Modelling and managing the impact of employer branding: a social identity approach

Employers throughout the developed world are facing a fierce ‘war for talent’ that may soon eclipse the traditional competition for customers.1 Employer branding has been widely recognized as a valuable strategic weapon in this ‘war for talent,’2 but we still do not fully understand what it is or how it works.3 This review seeks to address both questions by developing a model of the ‘employer branding value chain’. The model proposed in this paper is based on a systematic review of the literature in two subject areas, employer branding and organizational identification. Employer branding is a relatively new field of study that applies the theory of consumer branding to the practice of HR management.4 The principles are well-established, as are the objectives, but little research has yet been conducted to establish the causal relationships between them. Organizational identification, on the other hand, is a relatively well-researched field that describes the psychological attachment of an individual to an organization. The most popular theory of organizational identification is based on Ashforth and Mael’s (1989) ‘social identity approach,’ and this is the theory covered in the review. The proposed model also incorporates the notion of person-organization fit as described by Herriot (2002, 2004) However his ‘social process’ approach to recruitment is based on the same three theories as those used by Ashforth and Mael (1989), and is therefore treated as an extension of the literature on organizational identification. By integrating insights from both areas, this review seeks to both explain and predict employee behaviour. The resulting model brings the extant theory and research to bear on a critical business issue, providing a practical guide for managers. I conclude the review with a discussion of limitations and areas for further study.