Marketing meets human resources : a study of employer branding practices in Canada

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out the current Employer Branding Practices being used by a sample of companies in Canada. The goal was to find out how companies were creating awareness of their employer brands, how they influenced their brand consideration and feelings and judgements about that brand; and how it all came together in reflecting the overall employer branding strategy. This was achieved by interviewing the key Human Resource influencers in fifteen companies in Canada who were regarded by external awarding bodies as great employers. The results of the interviews with a sample of companies in Canada revealed that the employer branding model was split into two separate parts: an internal model and an external model. Internally, the sample companies indeed had very well designed and coordinated strategies for managing and ensuring that their current employees were aware of and considered the attributes of their employer brand, had positive feelings and judgements about their employers. Overall the internal employer branding strategy although not specifically referred to by that name achieved the ultimate goal of creating brand resonance among current employees. However, noticeably absent was a coordinated effort to project that positive employer brand externally. There was very little collaboration between the Human Resources departments and the Marketing departments to create awareness and consideration of the employer brand among potential applicants. Companies instead heavily relied on their current networks, employees, clients, recruiters and the community to project and sell their employer brand externally. It is therefore recommended that companies take control of managing their employer brand externally just as they do internally. A model combining the various aspects of the internal employer branding strategy that can be used to influence potential applicants’ awareness and consideration of an employer during their job search has been proposed. In order for this model to be successful, Human Resources will have to work with Marketing to devise the best way to accurately and consistently project the internal employer brand image externally using one continuous model.