Employer-brand equity, organizational attractiveness ...

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Employer-brand equity, organizational attractiveness and talent management in the Zhejiang private sector, China

Employer-brand equity

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TingTing Jiang Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China, and

Paul Iles University of Salford, Salford, UK Abstract Purpose – This paper seeks to clarify the process that leads employees and prospective applicants to be attracted to remain with the organization or apply for a job offer in private companies in Zhejiang, China. Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies concepts from marketing to people management, particularly the concept of brand equity. It proposes, on the basis of a literature review and preliminary interview data in three private companies in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, that prospective applicants and employees evaluate job offers or organizational positions based both on organizational attractiveness (OA) and on employee-based brand equity (EBBE) perceptions. It then presents a model of the relationship between OA and EBBE for future research in China, proposing the particular importance of the dimensions “economic value”, “development value” and “social value” for Chinese employees. It then suggests implications for future research and practice, especially the relationship between OA and EBBE for both Chinese employees, job seekers and applicants. Findings – The private economy is significant to China, accounting for 65 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 56 per cent of total tax revenue. For Zhejiang, a private economy-dominated province, talent recruitment and turnover are problems that hinder future development. OA and EBE may play a key role in intentions to accept a job offer, and as a mediator and a key variable in the initial recruitment. Research limitations/implications – The paper draws on preliminary interview studies in China to propose a framework for future research to clarify the role of OA and EBBE in Chinese job choice intentions and behaviours. Practical implications – Recruitment messages and internal branding communications should focus on EBBE so as to influence OA perceptions and job intentions in China. Social, economic and development value are suggested as particularly important dimensions of EBBE in China. Originality/value – The study clarifies the role of OA and EBBE in the process that leads to the intention to apply, respond to job offers, and remain with the organization, and discusses implications for further research and practice in China. Keywords Corporate image, Brand equity, Employee behaviour, Employee turnover, China Paper type Research paper

Introduction There is growing interest in corporate as well as product branding, including corporate brand equity (BE) (Ahonen, 2008). Internal branding and employees’ roles in corporate branding are also of growing interest, as is interest in employer and employee branding

Journal of Technology Management in China Vol. 6 No. 1, 2011 pp. 97-110 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1746-8779 DOI 10.1108/17468771111105686

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(Chun and Davies, 2006; Edwards, 2005; Martin and Beaumont, 2003; Barrow and Moseley, 2005). Employer branding (EB) is a term often used to describe how organizations market their offerings to potential and existing employees, communicate with them and maintain their loyalty, “promoting, both within and outside the firm, a clear view of what makes a firm different and desirable as an employer” (Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004, p. 120). An employer brand is: [. . .] a set of attributes and qualities-often intangible-that makes an organization distinctive, promises a particular kind of employment experience, and appeals to those people who will thrive and perform best in its culture (CIPD, 2009).

EB thus represents a further extension of branding theory and research, involving efforts to communicate to existing and prospective staff that the organization is a desirable place to work, creating compelling, distinctive employee value propositions (EVPs). For Jenner and Taylor (2009), human resource management (HRM) interest in EB is due to the contemporary power of brands, HR’s continuing search for credibility and increasing interest in employee engagement has coincided with tight labour market conditions, leading to the “war for talent” and a growing interest in talent management (TM) (Iles, 2007). Ambler and Barrow (1996, p. 187) first applied the concept of brand to HRM, viewing the employer as the brand and the employee as the consumer/customer. They define EB as “the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment, and identified with the employing company”; EB therefore provides both instrumental (economic) and symbolic (psychological) benefits to employees. This paper extends the concept of EB to an analysis of employee-based brand equity (EBBE) in China. It explores the relationship between EBBE and organizational attractiveness (OA). It draws on preliminary interviews in three private-sector companies in Zhejiang to develop a framework for further empirical research into EBBE and OA in China. The paper has the following objectives: (1) to review the literature on EB, BE, EBBE; (2) to review the literature on OA and EB, especially in relation to China; (3) to review preliminary interview studies conducted in three private sector companies in Hangzhou in order to identify dimensions of EBBE and OA in Zhejiang, China; (4) to develop a framework for analyzing the relationships between EBBE and OA in China, based on the interview studies and the literature review; and (5) to develop an agenda for future research and discuss practical implications for private sector companies in China. EB and BE It is often claimed that EB can help an organization compete effectively for talent and enhance employee engagement, recruitment and retention so that it is perceived positively by existing, potential and former employees as a good place to work. For example, a company might seek to develop an EB which complements its customer

brand proposition, devising credible, compelling and differentiated EVPs. These describe what the organization stands for and requires, a perspective linked to earlier work in HR on the “psychological contract” and the “employer of choice” agendas. For Lassar et al. (1995): [. . .] brand equity stems from the greater confidence that consumers place in a brand then they do in its competitors. This confidence translates into consumers’ loyalty and willingness to pay a premium price for the brand.

This kind of confidence is usually termed “brand trust”. For Feldwick (1996), conceptual confusion surrounds BE as a measure of brand worth or value. BE evolved from concepts of “brand image” in the 1980s when “brand value” became apparent in financial terms. Different people mean different things by BE, and propose measuring it in different ways. BE can be seen as the total value of a brand as a separable asset, i.e. brand value; or as a measure of the strength of consumers’ attachment to a brand, i.e. brand loyalty or brand strength; or as a description of the associations and beliefs a customer has about the brand, or brand image/brand description. “Brand strength” perhaps comes closest to its central meaning, measuring relative consumer demand for the brand; behavioural measures (e.g. buying behaviour) and attitudinal measures of loyalty to capture “affective feelings” or attachments can be used to measure it. BE in the sense of brand description, or “brand image” may then lead to brand strength or loyalty. BE may not however be captured fully by any one measure, being a general measure of the health, quality or effects of the brand. From organizational and personnel psychology, Lievens et al. (2001, p. 581) claim that: [. . .] a new and promising direction consists of applying marketing principles to the labour market shortage problems [. . .] attracting and training employees have a lot of parallels with attracting and keeping customers to buy products or brands.

Brand image seems particularly important to job applicants; Cable and Turban (2003, p. 581) found that applicants remembered more from advertisements from companies with a good brand image, and were willing to earn a little less with such a company. However: [. . .] future studies are needed to test and validate further the marketing logic in recruitment. It is especially important that these studies borrow well-researched theoretical concepts from the field of marketing. Examples of such concepts are “brand image”, “brand awareness” or “brand equity”.

Measurement of EBBE Jobs/positions can be seen as products, so we can borrow from definitions of perceived quality/strength of a customer-based brand in an HR setting to develop a concept of employer-brand equity or EBE. For Aaker and Joachimsthaler (2000, p. 17) BE is: [. . .] a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to that firm’s customers.

By analogy, EBE refers to the value provided by employment to existing or potential employees. Collins and Stevens (2002) explicitly use BE in analyzing early recruitment practices; publicity, word of mouth endorsements, and advertising were all related to applicant intentions and decisions through two dimensions: general attitudes towards the company,


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and perceived job attributes. EB is seen in terms of applicants’ knowledge of, and feelings for the brand; EB image was measured by attitudes to the organization and items about job attributes. Applicant intentions and subsequent decisions were also related to EB. Collins (2006) showed that the beliefs of job seekers about the company as a potential employer, “employer knowledge” (including familiarity, reputation and image) strongly predicted both interest in applying for a job and actual application behaviours. Student applicants were most affected by awareness of the company as an employer, perceptions of how other students/faculty perceived its reputation and beliefs regarding aspects of the job such as pay, chances for development and interesting work. These studies suggest that both job attributes and organizational characteristics influence applicant behaviour; as Backhaus and Tikoo (2004) point out, EBE “influences potential applicants to apply or not, and is the desired outcome of EB activities”. In this study, we use the concept of EBBE, as EBE as perceived by employees, analogous to the concept of “customer-based brand equity” in marketing. EBE might be assessed in different ways (Feldwick, 1996). Wilden et al. (2006) argue that the effectiveness of brand signals to employees depends on their consistency, clarity, credibility and associated brand investments; EB activities are therefore designed to enhance both EBE and EBBE. Most research interest in BE/EBBE has been on how applicants are attracted, as branding influences the understandings applicants form about companies. For Wilden et al. (2006), EB is a signal to overcome information asymmetry in judging “employment quality”; employment opportunities can be seen as products, and evaluations of them are based on such characteristics as salary, location and other job/organizational attributes which cannot be directly observed, but need to be inferred through EB signals. Firms overcome such uncertainties through purposive branding aimed at targeted job seekers; EB, thus helps establish the identity of the firm as an employer, including its values, systems and policies. For Allen et al. (2007, p. 1704), “future research may be able to draw more from the marketing literature on branding to explore the dynamics underlying the perception of organizational image”. In this study, applicant attraction and intention to pursue employment in response to an organizational web site depended directly on job information and indirectly on organizational information. Attitudes about recruitment sources also influenced applicant attraction, and partly mediated the effects of organizational information: [. . .] just as branding provides incremental preferences for an organization’s products or services beyond the attributes of these products or services, organization branding may also provide incremental preferences for an organization’s employment opportunities beyond job and organizational attributes (p. 1697).

Much research on EBBE is based on Aaker (1991); researchers may take two or three dimensions from his five dimensions, or may revise his dimensions. For example, Peng (2008) uses three dimensions of EBBE: brand popularity, perceived quality of the brand, and brand loyalty. Many measurement scales of EBBE are pragmatic, derived largely from “Top 10 best employers” surveys of organizations, lacking theoretical power to explain and analyze EBBE. Here, we propose combining existing literature and pragmatic surveys to identify five dimensions of EBBE: economic value, social value, development value, interest value and brand trust. We also propose to explore its relationship to OA, especially in China.

OA and its components Whereas EBBE has been studied primarily from a marketing perspective, OA has mostly been studied by organizational and personnel psychologists. OA refers to the degree to which potential applicants/current employees favorably perceive organizations as places to work (Rynes et al., 1991); for Aiman-Smith et al. (2001), it is “an attitude or expressed general positive affect toward an organization and toward viewing the organization as a desirable entity with which to initiate some relationship”. OA appears to give employers competitive advantage (Cable and Turban, 2001) as employers try to attract job applicants to join applicant pools with the requisite skills and knowledge to match organizational requirements. Attracting high-performing applicants of the right type and in the right numbers is crucial to organizational success. A meta-analysis by Chapman et al. (2005) suggests a strong relationship between OA perceptions and applicant decisions such as job pursuit, acceptance and choice intentions (Turban et al., 2001). Intention may then lead to applicant action, such as making an actual application or accepting a job offer. Robertson et al. (2005) propose that OA mediates the relationship between recruitment message and intentions to accept a job offer. Here, we define OA as “The power that draws applicants’ attention to focus on an employer brand and encourages existing employees to stay”. We propose that it has two dimensions: internal attractiveness (for existing employees) and external attractiveness (for external applicants). Both dimensions should be measured separately, along with intentions to choose the workplace and intentions to stay in the workplace, rather than bundling “intentions” into the definition of OA; for example, Highhouse et al. (2003) combined items assessing general company attractiveness with items assessing potential employee intentions. Other OA measures have also included items assessing both potential employee general attitudes and their specific intentions (Williams and Bauer, 1994). Turban et al. (1998) found that organizational image, job characteristics (especially pay) and organizational characteristics all related to OA; recruiter characteristics such as friendliness and competence had an indirect effect on applicant intentions, serving as signals of organizational characteristics. Chapman et al. (2005) showed that OA was predicted by both job and organization characteristics, especially type of work and perceived environment, recruiter behaviour, and applicant perceptions of the recruitment process job, organizational and recruiter characteristics may directly affect “job and organizational attraction”, which then predicts both job choice and acceptance intentions (though acceptance intentions also affected job choice in this study). Hiring expectancies and perceived person-organization/P-O fit also predicted OA. Lievens et al. (2001) found several personality characteristics that moderated the effects of job/organization attributes on OA (e.g. subjects high on conscientiousness preferred larger companies, subjects high on openness were more attracted to multinationals). As applicants were attracted to organizations whose perceived traits were similar to their own, the impact of organizational and job characteristics is not the same for all applicants; thus the “issue of OA has also been framed into the broader framework of person-organization fit” (Lievens et al., 2001, p. 581). Schneider’s (1987) “attraction-selection-attrition” model has often been used in such research, as people are attracted to different types of organizations, depending on interests, personality and needs (e.g. for achievement, affiliation, power or stability). Most research on OA and EB has looked at potential or actual applicants, rather than existing employees. Lievens (2007, p. 62) found that instrumental attributes such as


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pay and benefits, job security and task diversity, explained a greater variance in OA among actual applicants, as opposed to potential applicants or existing employees. For all groups, symbolic trait inferences such as prestige, excitement and ruggedness explained a similar portion of the variance over and above instrumental attributes. This research “builds on conceptualizations of the employer brand as a package of instrumental and symbolic attributes [. . .] confirms the usefulness of the instrumental-symbolic framework as a conceptualization of employer brands”. Lievens et al. (2005) have also conceptualized EB as a package of “instrumental-symbolic” attributes, exploring factors making the Belgian Armed Forces attractive to potential applicants. Gender, familiarity with military organizations, perceptions of both job and organizational attributes (task diversity and social/team activities) and trait inferences (excitement, prestige and cheerfulness) here explained potential applicants’ attraction to military organizations). Davies (2008) has explored the role of EB, or “brand personality” in influencing employees’ perceived differentiation, affinity, satisfaction and loyalty with regard to firms. Managers “satisfaction” with their company was predicted by feelings of company “agreeableness”, “affinity” by agreeableness and ruthlessness, perceived differentiation and loyalty by enterprise and chic. Competence surprisingly lacked efficacy as a predictor. Davies (2008, p. 678) suggests that “people associate with brands that allow them to sustain or develop their own self-image”, once again confirming the importance of P-O fit. Most research in OA on existing employees defines OA as perceived benefits, or value to employees. Berthon et al. (2005, p. 151) define OA as “the envisioned benefits that a potential employee, or ‘internal customer’, sees in working for a specific organization”, mirroring the emphasis on benefits in many definitions of EB. OA is here again seen as “an antecedent of the more general concept of employer brand equity” (p. 153); the more attractive an employer is perceived, the stronger its EBE. Drawing on Ambler and Barrow (1996)’s distinction between to: [. . .] psychological and economic benefits, they developed a 5-factor scale for the measurement of OA (termed “Employer Attractiveness”). This included interest value, development value, social value, economic value and application value.

The relationships between EBBE and OA; are not fully clarified; for Wilden et al. (2006), the extent to which the brand contributes to attracting and retaining employees affects its BE. Perceived job quality, perceived risk of joining the company, and employee information costs create expected utility or “employer attractiveness” or OA (OA is seen by Wilden et al. (2006) as an antecedent of EBBE, not a consequence). Supornpraditchai et al. (2007) show that where employees perceive EB as having high equity (EBBE), they are more able to deliver the company’s brand promise to customers, and are more likely to stay with the company (internal OA). Backhaus and Tikoo (2004) have developed a model (Figure 1) proposing that EB creates two principal assets – brand associations and brand loyalty. Employer-brand associations are seen as affecting OA (employer attraction); employer-brand loyalty then contributes to employee productivity. Here, we follow Backhaus and Tikoo by seeing OA not as an antecedent, but as a consequence of EB processes. EB and TM in China China’s economy has recently suffered as the economic crisis has spread; rising prices of energy, raw materials and labour has affected the operation of many businesses,

particularly in export-oriented private manufacturing enterprises in Zhejiang, hit hard during “The Winter” of 2009/2010. This crisis has challenged China’s industrial transformation; restructuring and upgrading private enterprises is crucial for China and for the entire global economy. Talent is particularly required to shift production from low-value added to high-value added, and from extensive to intensive production. With deepening globalization, the war for talent has become fiercer. As graduates are the main sources of talent pools, attracting graduates has become an important TM strategy for many Chinese enterprises (Iles et al., 2010; Preece et al., 2010; Hartmann et al., 2010). Research needs to assess what attracts Chinese applicants to job opportunities, and what encourages Chinese employees to stay, which may differ from the west. Peppas et al. (1999) found that US recruiters emphasized interpersonal attributes, whereas Chinese ones emphasized those that could directly benefit the organization, such as company knowledge, school reputation, family status and work experience. Chow and Ngo (2002) found gender similarities in Chinese student job preferences for advancement, compensation, learning, overseas opportunities, but gender differences over job security, firm size and nationality of company/supervisor. Women were more likely to prefer foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs), offering more rewarding, challenging but less secure careers than state-owned enterprise (SOEs), but gender differences seem quite small in modern China. Young professionals in general rate personal interest, opportunities for applying knowledge and starting salary as the top three attractive job attributes (Fung et al., 1996), with a preference for extrinsic rewards (Ding, 1999). Companies offering generous compensation, training and development and career opportunities are likely to be attractive to talented graduates; Turban et al. (2001) found elite Chinese college students were more attracted to FIEs than SOEs, to Western firms, and to familiar firms. However, individual differences moderated these effects, supporting P-O fit (e.g. more risk-averse participants with a lower need for pay were more attracted to SOEs than FIEs). Some research has also explored internal attractiveness, i.e. what attributes make organizations attractive to existing employees. Hartmann et al. (2010) found Shanghai-based Western MNCs focused on building organizational cultures supporting the development of personal relationships, team spirit and commitment through joint sports activities, welfare and donation programmes and other group events. Companies claimed it was very important to build belonging and pride to reduce employee turnover, a point also made earlier by Bjorkman and Lu (1999). Wang (2008)

Employer brand associations Employer branding

Employer image


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Employer attraction

Organization identity Employer brand loyalty Organizational culture

Source: Backhaus and Tikoo (2004)

Employee productivity

Figure 1. Model: EB and OA

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found that emotional bonds with supervisors and co-workers were important determinants of organizational commitment in Chinese FIEs, showing the importance of personal relationships and pleasant, healthy and harmonious working climates for Chinese employees, perhaps promoted through informal social events. Gamble and Huang (2008) also found that the organizational commitment of Chinese employees in an FIE (a British MNC retailer) was related to willingness to stay with the employer, but that, unlike in the west, this was not determined by a belief in company values and loyalty. Feelings of pride in working for the company were associated with a willingness to stay, perhaps because personal networks and relationships rather than “company” values were more significant for Chinese employees. Job security and relationships with managers and co-workers were however significantly related to willingness to stay, again showing the importance of “social values” to Chinese employees. Exploratory investigation of EBE in China As part of a British-Council funded study (Prime Minister’s Initiative 2) into entrepreneurship and employability in Zhejiang (Shutt and Cheng, 2009; Iles et al., 2010), HR executives in three companies in Hangzhou were interviewed to help us to develop a research framework to study OA and EBBE in China, asking: . Where do you resource graduates from, and how satisfied are you with your graduate recruitment? . How do you attract applicants and retain existing employees? . What factors do employees value about you as an employer? . What TM strategies do you employ in your company? Table I presents a summary of the sector, main business and TM strategy of each of the three companies, drawn from the interviews. Company A, established 1994, is among the top 500 companies in China. In total, 4,700 workers are employed at the headquarters and 5,700 in the whole group. With the international economic crisis, exports have decreased, reducing group sales. It recruits through schools, the internet and newspaper advertisements; for high-level workers, it uses internet search and poaching from competitors. It has specific problems

Company/sector Name Main business

A B Advanced manufacturing sector Service sector

Company A Main products: basic fabric materials for exporting factories Talent strategy to High salary, housing benefits/loans and career/ enhance OA/ professional development EBBE

Table I. Company case studies

C Service sector

Company B Company C Specializing in functional Professional agency fabrics engaged legal affairs relating to IP In-house training, job Training opportunities, performance-related pay, rotation and coaching, extra rewards, e.g. bonus relationships with universities and building and housing funds and team building via teamwork personal development department

in recruiting technicians; skills shortages exist in some professional specialisms; these staff are usually recruited from competitors. A retains talented workers through high salaries, encouraging younger workers to buy homes with low-interest loans. It tries to provide career development and professional development opportunities. Before 2003, most senior management came from internal labour markets; after 2003, except for the chairman and general manager, most were recruited from the external labour market. About 40 per cent of middle managers have been recruited from outside the company. Before 2003, quality was lower, and the factory was labour intensive; now, especially in the Ningbo factory, the supply of existing workers is insufficient to meet demand for talent. New workers have a pre-work briefing to change their status from student to worker; work leaders are responsible for helping workers find answers to problems, enhance quality and help promote the ability of workers and the right attitudes. For the excellent 20 per cent, B will offer opportunities to develop skills for future higher-level positions through a training plan. Training is carried out externally and internally. For Company B, how to find talented graduates, and how to persuade them to stay, is a real challenge; the current downturn has significantly affected employment prospects and training budgets. Several years ago, it recruited graduates from across China, but now it mainly recruits local graduates, who make up 90 per cent of recruits. Turnover is high; 30 per cent leave after one year, either for promotion or because they do not suit the work. B seeks opportunities to give information and introduce new graduates to class mates; it sees a need to bridge the company/university gap through greater use of work experience, part-time jobs and better communication. Over ten years ago, B began to attract people from other industries, including professors; supply was greater than demand. Excellent and talented employees are encouraged to stay, and receive performance-related pay as well as their salary. B tries to make new recruits fell that they are part of the team, with training plans for new recruits focused initially on company policies, commodities and trade practices; trainees also do practical work in other factories, and it encourages people to take courses. If the company arranges the course, it will pay, but not if the individual arranges it, though it will part fund if the student gains honours. Company C, developing rapidly, now faces skills/talent challenges, including recruiting international human resources as it dealt with international intellectual property (IP) and was a global business. It has 60 employees, recruiting ten in two months. Locally educated recruits were not seen as useful, as employees needed language as well as legal skills, especially in international law and trademarks. Most graduates came in at low levels, requiring training; it was hard to find experienced IP attorneys, and they usually recruited new graduates from many different universities, but not usually from Hangzhou (seen as very demanding in terms of salaries and lacking skills and professional knowledge). They used employer recommendations, HR consultancies, job fairs, recommendations by employees’ friends and the Hangzhou overseas returnees club. Graduates, most with bachelors’ degrees, a few with masters’ degrees, were trained in house for two weeks to one month. With growing internationalization, it will employ some Western-educated graduates, however, they may ask for more money. When employees achieve their department objectives, they receive a salary. If they have shown excellent performance, they can also receive a bonus. If they are loyal to the company and have worked for five years in it, they may get extra rewards (housing funds). A personal


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development department of volunteers organizes many activities (how to dress, how to communicate and how to make presentations) lacking in Chinese education. Staff development was mainly through job rotation and coaching; conferences were used but not training courses. All three cases show the importance of attracting and retaining graduates to meet skill needs; future studies should investigate how graduates assess “developmental value”, and how training strengthens OA and EBBE. The cases also suggests the importance of salaries and benefits (“economic value”), such as housing benefits and bonuses, in attracting and retaining graduates in Zhejiang, and social relationships, such as putting graduates in touch with classmates, using the Hangzhou overseas returnees club, and making employees feel part of a team, in talent recruitment and retention. Towards a research agenda: developing a model of EBBE and OA EBBE is here proposed as the desired outcome of specific EB activities, encouraging applicants to apply and existing employees to stay with the company (Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004). OA is defined as the power that draws applicants’ attention to focus on an employer brand, encouraging existing employees to stay in the company. EBBE and OA are positively related; the more attractive an employer is perceived to be, the stronger the EBBE (Berthon et al., 2005, p. 156). Here, we propose that EBBE is an antecedent of OA; high EBBE can make the organization more attractive to applicants and employees. Figure 2 shows our proposed research framework, and Table II the variables employed. Conclusions and implications for further research and practice The private economy is significant to China, accounting for 65 per cent of GDP and 56 per cent of total tax revenue. For Zhejiang, a private economy-dominated province, talent recruitment and turnover are problems that hinder future development. OA and EBE may play a key role in intentions to accept a job offer, and as a mediator and a key variable in the initial recruitment. Our framework extends theoretical and empirical knowledge in understanding OA; intention to accept a job offer and intention to stay in the organization are consequences of OA, itself a consequence of EBBE. Future studies should investigate how graduates value company image as an employer in university

Internal employee-based brand equity (IEBBE)

Economic value Interest value Social value Developmental value Brand trust

Figure 2. Model: EBBE and OA in China

External employee-based brand equity (EEBBE)

Internal organizational attractiveness (IOA)

External organizational attractiveness (EOA)

Variables Dimensions of EBBE Economic value Developmental value Social value Interest value Brand trust Independent variables

Employee-based brand equity

Dependent variables Organizational attractiveness

Statement of variables People’s evaluation of their economic needs People’s demands for professional development People’s social needs, such as sense of belonging People’s need for self-realization and interesting challenges Employer’s perceived honesty, credibility and ability to satisfy applicant/employee demands Envisioned benefits that potential/existing employees see in working for a specific organization; the higher benefits perceived, the higher the EBBE Power that draws applicants’ attention to focus on an employer brand and encourages existing employees to stay and work hard in the company

recruitment, and how a stronger relationship between company and universities could strengthen the attractiveness of the EB to attract graduates in particular. In order to improve applicant attraction, organizations should note that applicants will give importance to OA and in particular to the components of EBBE such as brand trust, development value, economic value, social value and interest value. Economic, development and social value seem particularly significant for Chinese employees. This study offers implications for TM, as in practice the dimensions most valued by graduates will need to be strengthened, contributing to higher OA and the attraction and retention of graduates. The importance of the various dimensions in making a contribution to internal employee-based brand equity and EBBE needs further analysis. Besides official data, other sources of statistical data produced by the state administration for industry and commerce of China, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and the National Bureau of Statistics of China should be used to assess information about the talent supply, demand and stability of private companies in Zhejiang. Finally, the relationships between corporate identity, profile, reputation, and brand also need clarifying (Edwards, 2005; Martin, 2007), and there are few studies of the impact of EB strategies on organizational performance. References Aaker, D.A. (1991), Managing Brand Equity, The Free Press, New York, NY. Aaker, D.A. and Joachimsthaler, E. (2000), Brand Leadership, The Free Press, London. Ahonen, M. (2008), “Clarifying the stage of corporate branding research (1996-2007): a literature review and a classification”, Proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference ANZMAC, Sydney, Australia, December 1-3. Aiman-Smith, L., Bauer, T. and Cable, D. (2001), “Are you attracted? Do you intend to pursue? A recruiting policy-capturing study”, Journal of Business and Psychology, Vol. 16, pp. 219-37. Allen, D.G., Mahto, R.V. and Otondo, R.F. (2007), “Web-based recruitment: effects of information, organization brand, and attitudes towards a web site on applicant attraction”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 92 No. 6, pp. 1696-708.


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Table II. Variables used in the model

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Wang, Y. (2008), “Emotional bonds with supervisor and co-workers: relationship to organizational commitment in China’s foreign-invested companies”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 916-31. Wilden, R., Gudergan, S. and Lings, I.N. (2006), “Employee based brand equity”, Proceedings of the Australia New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference, Brisbane, Australia. Williams, M. and Bauer, T. (1994), “The effect of managing diversity policy on organizational attractiveness”, Group & Organizational Management, Vol. 19, pp. 295-308. Further reading Iles, P.A., Xhu, X. and Shutt, J. (2010), “Skills, employability and talent management in Zhejiang”, paper presented to CAMOT Conference, Shanghai, October. Martin, G. and Hetrick, S. (2006), Corporate Reputations, Branding and People Management: A Strategic Approach to HR, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. Tu¨zu¨ner, V.L. and Yuksel, C.A. (2009), “Segmenting potential employees according to firms’ organizational attractiveness dimensions in the employer branding concept”, Journal of Academic Research in Economics, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 46-61. About the authors TingTing Jiang, is originally from Ningbo, Zhejiang. She majored in Social Work and also finished a Law degree before becoming a Graduate Student of Business Management in Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou. Paul Iles is a Professor of Leadership and HRM at Salford Business School, the University of Salford, and was previously at Leeds Business School. Paul Iles is a Chartered Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, and Chartered Fellow of the CIPD. He has a particular interest in leadership development, coaching and TM, and has published a number of articles in recent years, including several recent articles on TM in China. Paul Iles is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected]

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