract talent because today the business concept is people driven and it is all about ‘people’ working for the company makes the company successful not the products/services they produce. Employees are becoming an increasingly important asset that creates competitive advantages for companies. This implies that shortages in labour markets increase the importance for companies to attract, recruit and retain suitable employees. The Employer Brand strategy functions as means to communicate the culture of the workplace and how the firm differentiates as an employer from other organizations and therefore becomes a competitive advantage. The employer brand is used both to attract potential employees and to ensure that current employees are committed to the organization (Backhaus & Tikoo, 2004).
According to Backhaus and Tikoo (2004) Employer Branding ensures brand loyalty. When conceptualizing Employer Branding they created a model which shows that a firm’s brand image is built upon brand and the image will have impact on the attractiveness of the firm. It is suggested by Backhaus and Tikoo (2004) that a high degree of loyalty, leads to productivity within the company and the employees that are committed to the organization tend to stay longer, since they feel attached to the organization and its culture.
Today Employer Branding can be considered as a good strategy for Human Resource Management mainly because the way the company pitch itself in front of the target candidates will be a good source of strategy to attract them and also the values of the company communicates an important message to the target audience. Which helps the recruitment function of Human Resources Management to be successful and Employer Branding can be used as a tool for smooth functioning of recruitment which is key for Human Resources Management in any particular company. In the internal perspective the employer brand is directed at current employees, while the external focus is on other stakeholders, and primarily potential employees. The retention of current employees as well as the attraction and recruitment of new employees are core processes related to the Human Resources department (Morocko & Uncles 2008).
The business environment that organizations act in is dynamic and continuously changing, which is why the acquisition of competent employees with technical skills is vital, and since the competition among organizations for qualified human resources is important, companies need to differentiate themselves from others. One of the activities of the HR department is to manage the recruitment process and the employer brand can be used as a tool to attract applicants to the company. The role of developing and communicating the employer brand is therefore often assigned the department of Human Resources.
Mainly employer branding derives many advantages for a company which is of greater prospects to the future growth of the business. Mainly the benefits are not limited to attracting good candidates but the other hidden advantages as, referring the company to another potential candidate which allows the company to expand the existing pool of potential candidates. Also it enhances the pride of the company where most importantly the employees put extra effort because of the inspiration they get from the pursued brand that the company they work for. To communicate these benefits, Employer Branding can be used as an instrument to communicate benefits of a brand to potential employees. (Backhaus & Tikoo 2004). By conveying the specific attributes connected to the brand, for example innovativeness and flexibility, organizations can develop a favorable and strong employer brand that will attract individuals suitable for them.
1.6Limitations of the Study
The thesis was carried out in an environment where the time and resources were limited. The results would have given more insights if time and resource constraints were minimized. Also the correspondents of the pilot survey were limited to only 123 due to resource and time constraint which can be considered as a limitation in this study. The limitations identified in the initial stage may vary as the research continues. Hence limitations are discussed in the later stage of this research.
1.7 Organization of Chapters
1.7.1 Chapter 1 ‘ Introduction
This chapter describes the background of the research. Research problem has been introduced in this chapter along with research objectives, research questions, and significance of the study and possible limitations of the study.
1.7.2 Chapter 2 ‘ Literature Review
This chapter will be focusing on doing a critical evaluation of previous research done on the given area. Theoretical evidence and empirical evidence of constructs will be evaluated.
1.7.3 Chapter 3 ‘ Methodology
The 3rd chapter will be focusing on the research methodology, population, sample, sampling procedure, hypothesis building and operationalization of constructs.
1.7.4 Chapter 4 ‘ Analysis and Results
The 4th chapter will be analyzing the data gathered and will be testing hypothesis and findings will be discussed to arrive at a conclusion.
1.7.1 Chapter 5 ‘ Conclusions and Recommendations
The final chapter will be discussing about the theoretical implications, managerial implications and recommendations for businesses to be used.
1.8 Conclusion
In summary, despite increasing competition in employment markets, little research has explored the mechanisms by which potential employees evaluate prospective employers in Sri Lanka. Employer branding is a new concept in Human Resource Management. Many researches can be found on HR topics such as motivation, recruitment, job satisfaction etc but not areas such as employer branding in Sri Lanka. Employer branding has been considered as an effective strategy for achieving company objectives (Ambler & Barrow 1996).