EMPLOYER BRANDING

Insights into Employer

Branding
Prof. Jyotsna Bhatnagar
Phd IIT D
PGDID-MIT Sloan, Tuck School, Dartmoth
College, USA
Professor-HRM
MDI
Harvard Business School Affiliate
Visiting Professor-Aston Business School, UK
 Employer brand
• Promise Made and Promise kept
• Anticipatory Psychological contract

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Origin
The term "employer branding" was first publicly introduced to a
management audience in 1990,[5] and defined by Simon Barrow,
chairman of People in Business, and Tim Ambler, Senior Fellow
of London Business School, in the Journal of Brand Management in
December 1996.[6] This academic paper was the first published attempt to
"test the application of brand management techniques to human
resource management". Within this paper, Simon Barrow and Tim
Ambler defined the employer brand as "the package of functional,
economic and psychological benefits provided by employment, and
identified with the employing company".

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• By 2001, of 138 leading companies surveyed
by the Conference Board in North America,
40% claimed to be actively engaged in some
form of employer branding activity.[7] 
• In 2003, an employer brand survey
conducted by the Economist among a global
panel of readers revealed a 61% level of
awareness of the term "employer brand"
among HR professionals and 41% among
non-HR professionals.[8] 

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• The first book on the subject was published in
2005,[1] and the second in 2006.[9] 
• In 2008, Jackie Orme, the Director General
of the UK Chartered Institute of Personnel
Directors confirmed the growing status of the
discipline in her opening address to the CIPD
annual conference, with the observation that:
"When I started out in the profession,
nobody talked about employer branding.
Now it's absolutely integral to business
strategy—resonating well beyond the
doors of the HR department"..
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• Similar recognition of the growing
importance of employer brand thinking and
practice has also been recently in
evidence in the USA,[10] Australia,[9] Asia,[11]
[12][13]
 and Europe,[14][15][16][17] with the
publication of numerous books on the
subject

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 Employer brand management

• Employer brand management expands the scope of this

brand intervention beyond communication to incorporate
every aspect of the employment experience, and the
people management processes and practices ,often
referred to as "touch-points" that shape the
perceptions of existing and prospective employees.
[1]
 

• In other words, employer brand management addresses

the reality of the employment experience and not simply
its presentation.
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Ambler and Barrow define employer brand as follows:

“The package of functional, economic, and

psychological benefits provided by employment,
and identified with the employing company”

Minchington 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 candidates, clients, customers and
other key stakeholders).

MINCHINGTON, B. Employer Brand Leadership - A Global

Perspective. Torrensville:
Collective Learning Australia, 2010. 319 p. ISBN 978-0-646-53648-
4 8
• Employer branding is central to the
concept in HR Marketing. It defines the
personality of a company as a
preferred employer. [10]
RADFORD, T. 7 ways to sell your employer brand [online]. 2009. [cit. 2010-
09-25].
Dostupné na internete
<http://www.dynamicbusiness.com.au/articles/articles-blogs/selling-your-
employerbrand3973.
html

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 Difference Between Branding
and Brand Management
• The acid test of a satisfying employee-employer
relationship is rooted in a set of specific behaviors along
the “me-to-we continuum.”
• The best employers help us each achieve our
personal “me” goals and dreams on the one hand,
while simultaneously collaborating with us to solve
more generalized “we” worries about the economy,
the environment, the world on the other hand.
• And, in between the “me” and “we” extremes, there
are a variety of ways that employers can enrich the
lives of employees and communities alike.

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Just yesterday Indian Corporate announced the
Best Brands in India
Business Insider June 18th 2022

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 Just yesterday Indian Corporate
announced the Best Brands in
India
• Four Indian companies join Apple, Google &
Amazon as world’s top 100 brands
• TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys and LIC were
featured in the list of top 100 valuable global
brands.
• TCS was the most valuable brand coming out
of India, which sat on the 46th spot of the list.
• HDFC Bank was the fourth biggest bank in the
world in terms of brand value.
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 Latest Brand Ranks
Rank Indian Company Brand Value
#46 Tata Consultancy Service $50 billion
(TCS)

#61 HDFC Bank $35 billion

#64 Infosys $33 billion

#92 Life Insurance $23 billion

Corporation (LIC)

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 Integrating the Research Role of “the Brand” in Co-creating
Value

Consumers, Customers
& Stakeholders

INTERACTIVE EXTERNAL
‘co-creating meaning ‘making promises’
and experience ’ through value
propositions’

Brands ( & Company) Organisation

Employees ‘facilitating, mediating & realising the
co-creation of value’

INTERNAL
‘enabling the fulfillment created by promises ’
Experience- ?????
Quick Check
 Employer Brand
• Promises Made and Promises Kept

• Best Place to work for Surveys

• Based on Trust surveys

• Best Workplaces™ lists.

 Employer Brand-Best Place to
work For surveys
• As part of this assessment, the organizations are studied
through two lenses. The first lens measures the quality of
employee experience through our globally validated survey
instrument known as Trust Index©.
• The survey helps in seeking anonymous feedback from
employees and carries 75% weightage when considered
for the Best Workplaces™ lists.
• The second lens is called Culture Audit©, which is a
proprietary tool of the Institute that evaluates the quality of
people practices of an organization, covering the entire
employee life cycle.
 GOOGLE

BUILD | CREATE | DESIGN | CODE

For everyone!
Film Google
Google is googleness !
How we are different (cool)
How We Stay
Different
 Employer Brand-Best Place to
work For surveys
• The second lens is called Culture Audit©, This carries 25%
weightage.

• The Institute undertakes a robust validation process on the data

gathered through the assessment process.

• The cumulative score of Trust Index© and Culture Audit©

determines an organisation’s position in the ranking scoreboard
and helps in identifying ‘India’s 100 Best Companies to Work For’.
• No individual or jury has a say in who makes it to the Top 100 list—only
employee feedback and quality of people practice determine if an
organisation is a great workplace.
25
• From Our research On Employer Brand
we found:
• Major benefits of doing Employer Branding
– Lower costs
– Customer satisfaction
– Financial results
– Organizational Pride
– Security
– Organizational Image

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• Lower costs
– The most significant area in which costs can be reduced is
in recruitment
– If your staff/employee turnover is lower than that of your
competitor, it provides you with an immediate and obvious
advantage in terms of your cost base
– Strong employer brands tend to enjoy higher levels of
employee retention
– In a study in UK in 2003 of 20000 employees it was revealed
that banks with above-average of employee attitude and
engagement experiences a 14% lower level of absenteeism
– Higher levels of employee engagement were not only linked
to higher levels of performance, but to important
operational efficiency factors such as wastage (known loss)
and shrinkage (unknown loss through stock errors)

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• Customer satisfaction
– Three key questions to be answered. Sears set out to seek
answers to these three questions. In the process, the most quoted
case study in this area was done. These three questions are:
• Is Sears a compelling place to work for employees (employer branding
perspective)?
• Is Sears a compelling place to shop for customers (customer brand
perspective)?
• Is Sears a compelling place for investors (financial brand perspective)?

What Sears discovered from its survey of 800 stores were:

1. Employee satisfaction accounted for between 60% and 80% of customer
satisfaction
2. 5 unit increase in employee satisfaction correlated with a 1.3 unit
increase in customer satisfaction which in turn, resulted in 0.5%
increase in revenue
3. Positive correlation to the extent of 0.23 with customer satisfaction and
0.26 with sales and employee commitment
Though major studies have been conducted in retails firms, examples are their
from firms in other sector (Nortel Networks, Sun Microsystems, and so on)

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• Financial Results
– Just one example shall help clarifying this notion: one
research study study involving 360 000 employees
from 41 companies indicated a strong positive
correlation between levels of employee
commitment to the organization and changes in
both operating and net profit margins

– So, while reducing costs and customer

satisfaction provide a strong business rationale
for focussing greater on employer branding, the
case ultimately rests on a clear link between employer
brand and high levels of employee engagement and
better financial performance.

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• Life cycle benefits
– Attracting the ‘right’ people
– Capturing the organizational spirit
– Forging a shared sense of identity and
purpose
– Refreshing the self-image
– Living the brand
– Benefits to the HR function
– Benefits to internal communication functions
– Benefits to marketing functions

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• Young, fast growing companies: Attracting the ‘right
stuff’
– For a young and fast growing companies the
primary benefit of having a clear employer brand
proposition is the role it can pay in helping to
attract and retain good-quality candidates
– A well-structured employer brand proposition can
help clarify the company’s ambition, the type of
people it is looking for to help develop its
business that make it both distinctive and likely to
success
– The role of ‘corporate/company rituals’

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• Employer Brand Insights-
• Collect stories on Sunny side up:
Best of: What would you put in an advert to
present the very best of this company?
Heroes: Who would appear in the organization’s
hall of fame? Why?
Legends: How would a movie tell the
organization’s story if one was made about it?
Greatest Hits: What records would you choose for
a celebratory party album?
Perfect Day: Describe a perfect [work] day in this
company.

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• Employer Brand Insights (contd…)
The Shadow(y) Side:
Rough Guide: What they didn’t tell you during
induction training that you need to survive and
prosper [in this company]?
Villains: Who are the black sheep of this
company? Why?
Obituary: What would be written as the epitaph
on the tombstone of this company were it to
close business tomorrow or in the near future?
Hell: Describe a typically hellish day [of work] in
this company.

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• Employer Brand Insights (contd…)
Personification:
Personality: If this company was anthropomorposized (represented
as a person) what type of person would that be?
Brand Party: Imagine a party between you and your competitors?
What would happen when all of you met together? What would you
discuss? What would you share?
Celebrity: Who would be the most appropriate celebrity to represent
your company?
Organizational Stereotypes: Describe a ‘typical’ employee of this
company

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• Employer Brand Insights (contd…)
Communication Audits:
(i) Sources
(ii) Contents
(iii) Editorial Control
(iv) Audience
(v) [Message] Transmission Channels
(vi) Feedback Channels
(vii) Response / Action

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• Employer Brand Insights (contd…)
Additional Sources:

(i) Exit Interview Data

(ii) Performance and Development Reviews
(iii)Sickness-Absence data

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• Employer Brand Insights (contd…)
Employer Brand Image-One sentence EVP on summer
organization-submit and present on 5th Jan 2021

(i) Awareness
(ii) Name Recognition
(iii)Salience
(iv)Trials
(v) Brand Experience
(vi)Retention and Advocacy
(vii)Alumni
(viii)Brand Mapping (maybe through Multi Dimensional Scaling)

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 Some Concepts
• Satisfaction-meet or surpass expectation
• Expectation- Perceived value or benefits that one seeks
• Perception-process by which a person selects, organizes, and interprets
information/stimuli inputs to create a meaningful picture 
• Influence-Have an effect on behavior of others- form a Habit
• A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur
subconsciously.
• Brand-an identity by itself.
– Identify-how one wants to be perceived by others
– Image- How one is perceived by others
• Trust- Integrity- (to solve the problem- Fulfill the promise- Support in times
of crisis
 Value
Value – the ratio between what the one
gets and what he gives

Benefits
Value =
Costs

Functional benefits + Emotional Benefits

=
Monetary Costs + Time Costs + Energy Costs + Psychic Costs

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Case Amazon as an employer-
Employer Brand

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 CASE AMAZON-NYT EXPOSE
• Amazon, the largest internet based retailer in the USA, had frequently
been featured in the elite list of the most admired organizations.

• However, an article reported by the New York Times projected it as a

soul crushing employer and as a brutal place to work. Employees at
Amazon were encouraged to be ruthless with each other in
brainstorming sessions.

• Working late at night and sending secret feedback about each other
with the intent of sabotaging their image were the norm.
• Dependent care was viewed as liability and even the consistent high
performers were edged out when they needed flexibility for dependent
care.
•
• Employee attrition was very high in the organisation at the same time
there was no dearth of people applying for the jobs.
•
 CASE AMAZON-NYT EXPOSE
• Most of the employees described the culture as toxic and difficult to
survive whereas another set of employees thrived at Amazon.

• Few argued that Amazon was the best place to work for people who are
passionate about their work.

• Passionate people embrace pressure and thrive on it. Inspite of few

employees thriving, Amazon and Bezos both witnessed a decline in its
ranking.

• Amazon was well-known for its customer obsession and brand but the
New York Times article tarnished its image as an employer brand.

• Amazon had huge growth plans

• After these revelations made in the New York Times article, will Amazon
be able to attract and retain employees and diversity in its workforce?

• Were the employees thriving or somehow surviving? Are these people

management practices sustainable?
 CASE OBJECTIVES
 
In studying and analyzing this case students will:
• Evaluate the significance of care and compassion
at workplace.
• Appreciate the importance of psychological
flexibility and mindfulness for being
compassionate.
• Understanding the pros and cons of putting
employees on the edge and its impact business
related outcomes.
• Appreciate the importance of sustainable people
management practices for an attractive Employer
Brand.
Does care and compassion make
business sense?

Two groups for and Against Justify your position.

How and why?
 Why Care and compassion does
not make business sense?
• It is a profit oriented organisation and not a public
undertaking working for larger benefit of the
society.
• Colleagues at the workplace might not take the
person who is very caring and compassionate
very seriously. It is not a social enterprise aiming
to make this world a better place to live.
• Amazon is into IT and retailing which is a profit
driven industry.
• They are in a competitive industry and need to
push people to sustain in the business.
• It has a responsibility towards its shareholders.
 Why Care and compassion does
•
not make business sense?
Amazon runs on low margins and hence economic performance is essential
for business continuity.

• They need money/profits to expand and grow.

• Profit provides motivation to do business and is the reward for the

entrepreneur CEO.

• At the time of fundraising and IPO’s investors look at the organisations

financial viability.

• Care and compassion will not increase the prices of stock, financial
performance will.

• Finance and profits are important to stay competitive.

• Amazon is not a very caring and compassionate organisation but its

financial performance is remarkable. It was the primary reason why Bezos
was ranked as number one CEO in 2014. So care and compassion may not
really make business sense.
Why Care Compassion is Important for Business and
Employer Brand Value Fit

• Organisations are run by human beings and they should be

treated like humans. Business has a role in society.

• The current Business thought is to combine purpose and profit.

• Employee’s needs are changing and being an understanding

and compassionate employer is important for attracting and
retaining talent.

• It enhances the employee value proposition.

• Helps in building a better brand image.

• Helps in gaining customers and client respect.

• Why Care Compassion is Important for Business and
Employer Brand Value Fit
• Stock markets also consider the management of the
organisation before making investment. They might not favour
an organisation engaged in unethical and inhuman practices
even if they are doing financially well.
• It is an era of Triple bottom line and not just bottom-line.
Amazon has completely ignored the other two aspects i.e
social and environmental.
• In an era where everyone is searching for purpose, Amazon is
sailing against the tide.
• Care and compassion leads to positive organisational
outcome like higher commitment, better health, innovation
and creativity among many others.
• It helps in creating better social relationship at the workplace
with supervisors, colleagues and subordinates.
 Why Care Compassion is Important for Business and Employer Brand
Value Fit

• This social relationship at work will help in building a congenial

atmosphere for work which might lead to better productivity,
performance and innovation.

• Compassionate organisations perceive competition in terms of win-

win and not win lose.

• Care and compassion is a competitive instrument which can yield a

moral business advantage beneficial for all the stakeholders.

• Companies compete on issues such as reputation, goodwill, reliability

as well as economic factors.

• Integrity in behaviour along with quality product and services is a key

to competitive advantage.

• though Amazon is doing well financially its ranking is declining. Besoz

had dropped from number one to eighty seventh position. The reason
was that he was evaluated not just on financial performance.
 Attending to present moment experience
recognizing thoughts and feelings as passing mental
events
acting from a sense of self as a perspective from
which experience is observed rather than a set of
identity labels

Enhances quality of relationships

Relational resources
Increases Trust
Strengthened the shared values
Increases Commitment
Mindfulness Organizational support
Positive outcomes
Caring social networks
Psychological Compassion Improved immunity, better medical
Flexibility conditions like reduced blood pressure
Greater creativity
Greater capacity to notice and
Values Centred respond more effectively to goal
action related opportunities at work.
Enhanced context sensitivity which
Reduced helps in effective pursuit of goals.
Stress Innovation

Low work
alienation

Low
Attrition
 How keeping employees on the
edge impacts business in short
and long run?
Two groups for and Against Justify your
position.
How and why?
How keeping employees on the edge impacts business
in short and long run?
Pros of keeping employees on the edge or Eu
stress.

• Motivates to work harder.

• Improves productivity.
• Gives feeling of fulfilment.
• Generates other positive feelings like excitement and
self efficacy.
• It gives life a meaning and hope.
• Augments positive social behaviour
• Makes employees behave reliably, trust others and
share resources
• Helps in being more creative and innovative.
• Improves our coping abilities.
Cons of keeping employees on the
edge or Distress
 
• It causes anxiety or concern.
• In extreme cases leads to depression.
• It creates unpleasant feelings.
• Decreases performance.
• Hinders thought process.
• Acts as an obstacle for creativity and innovation.
• May lead to mental and physical medical conditions.
• Disturbs both personal and professional life via work
family conflicts.
• Goes outside of our coping abilities.
• Is the Amazon Employer Brand in the
current Circumstances sustainable?

Two groups for and Against Justify

your position.
How and why?
Debate with logic and justify your groups
position .
 Is the Amazon Employer Brand in the current Circumstances
sustainable?
 Group :Amazon EB is sustainable
 
• The organisation is giving Eustress to their employee that is the reason few employees are
thriving at Amazon and others who are weak are not able to sustain.
•
• Organisation is a professional set up and we are expected to give our best with minimum
resources. Hence Frugality is justified.

• Maximum resource utilization is the aim of every individual and same is with the organisations.

• The environment of Amazon is encouraging and motivates employees to give their best.

• It gives employees confidence that they are working with the best minds in the industry.
• Amazon is not forcing people to join them, it is employment at will.

• It is very clear in its communication and they inform the potential recruits of what it is like to work
at Amazon.

• It is paying unhappy employees to quit.

• The company is doing nothing unusual it may be a little extreme when compared to their
counterparts , everybody sends feedback via 360 D appraisal, bottom performers are thrown out
of the system in most of the organisation, there is a constant pressure to innovate to survive in
almost all the organisation.
 
Organisation Examples:
 
• Apple:
 
• The culture at apple is a secret and maintaining secrecy about everything is the
primary focus. Apple has also been alleged for its inhuman and toxic culture. Its
former employees describe the culture as toxic , manipulative, intimidating ,
threatening and full of politics. Medical issues, family issues and even wedding hold
no value if one is employed at Apple. Team spirit does not exist. Meetings are held
with toxic agendas in mind of belittling the less significant group. It is supported by
few other former colleagues. It also encourages a 24*7 work culture and employees
receive emails at odd hours. There is a great deal of disparity between what they
preach and what they practice.

• Microsoft:

• Microsoft had a reputation of a tough place to work at, because of internal

strife, staff fragmentation and severe office politics. Inspite of all this they are
doing extremely well and are not just sustainable but thriving. 
• Microsoft is changing: The instructor might want to discuss at the time of
dilemma analysis that organisations are changing and even Microsoft is
changing. Microsoft is now moving towards addressing its work culture issue
and fostering “One Microsoft culture”. They are taking several steps for their
employees to make Microsoft a better place to achieve its goals.
 Group :Employer Brand –Not Sustainable at Amazon

• Organizations across the world are struggling to build and

sustain a strong talent pipeline to continue the business and
increase bottom-line.
• Organisations need to mould themselves to the changing
demographics and preferences of the employees and also to
create new competencies and invigorate their organizations.
• Amazon seems to have not paced up with the shifting
work culture and employees preferences.
• They do not acknowledge the need of employees at various
stages of life.
• They look at self and dependent care as liabilities.
• It is causing distress and not Eustress that is why people cry
on their desk literally.
• Organisations need to recruit and select talented employees,
develop them, handle their performance and provide
appropriate compensations and rewards to retain their key
players. Amazon seems to follow only one of these i.e.
recruit and select talented people and hence has threat to
its sustainability.

• Consistent high performers when faced with critical

incidents in life, Amazon instead of giving care and
compassion and trying to retain them give cues that their
survival is difficult.

• With this kind of work culture at Amazon, talented

employees may not prefer to join Amazon when
competitors are providing better work atmosphere and do
not practice frugality to the extent Amazon does.
 Employer brand :Not sustainable 
• This era is of Millennials, for them transparency is of utmost
importance. They post their lives on social media sites and
expect the same from their organisation.

• The culture of sending secret feedbacks to bosses at Amazon

doesn’t sync well with the values of Gen Y employees.

• Its Employee value preposition is not up to the mark, other

employers are sceptical of hiring Amazon employees.

• With the influx of millennials in the workforce there is a growing

interest in work life balance policies and practices. Increasing
number of employees demand for work life balance and many
companies are offering flexible work practices in an attempt to
attract and retain the best talent.
Organisation Examples:
• Accenture started its work life balance programs focusing on female employees, realizing the need and
change it was made available to men as well. These programs feature flex time, job sharing, flexibility,
telecommuting, fly back etc. It resulted in reduced turnover, helped in promoting diversity by increased
number of female employees and substantially increased the team productivity, job satisfaction and
motivation among female employees
• .
• Inmobi has been honoured with the title of most innovative company in India. Employees are not required
to seek permission from their bosses if they are going on a leave for less than six days. There are no
international travel policy and employees are free to spend as they please whereas Amazon focuses on
frugality. They deprived their employees of one free aspirin to impress the Wall Street. At Inmobi if an
employee quits within a month they are given three months salary as quitting bonus. Employees are
offered $800 annually as learning wallet which they can use for learning anything including scuba diving,
cooking classes or any new technology.

• Netflix: Netflix has recently become very popular and is being referred to an organisation which is
“reinventing HR”. They have out of the box policies such as unlimited vacation time, its expense policy is
of just five words “Act in Netflix best interest”, no formal performance management system, and
employees choose their own compensation structure.

• Flipkart: Flipkart was recently in news due its launch of innovative leave
and absence policy targeted at women employees. They have come out
with maternity leave policy which gives leaves far beyond the minimum
required by the law; they have allowed flexible working hours with full pay of
four months and an option of career break. The company is also offering
transport reimbursement, counselling sessions for parents, tie ups with
hospital and child care support for all its employees. They have also
introduced adoption policy and extra leaves these employees.
 Reflect
• If earning money was not constraint what
would you like to do?--------------
• Your worst fear
• Three words you want to be described with?
• Three words that people use to describe
you?
• Any Gap between the above two?
• Your Strength--- What do you desire to
achieve in 2030, 2025, 2021, 2020
 Well being- How to measure your life
•  Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements  Tom
Rath and Jim Harter
• Five universal, interconnected elements that
shape our lives:
– Career Wellbeing,
– Social Wellbeing,
– Financial Wellbeing,
– Physical Wellbeing, and
– Community Wellbeing.
 The Brand -You
• Identity vs Image- you exist in the
listening of others
• Four layers:
– Character- values
– Competence
– Your behavior- physical evidence
– Reputation
• What they need to do when they Join the
industry
• Write short term goals
• Write a letter to self-10 years from now

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 Internal and External
• Project Employer Brand
• Jindal Stainless Internal and external
Employer branding

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• Internal dimension of corporate branding
– Culture
– Identity
– Reference PWC Report 2022

• External dimension of corporate branding

– Image
– Reputation-
– Yahoo Case
– Question
– What will you focus on building Yahoo’s internal brand, given the
impression of failure of a transforming Leader, Mellissa Myer.
Connect 2005 to 2015
 Yahoo AOL VERIZON MERGE
• OATH
• N
• NOW Verizon media
• https://www.oath.com/careers/work-at-
oath/

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