The Employer Brand through a Brand Lens: A Critical Review of Literature

Abstract

The employer brand is vital to human resources management in attracting and retaining talent. Whilst the employer brand straddles the functional domains of human resources and brand management, it’s nature and function as a brand construct within strategic brand management is under-researched and fragmented in literature. In practice, ineffective application of brand building theory and practice to the employer brand impedes talent attraction and retention and detracts from the overall brand’s coherence and strength. The study set out to explore the employer brand’s purpose, nature and function as a brand construct in context of strategic brand building and organisational leadership thereof. The integrative or critical literature review methodology includes 118 literature sources and unfolds over four documented phases of research. Thematic content analysis yields four themes, shedding light on the employer brand as an extension of the corporate brand, the role of strategically aligned leadership in creation and management thereof, the importance of employer brand positioning and congruent branding to all brand stakeholders. Findings are drawn together in a proposed employer brand perspective framework, enriched with practices to guide human resources management and cross-functional leadership in creating and managing effective, aligned employer brands.

1. Introduction

In a marketplace marred by critical talent shortages [1, 2], the employer brand allows employers to differentiate themselves and cut through the competitive clutter so that they can attract and retain the services of high value talented employees [3, 4].

The employer brand should not only be viewed in terms of its talent attraction and retention function, but also as a strategic platform for brand building [5, 6]. As its naming indicates, the employer brand is a brand construct – a statement that provides a fitting point of departure for a review of the employer brand through a brand lens. From a brand and brand building perspective, the employer brand manages the perceptions of current and prospective employees, and other relevant stakeholders to build meaningful relationships and actively contribute to the overall brand and actively contribute to the management of the brand [7, 8].

Whilst several recent studies have aimed to integrate employer brand literature and present a unified understanding of key constructs and applications thereof, these studies mainly examine the employer brand from a human resources and talent management perspective [8, 9]. Scholars suggest that limited research has been conducted on the integration between human resources or talent management and brand management in employer branding [5, 10], and that employer brand positioning, the alignment to the overall brand and the role thereof in building overall brand strength are still largely underexplored areas [9]. Theurer, Tumasjan, Welpe and Lievens ([11], p. 166) indicate that under-researched areas of the employer brand include the employee value proposition (EVP) creation, target market segmentation, and the reputational effects of the employer brand on the larger, overall company brand and its performance. Behrends, Baur and Zierke ([12], p. 20) underline the need for research into employer brand’s nature and function as a brand.

Consequently, this study was fueled by a particular research problem, which is the need to review employer brand literature through a brand lens in order to shed light on the gaps in knowledge around employer brand creation, branding activities and management in an organisational leadership context. The research objective was to explore, through an integrative review of literature, the employer brand’s purpose, nature and function as a brand construct in context of strategic brand building and leadership thereof.

2. Research methodology

The study’s research problem informed the selection of an integrative or critical literature review, as a synthesis of perspectives and insights from several different fields would be required in order to contribute new knowledge and theory to the under-researched field of the employer brand as a brand construct [13, 14].

2.1 Overview of the research design and methods

Figure 1 presents an overview of the research study’s design and methods, showing the research problem and related research objective, followed by the review method in four phases, and a summary of the findings that address the research problem.

Figure 1.

An overview of the research study design and methods.

2.2 Phase 1: data identification

Snyder ([15], p. 337) states that an integrative literature review should start by carefully designing the review by developing a search strategy based on the data and literature identified. Phase 1 was therefore concerned with identifying the key constructs and practices that needed to guide the search.

To identify the data required, the key constructs and practices were sourced from current, relevant peer reviewed journal articles that provided a systematic or integrative literature review of the current employer brand landscape [13, 16]. Table 1 presents the five scholarly articles selected to inform the data identification (key constructs and practices) that would be used as search terms for the study’s literature review [16, 20]. These five articles met narrowly defined inclusion criteria for phase 1 of this study: they were critical, integrative, or systematic literature reviews of the employer brand that were published between 2016 and 2021 in peer reviewed journals and offered valuable insights into key constructs and practices related to the employer brand, captured in an integrative model or framework. The articles were sourced from journals representing the fields of literature related to this study, namely cross-functional management, human resources management and brand management.

Article	Title, Journal and Scope
Behrends, T., Baur, M. and Zierke, L. [12]	Title: Critical review of the employer branding concept.; Journal: Management Revue; Scope: Content-related selection criteria of 64 sources up to 2018.
Gilani, H. and Cunningham, L. [17]	Title: Integrative literature review to explore the influence of employer branding on employee retention.; Journal: The Marketing Review; Scope: 89 peer reviewed journal publications and academic content up to 2014.
Lievens, F. and Slaughter, J. E. [18]	Title: Critical review of theory and research on employer image and employer branding.; Journal: Annual Review of Organisational Psychology and Organisational Behaviour; Scope: Inclusion of 62 empirical journal articles published between 2001 and 2014.
Saleem, F. Z. and Iglesias, O. [19]	Title: A systematic literature review across internal and employer branding.; Journal: Journal of Product and Brand Management; Scope: Inclusion of 90 peer reviewed journal articles published between 1996 and 2014.
Theurer, C. P., Tumasjan, A., Welpe, I. M. and Lievens, F. [11]	Title: A critical literature review of inter-disciplinary employer brand literature focused on brand equity.; Journal: International Journal of Management Reviews; Scope: 187 academic journal publications up to 2015.

Table 1.

Phase 1 literature for data identification (key terms and constructs, practices).

The 25 key constructs identified from the five articles analysed were used as search terms in phase 2 of the literature review. As the key constructs stretched across several theoretical and functional areas, three clusters were created by categorising or grouping the key terms and constructs into those that were related to the employer brand, brand theory, and brand alignment or coherence respectively. Table 2 presents the three clusters with the 25 numbered terms and concepts, sorted into the three clusters and listed in alphabetical order.

Employer brand	Brand theory	Brand alignment and coherence
Foundational theory and practice of the employer brand’s function and target market:	Foundational brand theory, models and frameworks that would inform the employer brand as a brand:	The employer brand in relation to other brands and in context of alignment thereto:
1. Employer brand	8. Brand	17. Brand alignment
2. Employer branding	9. Branding	18. Brand ambassadors
3. Employer brand image	10 Brand commitment	19. Brand co-creation
4. Employee experience	11. Brand equity	20. Brand coherence
5. Employee value proposition (EVP)	12. Brand leadership	21. Brand experience
6. Internal brand	13. Brand loyalty	22. Consistent branding
7. Internal branding	14. Brand positioning	23. Internal brand communication
	15. Brand stakeholders	24. Integrated brand communication
	16. Corporate brand	25. Word of mouth

Table 2.

Data identification - key terms and constructs in three clusters.

The identification of data for the review of literature was enriched by looking beyond key terms and constructs to leadership practices or activities, as the research objective indicated the need to explore the employer brand in context of strategic brand building and brand leadership thereof.

Saleem and Iglesias ([19], p. 48) define brand leadership as “transformational leaders working alongside staff who disseminate a clear brand ideology and facilitate a positive shared understanding of the brand”.

As presented in Table 3, the analysis of the five phase 1 articles yielded four main practices pertaining to the brand leadership of the employer brand: creating, leadership, branding and strategic brand building.

Brand leadership practices related to the employer brand

Creating: Activities undertaken to create the employer brand and its compelling and unique EVP.

Leadership: Activities that see leadership collaboration and alignment across human resources management, brand or marketing management and organisational leadership as they create and manage the employer brand.

Branding: Activities aimed at communicating and marketing the employer brand to internal and external brand stakeholders.

Strategic brand building: Activities that aim to align the employer brand with the corporate brand in order to build overall corporate brand reputation, identity and strength.

Table 3.

Data identification - brand leadership practices for the employer brand in four clusters.

2.3 Phase 2: literature identification

The literature identification process culminated in the identification of three different groups of literature for the phase 3 data collection:

1. Seminal or prominent authors: Given that the literature review would span across three rather disparate domains, it was important to establish seminal or prominent authors in each of the fields of study. Upon examination of the reference lists of the five articles used in phase 1, seminal or prominent authors that featured in two or more of these articles were identified. A further search across two databases (Google Scholar, ProQuest) shed further light on the most cited and most prominent studies, models, frameworks and authors for each of the key concepts.

2. Peer reviewed journal articles: The literature to be identified had to include scholarly, academic articles, published in peer reviewed journals that were published within the last five years (2016–2021), given that the review was conducted early in 2022. A further content-related inclusion criteria was the specific selection of literature that could add value to understanding the employer brand as a brand construct.

3. Reputable industry articles: The scholarly literature was supplemented with reputable industry articles published between 2016 and 2021, as this would provide current industry, business and leadership perspectives on the employer brand as a brand construct or shed light on the data identified for the literature review.

2.4 Phase 3: data collection

In phase 2, the literature search was conducted using the data and literature identified, yielding just over 260 sources, which were further narrowed down to 118 literature review sources through careful selection of literature that best informed the brand and brand building aspects of the employer brand, with special emphasis on the contribution made in terms of the data identified in phase 1.

Table 4 presents a summary of the literature sources selected for this review.

Literature review sources	Number
Systematic or critical literature reviews selected and analysed during phase 1 of this review (see Table 1).	5
Seminal or prominent author literature meeting the date, data identification and literature identification inclusion criteria.	24
Peer reviewed journal articles or books meeting the date and content-related inclusion criteria.	56
Reputable industry articles or research reports meeting the date and source quality-related inclusion criteria.	33
Total literature sources included in this review	118

Table 4.

Summary of literature sources.

The initial process of data collection focused on finding the data identified in phase 1 in the literature identified and included, and then extracting and recording this data on an excel spreadsheet. A total of 448 data units were collected and captured on an excel spreadsheet.

2.5 Phase 4: data analysis

2.5.1 The data analysis process

Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the 448 data units collected in phase 3 [21]. The process was documented to ensure transparency, and all supporting documents were quality checked by a second and third researcher [22]. To create the categories for data analysis, the research problem and research objective was revisited, and seven categories were created that represent the focus areas emerging from the analysis. The category names were captured as questions and coded data units were inserted into the categories where the data could best answer the question posed.

The original paper-based, visual category mind map created to manage the process was captured digitally and is presented in a simplified format in Figure 2. The labels C1 to C7 show the category names as questions, derived from the research objective and problem. The acronym EB refers to the employer brand.

Figure 2.

Data analysis categories based on research objective and questions.

The 448 data units were categorised as answers to the category questions posed. As Table 5 shows, there were considerable variances in data distribution between the categories.

Data analysis category	Data units
C1 What should be known about the EB’s purpose, nature and function as a brand construct?	36
C2 What should be known about EB creation?	97
C3 What should be known about brand leadership of the EB?	11
C4 What should be known about the management of the EB?	48
C5 What should be known about branding activities of the EB?	126
C6 What should be known about the EB in context of strategic brand building?	78
C7 What should be known about the impact of the EB on the overall corporate brand?	52
Total data from data collection	448

Table 5.

Data categorisation overview.

2.5.2 Themes yielded by the data analysis process

The categorisation of data flowed into the identification of four themes, outlined in Table 6. The themes have been ordered from 1 to 4 to inform the sequential and logical discussing of the themes, as well as the plotting of themes in an order that best suits the proposed organisational perspective and practice adoption and implementation in the framework that follows.

#	Theme name
1	The employer brand as an extension of the corporate brand
2	Strategically aligned leadership for employer brand creation and management
3	Employer brand positioning
4	Congruent employer branding to target market and brand stakeholders

Table 6.

Four themes emerging from the critical literature review data analysis.

3. Findings

3.1 Theme 1: the employer brand as an extension of the corporate brand

There is still much to be clarified about the employer brand’s purpose, nature and function as a brand construct in the body of knowledge, particularly as it pertains to strategic brand building and brand leadership of the employer brand. Interestingly, specific reference to the term or construct “employer brand” seems to be largely absent in the strategic brand building work of seminal and prominent brand authors [23, 24, 25, 26, 27]. In addition, the two categories with the lowest data units attributed to them (as per Table 6) are directly related to the theoretical brand construct (C1) and brand leadership (C3). Less than ten of the 78 data units assigned to C6, the strategic brand building context category, address the employer brand specifically. Data category C7 contains 52 data units that are overwhelmingly focused on the potential risk for reputational damage and brand strength dilution to the corporate brand.

As a brand, the employer brand, along with other customer-facing product or service brands, forms part of what is called a portfolio of brands – a collection, as it were, with each brand in the portfolio playing a vital role in engaging its specific target market [23, 27]. The various brands in the portfolio are part of a brand hierarchy, an organising and ranking system, with what is often referred to as a parent brand at the top of the hierarchy, and sub-brands or daughter brands that slot in below the parent brand [23, 24]. Brand architecture involves the identification of the parent brand and sub-brands and the clarification of their relationship to each other [24, 27]. The employer brand is likely to find itself in a brand hierarchy governed by the corporate brand, which speaks on behalf of the company as a whole [27, 28, 29]. In the branded house brand architecture, the employer brand would look to the corporate brand heading up the branded house for support and guidance [23]. In a house of brands, the employer brand may have to consider the sub-brand with which an employee will align, as well as the overall corporate brand that heads the organisation [23, 27]. Whatever the hierarchy or brand architecture, the fundamental principle remains: the employer brand does not stand apart from the corporate brand but takes its guidance from the corporate brand purpose and identity [30, 31], acting as an extension thereof in its endeavours to engage its specific target market [7, 32, 33]. It is heartening to note that even human resources or talent-driven employer brand literature proclaims the need for alignment to the corporate brand and congruent portrayal thereof [34, 35, 36, 37].

In principle, literature support for the employer brand as an extension of the corporate brand is strong, but in practice there appears to be tension around the execution thereof, and a gap in the body of knowledge around how to address the disparity between the principle and the practice thereof [11, 36, 38].

Theme 1 is the point of departure for the proposed employer brand perspective framework: everything the employer brand is and does should be as an extension of the corporate brand.

3.2 Theme 2: strategically aligned brand leadership creating and managing the employer brand

The brand leadership and management of the employer brand are not well covered in literature, as the low data units assigned to these two categories (C3 and C4) show. Literature in the field of brand leadership does not provide sufficient detail around brand leadership of the employer brand [5, 12, 39]. In fact, literature is still debating who should take ownership of the employer brand, with some scholars holding that the management of the employer brand lies with human resources or talent management [8, 36], although there is growing support for co-creation and joint leadership and management of the employer brand, with brand management playing a larger role [9, 31, 40]. Theme 2 leans heavily on the body of literature that outlines the benefits and successes associated with the strategic alignment of cross-functional leadership behind the brand [7, 28, 39]. Whilst few literature sources draw strategically aligned brand leadership to the specific domain of the employer brand [30, 41], the principles and practices of this dynamic calibration of leadership apply to the overall corporate brand and any brand building platforms that act as extensions of the corporate brand [28, 42].

Theme 2 proposes that a strategic alignment between leadership across brand management, line management and human resources or talent management will be the most effective way to approach the creation of and management of the employer brand. This theme therefore departs from the debate around whether the ownership of the employer brand should reside with brand or human resources and posits that there is a better way: the strategic alignment of cross-functional leadership behind the brand as a whole and the employer brand as an extension of the corporate brand.

There are still several unanswered questions about this strategic alignment of brand leadership that warrant further research. Once again, the principle itself is well supported by literature, while the practical implementation thereof is either unclear or presents an area of tension and concern in literature [5, 36, 41].

The contribution of theme 2 to the proposed employer brand perspective framework is that it offers a point of departure for mobilisation of the employer brand as an extension of the corporate brand. Importantly, theme 2 asks employer brand practitioners looking to how to do this, to take a step back and first strategically align leadership. This theme does not seek to prescribe leading practices but emphasises the pause for alignment and joint ownership agreements before taking action.

3.3 Theme 3 employer brand positioning

The highest data units were assigned to the categories of employer brand creation (C2) and branding activities of the employer brand (C5). When surveying the body of knowledge through a brand lens, most of the literature refers to the power of the competitive advantage in the talent marketplace generated by the differentiated,compelling employer brand and unique EVP [5, 9, 43]. Employer branding activities are also enjoying more attention in literature, especially social media marketing, employer brand websites and online application portals [34, 44, 45].

Despite the rich body of knowledge around the employer brand creation and branding activities, literature suggests that neither employer brand creation, nor the branding activities that result from it, are particularly effective [8, 11, 36]. Employer brands are not created in a manner that facilitates cutting through corporate marketing clutter and claiming a favourable position in the mind of the target market customer [12, 46]. Poor positioning results in wasted marketing and brand building, as the brand messages are drowned out by the noise of the competitive marketplace [24, 26, 27]. Brand theory and practice are firmly grounded in brand positioning, an exercise that precedes the deployment of brand messages and even the formulation of a value proposition. Whilst there are several seminal authors and prominent scholars that offer brand positioning models and frameworks [23, 24, 26], there is a gap in literature around the application thereof to the employer brand space [9, 47]. Simply put: brand positioning is a foundational brand theory and practice, but it seems that it has not been applied adequately to the employer brand, which means that it is likely that employer brand practitioners have little or no knowledge of how to approach or implement employer brand positioning [5, 36]. Further research is recommended to propose an employer brand positioning framework that applies brand positioning theory and practice to the employer brand in a manner that makes it accessible to a wider audience of employer brand practitioners and practically applicable to the unique target market and functional domain of employer branding.

3.4 Theme 4: congruent employer branding to target market and brand stakeholders

Theme 4 is informed by the rich data insights around the branding activities of the employer brand, as is evident in the highest numerical data units allocated to this category (C5) during the literature review data analysis. Theme 4 also considers the data included in category C7, which was concerned with the impact of the employer brand on the overall corporate brand.

Literature suggests that employer branding activities, such as messaging, testimonies and experiences, are often disconnected from other branding activities and the overall corporate brand, and lack coherence [12, 30, 38]. As a result, disconnected and inconsistent employer branding has a negative impact on the overall experiences of all brand stakeholders [11, 30]. It is important to note that the employer brand’s target market may only include prospective and current employees or talent, but it reaches a far wider audience of brand stakeholders, which could include customers, suppliers, or community stakeholders [42, 48, 49].

Theme 4 follows on employer brand positioning, theme 3, in the proposed employer brand perspective framework, as this paper argues that consistent employer branding activities to brand stakeholders would only be possible if themes 1 and 2 provide the context for employer branding, and the employer brand positioning of theme 3 hones and focuses employer branding activities.

4. Proposed employer brand perspective framework

Insights from an integrative or critical literature review are typically drawn together visually in a model or framework that encapsulates a synthesis of findings and sets the direction for further exploration in literature and primary research [13, 14].

Figure 3 presents the proposed employer brand perspective framework, which draws the critical literature review’s findings of four themes together as perspectives or vantage points in looking at the employer brand through a brand lens. To optimise the nature and function of the employer brand as a brand construct, Human Resources Management would benefit from adopting a brand perspective in approaching, creating, leveraging and managing the employer brand in the same way as strategic brand management would adopt a brand perspective for customer-facing brands.

Figure 3.

Proposed employer brand perspective framework with four perspectives.

The corporate brand is shown at the helm of the proposed framework, accompanied by the perspective derived from theme 1: the employer brand is an extension of the corporate brand and an integral part of strategic brand management.

Brand perspective 2 follows, reiterating the need for strategically aligned leadership for employer brand creation and management,

From this strategic alignment comes brand perspective 3, which picks up on the theme of employer brand positioning, noting the importance of applying brand positioning theory and practice to the employer brand before embarking on employer branding activities.

Brand perspective 4 shows employer brand positioning serving as the central point of departure for all employer branding to ensure coherent employer brand building across potential and current talent and all other brand stakeholders. The congruent employer brand building derived from adopting this perspective then aligns with the brand’s architecture and reinforces its strength and coherence.

Figure 4 that follows shows the framework enriched with the managerial implications for each of the perspectives presented as practices that guide Human Resources Management and other organisational leaders in bringing the brand perspective to life in organisational practice.

Figure 4.

Employer brand perspective framework with related practices.

Each brand perspective in the proposed employer brand perspective framework has been paired with a set of brand perspective practices: managerial implications captured as guidelines, reinforced by literature review insights.

4.1 Brand perspective 1: managerial implications as practices

Brand Perspective 1 requires a new outlook on the employer brand as an extension of the corporate brand and an integral part of strategic brand management. To drive this perspective home in the organisational setting, five managerial implications are presented as proposed guidelines.

Firstly, Human Resources Management and other employer brand role-players in the organisation should revisit their understanding of the target market of employer branding.

This insight from Mishra and Sharma ([30], p. 38) provides guidance:

“Employer branding is aimed at managing the perceptions of current employees, prospective employees, and relevant stakeholders so that they may actively contribute in the management of the corporate brand” [30].

The employer brand may mistakenly have been viewed as an externally facing brand that attracts prospective talented employees outside the organisation. Current employees play a pivotal role in creating an employer brand that is differentiated, authentic and compelling. The references and testimony of current talented employees validate ways in which the employer brand’s promises are realised in the working experience. Current employees are also tasked with bringing the corporate brand’s purpose and values to life as they engage with stakeholders. The employer brand plays an equally important role across three major target market stakeholder groups: attracting potential talent outside the organisation, retaining current talented employees and positively impacting a wide range of organisational stakeholders in order to build the corporate brand’s coherence and strength [30].

With a perspective that the employer brand is an integral part of strategic brand management, a recommended practice would be the drawing of the employer brand into strategic brand management alongside customer-facing brands and product brands. This would ideally see Human Resource Management and other employer brand leadership role-players obtain a seat at the strategic brand management table, participating in brand reviews or audits and reporting on the employer brand’s achievement and progress as a brand in the overall brand portfolio.

The corporate brand’s identity, purpose and values become not only the navigating north star of the employer brand, but the foundation of all employer brand building.

As stated by Mishra and Sharma ([30], p. 39):

“The idea is to present the organization as a brand, which is different from the run of the mill employers, with fascinating values and culture pertinent to the individual’s aspirations and expectations, besides ensuring that these attributes of the brand do not remain only a promise and are delivered to the employees continuously” [30].

Practices in employer brand building are seen as vital to bringing the corporate brand to life, with the link between employer brand’s function, nature and purpose and that of the corporate brand becoming inseparable.

4.2 Brand perspective 2: managerial implications as practices

Brand perspective 2 suggests that strategically aligned leadership informs all employer brand co-creation and management. The employer brand’s functional ownership appears to vary from organisation to organisation, with equally varied levels of brand investment in employer brand building. A common criticism of the employer brand in scholarly and industry literature appears to be the disconnection thereof from the overall brand and organisational strategy, and the silo approach used to create and manage the employer brand [12, 38].

Jain ([41], pg. 194) linked the role of leadership to the development of a strong employer brand, stating that leadership contribute to all five important factors of employer branding, namely organisational fit, the reputation of the organisation, leadership and transparency, the management style and strength of the organisation and the work environment and culture. Cross-functional organisational leadership have a role to play in not only creating the employer brand, but ensuring that the employment experience lives up to the employer brand’s promises. Whilst the input of all organisational leadership is important, equal measures of input of human resources or talent management, brand or marketing management and line management have been shown to be vital [40].

Guided by the principles and practices of corporate brand co-creation, the co-creation of the employer brand with leadership, employees and other brand stakeholders is advised [33, 42]. In practice, this means allowing a diverse group of brand stakeholders to share in the creation of the employer brand and the interrogation of the authenticity of the employer brand’s value proposition and promises in reality.

With strategically aligned leadership invested in the employer brand’s creation and management, Human Resources Management role-players are challenged to implement a structured approach to employer brand monitoring and management, accompanying employer brand strategy and related goals with a performance management matrix that provides clear and actionable insight into the employer brand goals and deliverables [30]. This employer brand management matrix will be a key aspect of the brand management audits and reviews proposed, with the employer brand reporting on similar performance areas as customer-facing product and service brands in a strategic brand management context.

4.3 Brand perspective 3: managerial implications as practices

The importance of employer brand positioning emerged as a theme from the critical literature review and appears as brand perspective 3 in the proposed employer brand perspective framework.

Literature informs us that poorly positioned brands are ineffective, with brand messaging getting lost in the clutter of competitive branding [24]. In a highly competitive talent marketplace, employer brand positioning will allow the brand messaging of the employer to attract prospective talented employees. Scholars suggest that employer brand positioning is neglected, often as a result of the limited understanding and expertise that Human Resources Management has around this brand management theory and practice [8, 12].

Brand positioning theory and practice recommends a brand positioning process that starts with corporate brand alignment, proceeds with segmentation and target marketing, conducts a brand analysis in order to ascertain the unique value proposition of the brand for the target market, and then encapsulates insights into a central brand positioning statement from which all brand building is done [23, 27].

The employer brand positioning framework suggests adopting perspective 3, the strategic alignment of leadership, which should allow brand management to be drawn into the employer brand positioning process. A high level of brand management expertise and involvement in employer brand positioning would benefit the creation of an employee value proposition that is truly appealing, differentiated and provides a competitive advantage that will not only resonate with talent, but attract and retain these prospective and current talented employees [5, 30].

4.4 Brand perspective 4: managerial implications as practices

All employer brand building should originate and embark from a well-articulated brand positioning statement and EVP. Brand perspective 4, congruent employer brand building is rooted in a brand aligned, clear positioning statement as the source of all brand building [27, 30].

There are further factors to consider in consistent employer brand messaging and communication: consistent branding that builds trust with the target market and the impact of employer brand building on the overall corporate brand.

It is essential to invest in authentic and congruent brand building in order to build trust with prospective and current employees, according to Itam, Misra and Anjum ([5], p. 679):

“The level of accuracy and consistency in employer brand communication must be more rigorous because any miscommunication between recruitment advertising and employer branding promise lead to negative employee experiences. In practice, managers commented that the employer brand activities for existing employees were largely put in the backstage creating confusion among new hires and old hires. It is also noticed from the conversations that the HR team fails in creating a tight association between perceived promise and brand experiences of employees” [5].

The impact of the employer brand’s messages on the corporate brand is a crucial consideration, as per this statement by Mishra and Sharma ([30], p. 41):

“It is incumbent upon the marketing and HRM departments to ensure that brand promise is synchronized with the internal communication, the marketing process and the branding strategies. A company wishing to leverage the power of its employees in developing a successful corporate brand needs to imbue them with the core brand values” [30].

5. Conclusion

The objective of this review of the employer brand through a brand lens was to explore, through an integrative review of literature, the employer brand’s purpose, nature and function as a brand construct in context of strategic brand building and leadership thereof.

The proposed employer brand perspective framework puts forth that the employer brand’s purpose, nature and function as an extension of the corporate brand makes it a vital part of strategic brand building. As the framework shows, strategically aligned brand leadership should create and manage the employer brand. The inclusion of employer brand positioning as a central part of the proposed employer brand perspective framework pays testimony to the wide impact that a carefully conducted and executed brand positioning can have. Employer brand positioning drives the employer brand purpose and function and aligns the employer brand positioning with the brand positioning of the corporate brand, aiding strategic brand building. Finally, the strategic brand leadership of the employer brand is empowered by congruent employer brand messaging outwards to a wide range of brand stakeholders.

Adopting the perspectives put forth by the proposed employer brand perspective framework allows all organisational leadership, regardless of function, to view the employer brand as a brand construct, and to leverage the brand building potential of the employer brand to optimally attract and retain talent and build overall brand coherence and strength.

6. Contribution of the study

The study contributes on a theoretical level by drawing together employer brand literature focused on the brand, and integration thereof in a manner that can add value to all organisational leaders, regardless of their division, level of involvement or experience in employer branding. The study illuminates several recommendations for further research.

The main contribution of the study is to organisational practice, as it sheds light on perspectives and practices that cross-functional organisational leaders can apply to unleash the optimal potential of the employer brand. In particular, Human Resources Management benefits from this new perspective of the employer brand as a brand construct, as they update and upskill themselves on the required brand management practices to ensure the strategic brand management of the employer brand as an extension of the corporate brand.

The findings are honed on brand leadership, but deeper extraction of findings into perspectives and related practices allow the brand purpose, nature and function of the employer brand to become accessible to a wider audience.

7. Limitations and recommendations

The study was limited by a lack of knowledge and research studies that contribute to the body of knowledge about the employer brand as a brand construct. As a result, there were few studies that could be consulted to steer this study in terms of search terms, constructs and data codes or categories, which could be considered a limitation.

A further limitation lies in the imbalance between theory and practical implementation, which is not only evident in the literature, but also transpired in the themes that informed perspectives in the proposed employer brand perspective framework. Practices for implementation were gleaned from literature, but require further research to shed light on the organisational context and processes for practical implementation.

Future research recommendations include the qualitative or quantitative testing of the findings encapsulated in the proposed employer brand perspective framework, whether in part or overall, preferably in practice in an organisational context.