Strategic Imperatives: Retaining Customers in Marketing and Employees in Human Resource Management

Employee retention

As per the study conducted by Edwards (2012), within the domain of the marketing world is usually advised to secure the existing customers for gaining the new ones. In similar theoretical context Lievens and Slaughter (2016, p. 407), takes the support of the employees’ management theory states that if an organization retains existing employees then it would be a highly economical step instead of hiring new ones. As stated by Dabirian, Kietzmann and Diba (2017, p. 197), HRM dissertation help hiring new employees invests a lot of money and time that includes posting of jobs and writing job descriptions not to mention the importance of hiring new employees. All these steps requests a gigantic measure of time, speculation and exertion. Today there exists a war for ability because of the outrageous challenge of the workers to contract the best representatives for expanding their degree of profitability.. This hints towards a tough competition between business organizations as the organizations work hard to attract skilled employees as compared to the competitors and work hard to retain the existing ones.

In the existing research, employee retention is termed as a trick adopted by various business organizations to meet the requirements of operational requirements while maintaining the effective workforce. Theurer et al. (2018, p. 155), provided another definition, explaining the concept as a way used to encourage the employees to work with the organization for a maximum period of time. The definition in current research can be expressed as follows; a systematic effort to develop and foster an ambience that motivates employees to remain employed within the business organization while addressing their diverse needs. Ahmad and Daud (2016, p. 690), pointed out the prime issue within the corporate sector, highlighting the severe shortage of talent on a global basis. The global shortage of talent often forces the organizations to seek comprehensive schemes that may be termed suitable for retaining the old employees. Previous literature suggests the shortage of talent previously was due to economic recession. However, the current shortage of talent is due to change in the demographic patterns. Tanwar and Prasad (2016, p. 186), supported the demographic context of recruitment and suggested that the existing age of representatives would before long resign and the new workers would dominate. A significant test looked by business associations will be the maintenance of new age of workers as the more youthful ages tend to switch employments (Tumasjan, 2020, p. 83). In present terms the employees have become highly opportunistic in nature and are not confined to work with a single employer. The chances of switching over is high in case of present day employment as a wide variety of options are available for the employees for changing their profession, creating a challenge for the managers to retain employees within the highly competitive market.

Employer branding

The term employer branding was defined by Verma and Ahmad (2016, p. 42), as a series of psychological, economical and functional help provided through the scope of employment and recognised with the employing company. Employer branding is composed of 4 dimensions such as follows:

Interest value: as influenced by Verčič and Ćorić (2018, p. 444), interest value is the extent of appeal of an employer who is responsible for providing work related situations with an amicable working environment and a range of respectable employees. However, due to differences in perspective in working style there is always a gap in interest value making it difficult to retain employees.

Social value: The term social value is used to define the mark of appeal of a business organization coupled with suitable business opportunities and respectable relations with the coworkers

Economic value: as the term suggests, economic value measures the amount of attraction provided to the employees through a series of profits and remuneration.

Development value: A well valued attribute that works on describing the degree of attractiveness provided by the company to the employee for providing development for their career.

Application value: As stated by Biswas et al. (2017, p. 27), organizations provide a series of attraction to the employees and ensuring that the right talent is attracted, the organizations train them accordingly. However, Jayasinghe (2017, p. 5), argued the fact there exists limited organizations that provides the employee with the scope to implement what has been taught during the course of training. Employees often seek for organizations that allows them to implement their knowledge in practical scenarios.

Later two major dimensions were added by Kucherov and Zamulin (2016, p. 178), relating to the same topic, which can be explained as follows:

Management values: As argued and commented by Saraswathy and Balakrishnan (2017, p. 407), good or bad management plays an important role in retaining the employees. It is more because of the manager’s attitude and behaviour that influences the employees to stay or leave the company. As supported by Mishra (2017, p. 478), team leaders or immediate supervisors can be termed as the first point of contact for the new employees, behaviour of the same can help in retaining new talent. Thus, it can be conclusively stated the positive and negative experience of the employee can additionally work on influencing their social relationship with other employees

Work life balance: As stated by Ghosh and Kulshrestha (2016, p. 6), work life balance is termed as an attribute that allows the employees to work in peace with other employees. In similar regards, it is important for the employees to have an identity outside the working environment. Thus, a suitable balance between work life and social life can make the employee effective and efficient.

The concept related to employer branding was underlined due to the increasing level of competition among the rival companies that demand to survive within the competition to achieve growth and sustainability (Christiana and Syah, 2017, p. 22). In the last 2 decades the business websites were highly stagnant in nature, posting information about their products or information. However, in the fast paced innovative business electronic media has allowed the action of two way traffic relating to the fact that the employers and employees can share views related to the business. This creates an evident impact on employer’s brands to attract and maintain skilled employees. Kashive and Khanna (2017, p. 155), defined employer branding as a long term strategy and does not always refer to the recruitment strategies. Employer branding is basically, inclusive of the three stages, as follows:

Designing an attractive value proposition that is inclusive of the benefits to be offered to the actual work force in the future

Secondly, it is important to communicate the possible value proposition designed in the first stage

Last intervention is addressed to understand the implementation of value proposition

According to the research conducted by Gilani and Cunningham (2017, p. 239), employer branding is termed as a modern administration priority in the contemporary companies which are said to be leading due to the following reasons:

Shortage of labour: The business world was subjected to economic downturn during the course of recession in 2008 to 2011, leading to high levels of unemployment (Edwards, 2017, p. 233). However, the need for top talent and the right kind of employees is important in current hiring practices

More with less: Recession created economic burden on the business organizations forcing them to increase the output, while reducing the costs. This resulted in the right people doing their tasks in a professional manner.

Profitability and growth: It is important for the business organization to hire and maintain the high level of talented employees as it works on maintaining the competitive edge and important for company’s development.

Popularity: A research conducted by Theurer et al. (2018, p. 156), states the fact that employees exhibit a high level of willingness to associate with organizations with a high level of reputation. Unpopularity of the employer can have drastic impact on the corporate image of the company

Strength: Being attractive helps in improving the chances of sourcing the right kind of talent. Previous research by Theurer et al. (2020), suggests employer branding increases the level of organizational commitment once the employees are able to identify and work as per the organizational values. In similar regards, a respectable employer brand encourages the employees to put extra effort that benefits the organization.

Employer Branding and Employee Retention

Employer branding is named as a modern methodology that is ever growing and can stay aware of the current notoriety of the firm while holding the correct ability for the business (Biswas et al. 2017, p. 30). Most associations are worried about what the businesses think about them, as bosses. Business marking not just prompts representative maintenance and reliability, and upgrades individuals to work inside the association. In this manner, according to Jayasinghe (2017, p. 1), associations utilize representative marking techniques to draw in the workers for satisfying their hierarchical objectives. Associations with a solid brand picture can pick up representatives at low expenses, improve associations with workers, significantly offer lower pay rates when contrasted with the contenders. Employer branding is inclusive of the three benefits linked with performance, retaining and recruiting. However, the process of recruitment is highly expensive in nature. The prime disadvantage associated with employer branding is shift of concentration from core competencies (Mishra, 2017, p. 480). For instance, while maintaining the level of employer branding, the organization fails to maintain the needed organizational operations.

The disadvantages related to employee branding is often linked with the series of strategy which is neither free nor easy. There can be a series of problems linked with reaching a larger group of people Ghosh and Kulshrestha (2016, p. 6), stated the fact, the problem is too much choice and limited volume of candidates can make the task of recruitment a time consuming task. Christiana and Syah (2017, p. 22), discusses the potential dangers of employer branding. Not implementing the right kind of time and resources into the act of recruitment. Employer branding needs to be in alignment with the corporate branding. Kashive and Khanna (2017, p. 160), termed employer branding works on a tricky balance of maintaining a consistent balance in being flexible for allowing flexible interaction among the employees. The dangers of employer branding from social media platforms differs from the traditional perspective. At last, it tends to be convincingly expressed the extent of business brand is a unique substance. From the investigations directed above, it very well may be effectively presumed that representatives will in general leave associations in the event that they are not sufficiently lauded (Gilani and Cunningham, 2017, p. 242). The demonstration of marking is restricted to the business and spots constrained an incentive to the workers to upgrade representative maintenance. Thankfulness can be named as an essential piece of advancement a business ought not think little of the intensity of worker inspiration to guarantee the improvement in proficient abilities. Doing so would be named amazingly valuable for the representative and the businesses.

Development value is important for retaining employees. Thus, as influenced by Edwards (2017, p. 240), managers should appreciate employees for better rates of retention and performance. Managers need to develop updated skill sets among the employees that can help in ensuring that the employees develop their maximum potential. In similar regards, the employers’ need to focus on developing the workforce, maximising output of the firm. As highlighted by previous research literature, employees’ career oriented nature often makes them switch jobs (Tumasjan et al. 2020, p. 99). Organizations providing the employees with the scope to develop their careers and implement theoretical knowledge in practical scenarios are successful in retaining employees. The dynamic working environment can be termed as one of the greatest ways of ensuring strong branding of the employer. However, it should be taken into consideration that employers tend to concentrate on the bigger picture, if employees develop themselves they will not be dependent on a single employer. Thus, the employee can work for a range of employees in different businesses. This in return would provide the employee with unlimited scope of employment scope from the market.

Theoretical constructs

The theoretical basis for the current research is based on social exchange theory, which explains the social the act of social change and stability is obtained through the course of negotiation between both the parties (Mishra, 2017, p. 479). The theory can be additionally used for gratifying processes involving simple transactions. In current research, social exchange theory provides a foundation, where enterprises provides value to the employees resulting in high levels of employee loyalty, leading to an optimistic image of the business organization due to the existing social exchange between the employee and the employer. Thus, it can be conclusively stated interaction between employee and employer is mainly social in nature. The employers can form a strong brand, provided that the employees develop a strong sense of belonging. Thus, it is important to note that business organizations with high brand image provides a strong cultural value and vision. Thus, as per the reciprocity theory provided by Jayasinghe (2017, p. 5) The strong employer brand is paid with higher levels of loyalty, thereby ensuring maximum retention.

Continue your journey with our comprehensive guide to Strategic Human Resources Management.

Reference list

Ahmad, N.A. and Daud, S., 2016. Engaging people with employer branding. Procedia Economics and Finance, 35, pp.690-698.

Biswas, U.N., Allard, K., Pousette, A. and Härenstam, A., 2017. Employer branding and attractive work. In Understanding attractive work in a globalized world (pp. 27-35). Springer, Singapore.

Christiana, R.R. and Syah, D.O., 2017. The Correlation Analysis Between Employer Branding and Employee Satisfaction and Loyalty: Case Study at One Oil Company in Indonesia. Jurnal Ilmiah Ekonomi Bisnis, 22(1).

Dabirian, A., Kietzmann, J. and Diba, H., 2017. A great place to work!? Understanding crowdsourced employer branding. Business horizons, 60(2), pp.197-205.

Edwards, M.R., 2012. Employer branding: developments and challenges. Managing Human Resources: Human Resource Management in Transition, 5, pp.389-410.

Edwards, M.R., 2017. Employer Branding and Talent Management. The oxford handbook of talent management, pp.233-248.

Ghosh, D.K. and Kulshrestha, S.S., 2016. Employee Branding–Becoming a New Mantra for Employee Engagement. International Journal of Science and Research, 5(6).

Gilani, H. and Cunningham, L., 2017. Employer branding and its influence on employee retention: A literature review. The Marketing Review, 17(2), pp.239-256.

Jayasinghe, S.R.M., 2017. Effect of Employer Brand Image on Application Intentions of Final Year Management Undergraduates: Unfolding Employer Branding Determinants. Human Resource Management Journal, 5(1).

Kashive, N. and Khanna, V.T., 2017. Impact of Internal Branding (IB), Brand Commitment (BC) and Brand Supporting Behavior (BSB) on Organizational Attractiveness (OA) and Firm Performance (FP). International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 7(2), pp.155-174.

Kucherov, D. and Zamulin, A., 2016. Employer branding practices for young talents in IT companies (Russian experience). Human Resource Development International, 19(2), pp.178-188.

Lievens, F. and Slaughter, J.E., 2016. Employer image and employer branding: What we know and what we need to know. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 3, pp.407-440.

Mishra, Y., 2017. Employee Branding: A New Mantra of Employee Retention for Sustainable Growth of Organization. International Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 7(1), pp.478-491.

Saraswathy, R. and Balakrishnan, J., 2017. Facets of talent retention: role of employee and employer branding as catalysts. International Journal of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence, 3(4), pp.407-432.

Tanwar, K. and Prasad, A., 2016. Exploring the relationship between employer branding and employee retention. Global Business Review, 17(3_suppl), pp.186S-206S.

Theurer, C.P., Tumasjan, A., Welpe, I.M. and Lievens, F., 2018. Employer branding: a brand equity‐based literature review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(1), pp.155-179.

Tumasjan, A., Kunze, F., Bruch, H. and Welpe, I.M., 2020. Linking employer branding orientation and firm performance: Testing a dual mediation route of recruitment efficiency and positive affective climate. Human Resource Management, 59(1), pp.83-99.

Verčič, A.T. and Ćorić, D.S., 2018. The relationship between reputation, employer branding and corporate social responsibility. Public Relations Review, 44(4), pp.444-452.

Verma, D. and Ahmad, A., 2016. Employer branding: The solution to create talented workforce. IUP Journal of Brand Management, 13(1), p.42.